2010
In Gabon, censorship lingers from 2009 vote
In Gabon, more than a year after the historic and contested presidential elections won by Ali Ben Bongo Ondimba, the main radio and television stations of Ondimba’s two main opponents still face administrative obstructions imposed during the polls, according to interviews CPJ conducted with journalists and officials between July and September.
CPJ Impact
News from the Committee to Protect Journalists, October 2010 CPJ announces 2010 press freedom awardsMedia repression in Iran, Ethiopia, Russia and Venezuela will be under the spotlight next month when CPJ presents the 2010 International Press Freedom Awards in New York City. CPJ announced the winners this month:Dawit Kebede of Ethiopia, Nadira Isayeva of Russia, Laureano…
In China, more calls for media freedom
Today, members of China’s Communist Party Central Committee met in Beijing to open a three-day discussion on the country’s next five-year development plan. And while they’re unlikely to openly debate a recent letter by 23 senior Party members, which called for sweeping reforms of China’s media censorship policies, it will certainly be in the air.
Indonesian Playboy editor held in high-security prison
Erwin Arnada turned himself in to authorities at Cipinang prison in East Jakarta on October 9 to start serving a two-year sentence for public indecency. His conviction stemmed from pictures he published in a 2006 issue of the now-defunct Indonesian edition of Playboy magazine. On September 30, CPJ called on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and…
Communist Party elders urge end to China’s censorship
Twenty-three senior Communist Party members have published a letter calling for sweeping reforms of China’s media censorship policies. “Our core demand is that the system of censorship be dismantled in favor of a system of legal responsibility,” the letter said, according to an English translation by Hong Kong University’s China Media Project. Widely distributed by e-mail and posted…
A top Kazakhstan diplomat pledges press reforms
Kazakhstan is ready to bring its press laws in line with international standards, a top diplomat told a CPJ delegation in Vienna this week. Decriminalizing libel, placing caps on defamation awards, and enacting access-to-information legislation are on the government’s agenda, said Kazakhstan Ambassador Kairat Abdrakhmanov, who is chairman of the permanent council of the Organization…
Iran must disclose identities of detained Germans
New York, October 12, 2010–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Iranian authorities to immediately disclose the names of two Germans who were arrested on Sunday and described as journalists in several news reports. CPJ also asked Iranian officials to clarify the circumstances surrounding the arrests of the two individuals and to state what, if…
Cuba frees 17th journalist jailed in Black Spring
New York, October 12, 2010–Cuban journalist Alfredo Felipe Fuentes, left, was freed from prison on Friday and exiled to Spain as part of a July agreement between the Havana government and the Catholic Church. Seventeen journalists jailed in the 2003 Black Spring crackdown have now been freed and exiled as part of the agreement. “I feel…
As with Norgrove, a need to probe Munadi death
This morning, Prime Minister David Cameron announced that British aid worker Linda Norgrove, who died in a rescue attempt after she was taken hostage in Afghanistan, may have been killed by a U.S. grenade rather than by her Taliban captors, as originally reported.