New York, September 19, 2008–A court in Singapore sentenced a blogger to three months in jail on Thursday, one week after the nation’s attorney general sought contempt proceedings against The Wall Street Journal Asia. Both actions come in response to critical analysis of Singapore’s judiciary in connection with a prominent defamation suit.
New York, September 19, 2008—With the rise of violent attacks and threats against journalists covering civil unrest in different regions of Bolivia this week, the Committee to Protect Journalists called on national and provincial authorities today to ensure that all media can report the news freely. At least 18 people have been killed and dozens…
During his weekly television and radio address a year ago, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez warned that foreigners who criticize him or his administration while visiting the country would be expelled. Chávez ordered officials to scrutinize statements by foreign public figures and deport any outspoken critics. While analysts thought this declaration was yet another instance of…
Our announcement of the 2008 International Press Freedom Award winners has gotten coverage today, with stories running in the Arab, African, and Asian press. The Philippine-based Pinoy Press has an article about the awardees, and The Zimbabwe Independent reports on the winners but leads with the news of Beatrice Mtetwa winning CPJ’s Burton Benjamin Award. In the Arab press, the…
New York, September 18, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the religious edict issued on September 9 by a top Saudi cleric calling for the death of owners of satellite TV stations that air “immoral” soap operas. Sheikh Saleh al-Lihedan’s fatwa came in response to a question asked on Radio Quran, a…
New York, September 18, 2008–The Nigerian government should immediately lift its suspension of Channels TV and release four staff members being held by State Security Services, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Security agents closed the Lagos and Abuja offices of Channels TV on Tuesday after the station mistakenly aired a fabricated report that…
New York, September 18, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes a Moroccan court decision today that overturns a two-year prison sentence and a fine against blogger and journalist Mohamed Erraji. On September 9, the court in Agadir, in southwest Morocco, convicted Erraji in a 10-minute trial¸ sentencing him to prison and a fine of 5,000…
In the news today the Canada-based Web site Asian Pacific Post has a news brief about the imprisonment of Vietnamese blogger Nguyen Van Hai, also known as Dieu Cay. The brief cites CPJ’s condemnation of the 30-month sentence given to him on September 11. Also today, New York’s Lower Hudson Valley Journal News has more coverage of…
New York, September 17, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the Lisburn Magistrates’ Court decision to charge four men in the 2001 murder of Martin O’Hagan, an investigative journalist with the Dublin newspaper Sunday World. O’Hagan, 51, was hit by gunshots from a passing car outside his home in the Northern Irish town of Lurgan…
New York, September 17, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned that authorities in Yemen continue to hold a fixer in custody while releasing another. The two were picked up in July with a reporter for the U.S.-based television network HDNet. Mohammed Ahmed Hassan al-Bokhaiti, an interpreter, was released on Sunday after spending almost two…