2008
U Win Tin, Burma’s longest held journalist, released
New York, September 23, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of U Win Tin, the longest serving political prisoner in Burma, and one of the world’s longest-jailed journalists. The 79-year-old former editor had at least two heart attacks and suffered from high blood pressure, a degenerative spine condition, and diabetes since his 1989…
Q & A: Andrew Berends and Aaron Soffin
CPJ interviewed documentary filmmaker Andrew Berends and producer Aaron Soffin at CPJ’s headquarters in New York. Berends spent 10 days in the custody of Nigeria’s State Security Services in Port Harcourt, from August 31 to September 9. He had been in the country for six months working on his film “Delta Boys.” Soffin worked to get…
Zapatero should press Cuba on jailed writers
The Committee to Protect Journalists urges you to make your government’s commitment to obtain the release of all imprisoned Cuban journalists a priority of Spain’s foreign policy. Since you first took office in April 2004, your government has played a decisive role in helping to secure the release of several dissidents, including nine independent journalists. In February, shortly after Spain announced the resumption of cooperation programs with Cuba, the government of President Raúl Castro released four prisoners, including independent journalists José Gabriel Ramón Castillo and Alejandro González Raga, who are now living in exile in Spain.
Press freedom in the news 9/23/08
Reuters is reporting that Iraqi Kurdistan’s Parliament has passed a revised media law that protects the rights of journalists in the region and abolishes criminal defamation. CPJ travelled to the region in May to protest a much harsher version of the media law, and presented recommendations to Kurdish President Masoud Barzani. Also making news this…
U.S. military frees Afghan journalist from Bagram
New York, September 22, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the U.S. military’s release of imprisoned journalist Jawed Ahmad from Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan on Sunday, 11 months after he was first detained. But CPJ calls again on the U.S. military to end its practice of holding journalists without charge on an open-ended basis.…
Cleric issues fatwa against journalists and writers
New York, September 22, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned about an edict issued Saturday by a top Saudi Muslim cleric, who said that writers who challenge or criticize religious sheikhs should be fired from their jobs, flogged, and jailed. Sheikh Abdallah Ben Jabreen, a former member of the Saudi Arabia’s Establishment of…
Recently freed journalist is abducted, threatened
New York, September 22, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the abduction for nearly two hours on Saturday of Internet journalist Slim Boukhdhir, who has been continuously harassed since he was freed in July after a politically motivated imprisonment. Boukhdhir, who spent eight months in prison for writing articles critical of President Zine…
Press freedom in the news 9/22/08
The failed assassination attempt against Iraqi Journalist Syndicate head Muaid al-Lami is the topic of various news stories today. Reuters reported that a bomb exploded as al-Lami left the front entrance of the syndicate’s headquarters in Baghdad on Saturday. The San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Voice of America, and the India…
Mexico must federalize crimes against press
In Mexico, where violence against the press has become an epidemic, a debate is raging about what should be done to confront this terrible problem. Since 2000, 21 journalists have been killed, seven of them in direct reprisal for their work. The record of violence has produced widespread self-censorship, particularly among regional journalists covering drug…
Police detain, beat Associated Press reporter in Vietnam
New York, September 19, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the actions of Vietnamese police who assaulted Associated Press reporter Ben Stocking, after detaining him in Hanoi today. Police detained Stocking, AP’s Hanoi bureau chief, while he was covering a Catholic protest.