2010

  

Colombian intelligence official held in journalist’s murder

New York, June 30, 2010—A former deputy director of the national Colombian intelligence agency has been ordered held for masterminding the 1999 murder of journalist Jaime Garzón. José Miguel Narváez is currently behind bars awaiting trial in a separate case.

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Police beat journalist at G-20 summit in Toronto

A freelance journalist was beaten by police on June 26, 2010, as he was covering a demonstration related to the G-20 summit of world leaders in Toronto. Jesse Rosenfeld, a contributor to the opinion section of the Guardian online, later said in a press conference that Canadian police authorities attacked him after recognizing him as a “loud-mouthed…

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(Estudio1panama.com)

Veteran Panamanian journalist jailed on defamation charges

New York, June 30, 2010—A 70-year-old Panamanian journalist arrested and jailed Saturday on a 2008 defamation conviction should be immediately released, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.The charges against Carlos Núñez López, at left, stemmed from a 2005 story in the now-defunct weekly newspaper La Crónica about environmental damage in the province of Bocas del Toro, his lawyer, Luis…

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Tampered mail sent to the Awramba Times.

Ethiopian newspaper reports tampering of its mail

New York, June 29, 2010—Ethiopia’s postal service should a conduct thorough and transparent investigation into the tampering of mail addressed to the country’s leading critical newspaper, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.Awramba Times Editor-in-Chief Dawit Kebede said the paper has complained to the Ethiopian Postal Service at least three times since June 6 after finding opened and…

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Skepticism greets arrests in Rwandan journalist’s murder

New York, June 29, 2010—Authorities in Rwanda announced on Monday the arrest of two individuals in the murder of journalist Jean-Léonard Rugambage, who was shot late Thursday as he drove through the gate to his home in Kigali, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed skepticism about the arrests and called on…

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Singapore twice fined the Dow Jones-owned Wall Street Journal Asia over its editorials. (AP)

CJR: Singapore not so modern on press freedom

Singapore is a rich country with a surprisingly poor press freedom record—so says a story out this week in the Columbia Journalism Review. CPJ’s own findings point to a series of court fines and damages awarded over slights to the country’s government by major international papers like The New York Times and The Wall Street…

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CPJ calls on Kuwait to drop charges against al-Jassem

New York, June 28, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Kuwaiti authorities to drop all charges against journalist Mohammed Abdulqader al-Jassem, who was released on bail today. CPJ is also alarmed by local news reports that the Ministry of Information will prosecute Al-Jazeera’s office in Kuwait for violating a ban on local coverage of al-Jassem’s case after the station…

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Fiji’s repressive media decree takes effect

New York, June 28, 2010—A new Fijian media decree that formalizes repressive government control of the media could force the outspoken Fiji Times to close within three months, according to international news reports.

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Lebanon’s parliament must revise repressive tech bill

New York, June 28, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by repressive aspects of a new technology bill that is pending in the Lebanese parliament. CPJ urges parliament to remove several provisions that would restrict press freedom and free expression.

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(Jeanne Umwana)

Editor of censored Rwandan paper is assassinated

New York, June 25, 2010—A top editor of an independent Rwandan newspaper that was recently banned by the government was assassinated in front of his home late Thursday, according to local journalists and news reports. An assailant shot Jean-Léonard Rugambage, left, acting editor of Umuvugizi  as he drove through the gate of his home in the capital, Kigali,…

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