UPDATE May 6, 2008 Original alert: February 5, 2008Radio France InternationaleCENSOREDIvory Coast’s National Broadcasting Council lifted a ban in place since February 1 on the FM broadcasts of France-based Radio France Internationale (RFI), through a public statement released to the media. The ruling was made as a result of the arrival of a permanent correspondent…
Dear Mr. President: As an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to upholding the principles of press freedom worldwide, we would like to express our concern about the increasing intimidation by your government of Rwanda’s independent media in the run-up to parliamentary elections scheduled for later this year.
Joel Simon Letter to the Editor International Herald Tribune May 5, 2008 President-elect Dmitri Medvedev of Russia will have many advantages when he takes the reins from Vladimir Putin this week. Bolstered by record oil prices, the country’s economic outlook is fairly upbeat. Popular support for the new government is high, thanks largely to Putin’s…
Arbil, Iraq, May 5, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists urged KRG President Masoud Barzani on Sunday to publicly investigate a spate of violent attacks against the press, end official interference and harassment of journalists, and support press legislation that conforms to international standards of free expression. A CPJ delegation met with Barzani at his headquarters…
Editor’s note: The original text of this alert was modified to correct Ibrahim Al-Saraj’s professional affiliation. New York, May 5, 2008–Unidentified gunmen shot and killed an Iraqi journalist in Mosul on Sunday after she resisted their attempt to kidnap her. The journalist, Sarwa Abdul-Wahab, and her mother were walking back from a nearby market to…
New York, May 5, 2008—Police in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, have detained a journalist and three support staffers of a private entertainment magazine since May 2. Local journalists say the detentions are related to a cover story about the high-profile trial of Ethiopia’s most popular pop singer, Tewodros Kassahun. Deputy Editor and owner Alemayehu…
New York, May 2, 2008–To mark World Press Freedom Day, Moroccan journalist Mustafa Hormatallah began a three-day hunger strike today to protest his imprisonment in Casablanca, while journalists led by the National Syndicate of the Moroccan Press planned to stage a sit-in on Saturday.
Robert Mahoney Published in the Guardian ‘s Comment is Free blog May 2, 2008 As published in the Guardian ‘s blog In Britain, to silence a bothersome journalist you hire a lawyer. In much of the developing world, you hire an assassin. Killing a reporter in Russia or Mexico costs just a few thousand dollars.…
Dear Minister Albar, The Committee to Protect Journalists warmly welcomes your April 20 statement indicating that your ministry intends to abolish the annual licensing renewal system for Malaysian news publications. As you noted in your statement, the decision will expand Malaysian press freedom.
New York, May 2, 2008—To mark World Press Freedom Day, Moroccan journalist Mustafa Hormatallah began a three-day hunger strike today to protest his imprisonment in Casablanca, while journalists led by the National Syndicate of the Moroccan Press planned to stage a sit-in on Saturday. Hormatallah, a journalist with the independent weekly Al-Watan Al An,…