2011

  

In China, real people vs. Internet minders

In the next three months, users of China’s microblog weibo.com — “weibo” is the generic Chinese term for Twitter-like platforms — run by the huge sina.com (the English site is here) news portal, entertainment and blogging site, will have to start providing their real-world identities to the site, instead of simply being able to register.…

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New Libyan rule halts delivery of journalist visas

Dear Prime Minister Abdurrahim al-Keib: The Committee to Protect Journalists has been monitoring with growing concern the difficulties that many foreign journalists have been experiencing in obtaining a visa to your country.

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Ethiopia must free convicted Swedish journalists

December 21, 2011–Today’s conviction of two Swedish journalists by an Ethiopian court is emblematic of Ethiopia’s increasing use of antiterrorism laws to persecute independent media, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

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AFP photographer Mustafa Ozer is detained at his home in Istanbul. (AFP/Bulent Kilic)

Turkey must justify widespread arrests of journalists

New York, December 20, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by reports of the arrests of journalists in a nationwide sweep today in Turkey, and calls on authorities to immediately disclose the names of those detained along with any charges being filed against them.

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Two Brazzaville weeklies suspended; CPJ seeks reversal

New York, December 20, 2011–Authorities in the Republic of Congo should immediately lift the months-long suspensions imposed last week against two private weeklies in reprisal for articles critical of government officials, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. 

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Kyrgyzstan Supreme Court upholds Askarov sentence

New York, December 20, 2011–Today’s ruling by Kyrgyzstan’s Supreme Court upholding a life sentence for independent journalist Azimjon Askarov on fabricated charges is a lethal blow to press freedom and justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said.

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Kazakh authorities censor news on deadly clashes

New York, December 20, 2011–Authorities in the Mangistau region of western Kazakhstan have attacked and detained independent journalists and blocked access to news outlets to suppress coverage of unrest there, news reports said. The Committee Protect today called on Kazakh authorities to allow the media unfettered access.

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Pakistan’s Hamid Mir publicizes a death threat

Geo TV’s most prominent television anchor, and one of the most prominent journalists in Pakistan, has just circulated a detailed email message of threats he has been receiving. Hamid Mir’s open, public response to the threats is a textbook case of how to handle the steady stream of intimidation that journalists face, not just in…

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Journalists killed: Inside the numbers

CPJ today released its annual tally of the journalists killed around the world. This is always a somber occasion for us as we chronicle the grim toll, remember friends who have been lost, and recommit ourselves to justice. It’s also a time when we are asked questions about our research and why our numbers are…

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Protesters throw stones at Egyptian soldiers during clashes in Cairo on Sunday. (AP/Nasser Nasser)

In Egypt, press freedom abuses must be investigated

New York, December 19, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Egyptian authorities to halt the assaults on journalists and attacks on news outlets which are effectively censoring coverage of ongoing protests in Cairo. In recent days, CPJ has documented at least 15 attacks on the press during clashes between security forces and protesters in…

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