April 2009 - Page 5 of 9 - Committee to Protect Journalists

Bouteflika urged to reverse Algerian press freedom abuses

April 20, 2009 10:15 AM EDT

Dear Mr. President: The Committee to Protect Journalists is writing to protest the rising incidence of press freedom violations, many of which occurred during the recent electoral campaign that resulted in your re-election to a third term.

Audio: Robert Mahoney on NPR

April 20, 2009 9:38 AM EDT

CPJ’s Deputy Director Robert Mahoney appeared on the April 18 edition of NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday to discuss what lies ahead for freelance journalist Roxana Saberi after she was sentenced to 8 years in prison by an Iranian court.Click here to listen to the full interview at NPR.org.

CPJ: Saberi trial lacks transparency

April 20, 2009 9:04 AM EDT

CPJ’s Robert Mahoney says in an interview with NPR that Roxana Saberi’s trial was not transparent. He urges restrained rhetoric but continued advocacy and diplomacy with Iran.

In Iran, Roxana Saberi sentenced to eight years in prison

April 18, 2009 7:21 AM EDT

New York, April 18, 2009–An Iranian court convicted journalist Roxana Saberi of espionage and sentenced her to eight years in prison today following a closed, one-day trial earlier this week, according to international news reports. Her lawyer said he will appeal. “Roxana Saberi’s trial lacked transparency and we are concerned that she may not have been…

Documentarian escorted off campus during ceremony

April 17, 2009 5:53 PM EDT

On April 15, 2009, a documentary filmmaker was handcuffed and forcibly removed from the University of Southern California campus during a journalism awards ceremony. The filmmaker, John Ziegler, was led away by two USC Department of Public Safety officers after refusing university requests to remain within a designated area behind a barricade set up for…

Thai media owner shot; emergency still in effect

April 17, 2009 3:12 PM EDT

New York, April 17, 2009–Amid Thailand’s continuing political chaos, the Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemns the assassination attempt against media owner, television commentator, and political activist Sondhi Limthongkul today and calls on Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s government to ensure a quick investigation.

China’s ‘right to be heard’ often means the right to conceal

April 17, 2009 1:03 PM EDT

China’s National Human Rights Action Plan for 2009-2010 (English/Chinese), released Monday, contained plenty for the domestic media to praise, but enough omissions for international rights activists to jump on.

Executions in editor’s murder trigger doubts, outrage

April 17, 2009 10:38 AM EDT

Sudan’s execution this week of nine men found guilty of involvement in the 2006 assassination of editor Mohammed Taha Mohammed Ahmed, left, is seen by many there as an outrageous miscarriage of justice, spurred by a thirst on the part of President Omar al-Bashir’s regime for settling scores with the rebellious region of Darfur.

Garcia-Esperat murder case moves forward

April 16, 2009 5:19 PM EDT

The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility reports today that a Philippine court has denied a motion to dismiss murder charges against two government officials accused of ordering the 2005 murder of journalist Marlene Garcia-Esperat.

Petition seeks a ‘soft law’ ruling in Manneh disappearance

April 16, 2009 1:59 PM EDT

Eyewitnesses saw him being led away. “We were in our Banjul newsroom on July 7, 2006, working on the next issue of the Daily Observer, when two plainclothes officers with the Gambian National Intelligence Agency approached Chief,” wrote Observer editor and correspondent Ousman Darboe. “I knew one of the officers as a Corporal Sey. They…