2008

  

Outspoken editor’s jail sentence pardoned

New York, October 6, 2008―The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the presidential pardon today of a two-month jail sentence against Ibrahim Eissa, editor-in-chief of the independent daily Al-Dustour.

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Two years after Politkovskaya’s murder, three suspects will go to trial

New York, October 6, 2008–Three men will soon go to trial in the October 2006 assassination of Novaya Gazeta journalist Anna Politkovskaya, according to local news reports. Russia’s Prosecutor-General’s Office approved the indictments on Wednesday, and sent the case to court on Thursday.

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In Sri Lanka, CPJ saddened by death of journalist

We issued this statement today after learning of the death of Rashmi Mohamed, a provincial correspondent for Sirasa TV. He was one of 27 people who died when a suspected rebel suicide bomber blew himself up today inside a crowded opposition party office in Anuradhapura in northern Sri Lanka. “We join with our Sri Lankan…

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Intimidation, accusations should stop

Unfounded government accusations have fueled a climate of fear, CPJ says in a letter to President Hugo Chávez Frías. … 

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Press freedom in the news 10/06/08

Agence France-Presse has coverage of the arrest and subsequent release of Ali Ilyas Abdullahi, a Somali radio journalist. Abdullahi was detained by police in the Somali capital Mogadishu over the weekend after reporting on a mortar attack at the home of a government official. Also making news today is an interview with recently released Yemeni…

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In Nicaragua, concern over investigation of journalist

In response to Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega’s decision to investigate prominent journalist Carlos Chamorro Barrios for alleged money laundering through the Center for Media Investigation, of which Chamorro is a board member, we issued the following statement: “We are concerned that the investigation into Carlos Chamorro Barrios, a harsh critic of Ortega’s administration, could be…

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Press freedom in the news 10/03/08

Voice of America takes an extensive look at free speech in Malaysia on its Web site this morning. Focusing on the recent sentencing of high profile blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin, the article looks at how the government is using various laws, including the Internal Security Act, to silence critics. CPJ reported on Raja Petra’s case…

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U.S. changes course; grants visas to Cuban journalists

On Wednesday, the U.S. State Department announced it decided to issue visas to two Cuban journalists who had previously been denied reentry into the U.S. As a footnote to the transcript of spokesman Sean McCormack’s discussion about the case of Cuban journalists Ilsa Rodriguez Santana and her husband, Tomas Anael Granados Jimenez, which was reviewed…

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Press freedom in the news 10/02/08

Fox News reports today that the U.S. government has given visas to two Cuban journalists who had been barred from re-entering the country despite holding accreditation for the United Nations. The Web site Caribbean Net News carried our alert, which we released earlier this week. Also in the news, The Associated Press has updated its ongoing “Iraq: Key Figures since the…

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Hungry journalists in Haiti grow desperate

Haiti’s best known press freedom activist, Guyler Delva, sent out a frantic call for help yesterday morning. At least 70 journalists and media workers in the northern city of Gonaïves are living in dire circumstances, Delva said in his e-mail. They need food, clothes, and shelter, as well as equipment, he specified. In short, “they…

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