There is more coverage of yesterday’s revelation that the Anna Politkovskaya murder trial will again be held behind closed doors. VOA News, The Sydney Morning Herald, and GulfNews are all running reports that say the proceedings were closed to reporters after jurors came forward to express fear for their safety. However, in an interesting twist,…
New York, November 19, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the brazen attack on Edik Baghdasarian, the editor of the Yerevan-based online newsmagazine Hetq. Three unidentified men ambushed Baghdasarian on Monday outside his office and badly beat him.
New York, November 19, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply disappointed at today’s decision by the Moscow District Military Court to close the jury trial of three suspects in the October 2006 assassination of Novaya Gazeta journalist Anna Politkovskaya to the public, only two days after it declared it would be open.
New York, November 19, 2008–The Sudanese government should halt censorship of independent and opposition newspapers, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On Tuesday, 10 newspapers suspended publication for a day to protest government censorship and the detention of journalists a day earlier.
A new turn in the Anna Politkovskaya murder trial is making news today across the wires. It was initially going to be held behind closed doors, but had been opened to the public on Monday. However, stories from AP, Reuters, AFP, and RFE/RL all report that the court has repealed that ruling and will now close the trial to outside observers. Reports claim…
New York, November 18, 2008–An Azerbaijani court convicted Ali Hasanov, editor-in-chief of the pro-government daily Ideal, on defamation charges and sentenced him to six months in jail, according to the head of the Baku-based Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS), Emin Huseynov.
We received a large package from the Tunisian Embassy in Washington on Friday. The package contained an official response to our September special report, “The Smiling Oppressor” and a hefty collection of Tunisian newspapers and individual articles that the government says demonstrates a “liberal and pluralistic media landscape” under President Zine El Abidine’s 21-year rule.…