2008

We issued the following statement in reaction to the car bomb explosion this morning outside the offices of EITB, a public radio and television broadcaster known for its balanced news coverage with headquarters in Bilbao, the main city of Spain’s Basque Country. The bomb exploded at around 11 a.m. after a warning call from the…

New York, December 31, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the intimidation of Tunisian journalists who tried to cover efforts Tuesday by the opposition Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) to demonstrate against Israeli attacks on Gaza. Two journalists were assaulted and three faced harassment in Tunis, according to several CPJ interviews.

Dear President Castro: The Committee to Protect Journalists is writing to you on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution to renew its call for the immediate and unconditional release of all journalists jailed in your country. With 21 reporters and editors unjustly incarcerated, Cuba is one of the leading jailers of journalists in the world, second only to China.

New York, December 30, 2008–Kazakh authorities must launch a thorough investigation into the stabbing of Artyom Miusov, a reporter with the opposition weekly Taszhargan, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. 

We issued the following statement after Azerbaijan’s National Council on Television and Radio announced today that it would discontinue the local licenses of international broadcasters Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Voice of America, and the BBC as of January 1, 2009…

Dear Defense Minister Barak: The Committee to Protect Journalists urgently demands an explanation for the bombing of Al-Aqsa TV headquarter in Gaza City by Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) on Sunday. We are also dismayed by the army’s decision to declare Gaza’s northern boundary with Israel and other parts of the territory “closed military zones.”

In the January 15, 2009, edition of The New York Review of Books, CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon writes about Daniel Ortega’s personal war against Nicaraguan journalist and television anchor Carlos Fernando Chamorro.  

CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon appears on CNN’s International Correspondents to discuss the increase in the number of online journalists in jail.  Embedded video from CNN Video

The news that BBC reporter Jonathan Head could face jail time in Thailand for alledgely insulting the Thai monarchy has recieved significant coverage over the holidays. Our alert on the incident from Wendesday has been cited in a number of outlets including The Associated Press, the UK-based Press Association, and the Irish Examiner. All three quoted CPJ’s…