New York, March 5, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the decision on Tuesday by an Algerian court of appeals to uphold two-month jail terms for two journalists at the Algiers-based independent daily El Watan. The appeal court in Jijel, nearly 224 miles (360 kilometers) east of Algiers, upheld the convictions of Omar Belhouchet, editor…
Dear Mr. President, The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned about the recent attacks on the Belgrade-based independent broadcaster B92 and its founder, Veran Matic. The attacks started in the wake of Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence on February 17–culminating in the siege of the station by angry protesters on February 21–and have continued since.
PAKISTAN: New York, March 4, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists extends its condolences to the family and colleagues of Siraj Uddin, a correspondent for the daily Nation, who died in the February 29 suicide bombing in Mingora, Pakistan. The bombing, which took the lives of more than 40 people, took place at the funeral of…
New York, March 3, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by the one-year jail sentence handed down in absentia to an Iranian-American journalist working for U.S.-backed Radio Farda by a Revolutionary Court on Saturday. Tehran’s 13th Revolutionary Court convicted Parnaz Azima of disseminating propaganda against the Islamic Republic by working for Radio Farda,…
New York, March 3, 2008—Government soldiers raided three radio stations in Somalia on Sunday and detained the director of one of the stations, according to journalists who witnessed the events. The raids occurred after heavy fighting and looting over the weekend in the central area of the capital, Mogadishu. Journalists from Horn Afrik, Radio Shabelle,…
Restrictions imposed as president declares emergency New York, March 3, 2008—Armenian authorities should immediately lift restrictions on independent news reporting and the censorship of independent news Web sites, steps imposed when President Robert Kocharian declared a state of emergency on Saturday, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Kocharian declared a 20-day state of emergency…
MARCH 3, 2008 Posted March 28, 2008 Jacques Blaise Mvié, La Nouvelle PresseKIDNAPPED Director Jacques Blaise Mvié of the private weekly La Nouvelle Presse told CPJ an unidentified man in plain clothes jumped from a gray Toyota Prado 4 x 4 and forced him at gunpoint in the car as he was walking away from…
MARCH 2008 Posted March 12, 2008 “Toronto 17” LEGAL Several news organizations have asked a Canadian appeals court to overturn a publication, broadcast, and Internet ban imposed on the ongoing bail hearings of 17 suspects accused of alleged terrorist activities concerning the Canadian capital of Toronto. Authorities announced the arrest of the suspects, since known…