2011
In Sri Lanka, anti-government website blocked
New York, October 19, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by reports that access to anti-government news website Lanka eNews has been blocked inside Sri Lanka, according to the site’s exiled editor and users inside the country. All three language versions of the site, English, Sinhala, and Tamil, have not been available since Tuesday.
A personal side to Anna Politkovskaya’s legacy
Internationally renowned for her work, respected for her courage and still mourned by thousands around the world five years after her murder, Anna Politkovsakya has become an iconic symbol in the global human rights struggle. But Sunday night, family, friends, colleagues and others came together to share a more personal picture.
Laura Pollán Toledo, who rallied the wives of jailed Cuban dissidents, dies at 63
The CPJ remembers Cuban human rights advocate Laura Pollán Toledo who died in Havana on Friday. Founding the Ladies in White after the arrest of her husband, journalist Hector Maseda Gutiérrez during the Cuban government’s 2003 Black Spring crackdown on the press and dissent, Pollán worked endlessly for justice. Earlier this year she was rewarded…
Iranian students barred for beliefs, say campaigners
In May 2007 the CPJ expressed outrage over the arrest of four student editors, including Puyan Mahmudian, in the run up to student elections at the Amirkabir University of Technology in Tehran. This article from CNN.com describes how despite spending months in prison and confessing to charges against him, Mahmudian and hundreds of others are blacklisted…
Egypt military takes over inquiry of Coptic unrest
At least 26 civilians, mostly Coptic Christians, were killed in clashes with the military last week in what has become the worst violence seen in Egypt since the uprising earlier this year. The Associated Press reiterates the CPJ’s call on Egyptian authorities to investigate the death of Coptic broadcaster Wael Mikhael, who was killed after…
Liberian media outlets targeted in post-election violence
New York, October 18, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Monday’s arson attack against a Liberian radio station and threats made against another radio station’s journalists in response to their coverage of Liberia’s presidential elections.
Ethiopia media gagged by anti-terror laws
CPJ’s East Africa Consultant Tom Rhodes and Africa Advocacy Coordinator Mohamed Keita are featured in an article from The Bureau of Investigative Journalism highlighting Ethiopia’s draconian anti-terror laws and how they are used to muzzle journalists. Click here for the full story.
Swedish support for jailed colleagues in Ethiopia, Eritrea
If you pass by Kronoberg Prison in Sweden’s capital, Stockholm, you will see journalists chained to its gates. They have committed no crime. For over a week, journalists have taken turns locking themselves up in front of the prison to raise awareness of the imprisonment of three colleagues held in the Horn of Africa.