2011
A killing field: The targeting of journalists in Pakistan
For the past several weeks, CPJ’s Asia and Journalist Assistance programs have been in regular contact with local and international organizations who are concerned about the rising number of journalists and media workers at risk in Pakistan. CPJ and several other groups are working together on viable, in-country solutions: Journalists in Pakistan are in need…
Catching the Internet’s spies in Iran and elsewhere
In August, Google introduced a new, if rather obscure, security feature to its Chrome web browser, designed to be triggered only under extreme circumstances. If you were talking to Google’s servers using the web’s secure “https” protocol, your browser makes a number of checks to ensure that you are really talking to Google’s servers. Like…
Gongadze suspect admits to killing, implicates Kuchma
New York, August 31, 2011–A former general with the Ukrainian Interior Ministry testified in a Kyiv court on Tuesday that he killed journalist Georgy Gongadze in 2000 in a plot orchestrated by former President Leonid Kuchma and other top officials, according to news reports and CPJ interviews.
In South Africa, journalists attacked during ANC protest
New York, August 31, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by anti-press violence by supporters of Julius Malema, youth leader of South Africa’s ruling African National Congress, and is relieved that the party leader has urged restraint.
Jailed Egyptian blogger on hunger strike
New York, August 31, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Egypt’s Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to immediately release journalist Maikel Nabil Sanad, who was tried in military court for “insulting the military” and is now serving a three-year sentence in prison. Sanad began a hunger strike in prison on August 22 and…
CPJ Impact
News from the Committee to Protect Journalists, August 2011 Detention of a new suspect in the Politkovskaya murder In a significant development in the investigation into the murder of Novaya Gazeta journalist Anna Politkovskaya, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation–the agency tasked with solving Politkovskaya’s murder–announced on August 16 that it had detained retired…
Sudan frees one journalist; at least 8 still held
New York, August 30, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of a jailed journalist in Sudan, but is troubled by reports of the continued detention of at least eight others without charge. President Omar al-Bashir had announced Saturday that he would free all journalists detained in Sudan.
Venezuelan weekly reopens, executives still charged
New York, August 30, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by ongoing criminal cases against two executives from the Venezuelan newspaper 6to Poder, but welcomes a judge’s decision to allow the weekly to resume publishing. The paper’s owner and a top executive were charged last week with inciting hatred, insulting a public official, and…