2008

  

BBC reporter charged with insulting the king

New York, December 24, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the ongoing legal harassment of BBC correspondent Jonathan Head. Police Lt. Col. Wattanasak Mungkandee filed a third criminal complaint this year against Head on December 23, alleging he had insulted the Thai monarchy in his reporting. 

Read More ›

Guinean media at near-standstill after president’s death

With the death on Monday of Guinean President Lansana Conté, uncertainty hangs over what–or who–is to follow. Yet, as recently as last week, coverage of the poor health of the reclusive autocrat, who ruled this mineral-rich but poor West African nation since 1984, proved risky for the Guinean independent media. 

Read More ›

Journalist beaten, threatened in North Caucasus

New York, December 23, 2008–Russian authorities should promptly investigate the attack on Zhanna Akbasheva, a correspondent for the Regnum news agency in the republic of Karachai-Cherkessia, in Russia’s North Caucasus, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. 

Read More ›

Court hands down jail terms in defamation case

New York, December 23, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the decision by an Algerian court to sentence an editor-in-chief and a journalist at the Algiers-based independent daily El Watan to a three-month jail term each for defamation on Monday.

Read More ›

A dozen journalists detained, beaten at rally

New York, December 22, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists is incensed by the violent attack on journalists covering a Sunday demonstration in Vladivostok, the regional capital of Primorsky Krai in Russia’s Far East. 

Read More ›

CPJ calls for nonpartisan investigation into attack

New York, December 22, 2008–Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s coalition government must carry out an open, independent, and nonpartisan investigation into Sunday’s attack on Himalmedia in Kathmandu, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Read More ›

CPJ urges Kibaki to reject media bill

Dear Mr. President: We urge you to reject the recently passed Kenya Communications Amendment Bill, which includes provisions that would severely harm press freedom. Legislators approved the measure on December 10, ignoring concerns raised by journalists, media company owners, and even fellow lawmakers.

Read More ›

Broadcaster silenced in Islamist-held city

New York, December 19, 2008–The only radio station in an Islamist-controlled town in southern Somalia was shuttered by militants in a raid last week, according to the station’s director.

Read More ›

Press freedom in the news 12/19/08

Making news today is yesterday’s release of our year-end analysis of the deadliest countries for journalists. The report found that 41 journalists were killed for their work in 2008, with Iraq named the most deadly for the sixth straight year. The Associated Press, Reuters, and Agence France-Presse all ran stories outlining the report’s findings yesterday. Today the story is receiving widespread coverage in both the…

Read More ›

Reporter reflects as Iraq named deadliest for journalists

It has been 14 months since my colleague at The Washington Post Salih Saif Aldin was shot and killed. Time flew by fast and the path for journalists in Iraq is yet to be safe. Shootings, kidnappings, and murder in cold blood have not stopped in my war-torn country. 

Read More ›