2008

  

Journalist abducted by suspected security agents

MARCH 3, 2008 Posted March 28, 2008 Jacques Blaise Mvié, La Nouvelle PresseKIDNAPPED Director Jacques Blaise Mvié of the private weekly La Nouvelle Presse told CPJ an unidentified man in plain clothes jumped from a gray Toyota Prado 4 x 4 and forced him at gunpoint in the car as he was walking away from…

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In Senegal, police hinder station’s coverage of violent protests

New York, March 31, 2008—Police in the Senegalese capital of Dakar assaulted a reporter who was covering a violent anti-government protest on Sunday, according to local journalists and news reports. They later raided the reporter’s station and confiscated footage. Walf TV reporter Ousmane Mangane told CPJ that riot police used Tasers on him as he…

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CPJ concerned about Philippine murder trial

Dear Chief Justice Puno, The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about recent maneuvers to delay the ongoing murder trial of journalist Marlene Garcia-Esperat. As you are aware, the assassins in this case, Estanislao Bismanos, Gerry Cabayag, and Randy Grecia, were convicted and sentenced to life in prison on October 6, 2006.

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Investigative reporter arrested after exposing police corruption

Investigative reporter arrested after exposing police corruption MARCH 28, 2008 Posted April 25, 2008 Rabiul Islam, Daily Sunshine ARRESTED, HARRASSED Rabiul told CPJ he was arrested without warrant and detained by police, who accused him of committing robbery in Rajshahi. Rabiul, a journalist for the Daily Sunshine, a Rajshahi-based local newspaper in the Bangla Language,…

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Authorities crack down on independent journalists

BELARUS: New York, March 27, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by a sudden crackdown by Belarusian authorities against independent journalists in the last few days. Today, the Belarusian Security Service (known as the KGB) raided the offices of independent broadcasters and the apartments of more than a dozen journalists, the Belarusian Association of…

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Draconian accreditation laws used to censor Zimbabwe elections 

New York, March 27, 2008—The Zimbabwean government is using journalist accreditation laws to prevent most major international media outlets and some local journalists from covering the country’s elections on Saturday. According to local journalists and the South Africa National Editor’s Forum, only a handful of foreign correspondents are accredited, while major media groups such as…

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Leading independent editor sentenced to six months in jail

Leading independent editor sentenced to six months in jail New York, March 26, 2008―The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the six-month jail term handed down today to a leading Egyptian editor and urges the appeals court to overturn the conviction. The Boulak Abul Ela Court of Misdemeanor, on the outskirts of Cairo, sentenced Ibrahim Eissa,…

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Eissa ruling expected soon in Egypt

New York, March 24, 2008―The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by an upcoming court ruling in Cairo that might send a leading Egyptian editor to prison. The ruling is expected on March 26. Ibrahim Eissa, editor-in-chief of the daily Al-Dustour and one of Egypt’s top critics of President Hosni Mubarak’s 27-year rule, was charged…

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São Paulo court bans local paper from printing officials’ names

MARCH 24, 2008 Posted April 22, 2008 Tribuna das Águas LEGAL ACTION On March 24, a civil court in Águas de Lindóia, a city in the southeastern state of São Paulo, banned the local weekly Tribuna das Águas from publishing the names of government officials under penalty of a large fine, according to press reports…

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Journalist’s murderer released on medical parole

UPDATE MARCH 5, 2008 Posted March 24, 2008 Original Case: February 10, 2004 Carlos José Guadamuz, Canal 23 KILLED William Hurtado García, who confessed to the 2004 murder of Canal 23 television host Guadamuz, was conditionally released from prison, the Nicaraguan press reported on March 5. Hurtado had been sentenced to a 21-year prison sentence…

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