2008

  

One month before the Olympics, media face huge hurdles

New York, July 8, 2008—One month before the start of the Beijing Olympics, China needs to make enormous progress to ensure the free access it promised journalists when the Games were awarded, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Twenty-six Chinese journalists remain in prison and heavy government censorship remains in place despite Beijing’s broad…

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Cameroon broadcaster’s equipment held by police

New York, July 8, 2008–Cameroonian authorities have lifted a ban on three private broadcasters summarily closed in connection with their critical coverage in February, but police are withholding equipment seized from one station, according to local journalists and news reports.

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Governo intervém em duas televisões e fecha uma estação de rádio

Nova York, 8 de julho de 2008–Agentes do governo equatoriano intervieram em duas estações privadas de televisão nesta manhã e fecharam uma estação de rádio crítica na noite de segunda-feira. O Comitê para a Proteção dos Jornalistas (CPJ) está preocupado com as acusações que sugerem que tais ações tiveram motivações políticas.

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Government seizes two TV outlets and closes a radio station

New York, July 8, 2008–Ecuadoran government agents seized two private television stations early this morning and shuttered a critical radio station late Monday night. The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by allegations that the actions were politically motivated. Members of the government’s Deposit Guarantee Agency (AGD), backed by dozens of police officers, seized the…

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Belarus considers restrictive media law

Dear Mr. President, As an independent, nonpartisan organization defending press freedom worldwide, the Committee to Protect Journalists calls on you to veto a severely restrictive draft media law, which will further curb press freedom conditions in Belarus. The bill was adopted by the upper chamber of the Belarusian parliament on June 28 and now awaits your consideration.

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CPJ urges U.S. probe in hate mail case

Dear Mr. Kappelhoff: The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about a series of disturbing letters and notes written in a consistently personal, racist, and violent tone to Michelle Ferrier, a columnist with the Daytona Beach News-Journal in Florida and managing editor of MyTopiaCafe, aWeb site sponsored by the News-Journal.

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In Bashkortostan, journalists convicted of extremism

RUSSIA: New York, July 2, 2008—Two journalists in Russia’s Bashkortostan Republic have been convicted under the country’s vague extremism law. Each has been sentenced to serve a suspended two-year prison term. Their newspaper has been shuttered. On June 25, the Kirov District Court in the regional capital of Ufa, in the central Russian Republic of…

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Another journalist attacked, hospitalized

SRI LANKA: New York, July 2, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is greatly concerned by the attack Monday evening on Namal Perera, freelance journalist and deputy head of the Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI), a media rights advocacy group. Perera was attacked by men with iron bars in Colombo while traveling in a car with…

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In Tunisia, CPJ concludes mission with call for release of jailed journalist

Tunis, Tunisia, July 2, 2008—Jailed Tunisian journalist Slim Boukhdir should be freed immediately, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today as it concluded a 10-day fact-finding mission that examined the government’s pattern of silencing the independent press through harassment, intimidation, and imprisonment. Boukhdir, a contributor to numerous Tunisian and Arab news Web sites, is serving…

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Journalist receives anonymous hate mail

JULY 1, 2008 Posted July 1, 2008 Michelle Ferrier, Daytona Beach News-Journal THREATENED Ferrier, a columnist with the Daytona Beach News-Journal in Florida and managing editor of MyTopiaCafe, aWeb site sponsored by the News-Journal, received a series of disturbing letters and notes written in a consistently personal, racist, and violent tone.

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