2011
Karachi might be more dangerous for media than FATA
Karachi, Pakistan’s economic hub, is one of the country’s main media centers, with more than 2,000 journalists and the head offices of leading media organizations. Journalists in the city have come under attack before, with seven journalists killed there since 1994. But the situation was never as dangerous as it has been this past year.
Five suspects arrested in murder of Brazilian editor
New York, July 8, 2011—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the arrest on Saturday of five suspects in the murder of Brazilian newspaper editor, politician, and blogger Edinaldo Filgueira, who was shot and killed by unidentified gunmen on June 15 in the town of Serra do Mel in the northeastern state of Rio Grande do…
Iran abuses detained journalists, arrests others
New York, July 8, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists is disturbed by the Iranian government’s persistent mistreatment of detained journalists as well as news reports that authorities have arrested two additional journalists in recent days. “We are profoundly disturbed by media reports and testimonies indicating that Iran’s prison and judicial authorities continue to engage in abusive…
Dozens of journalists detained in Belarus crackdown
New York, July 7, 2011–Belarusian authorities must immediately cease their ongoing crackdown against the independent press and release all journalists in state custody, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Police in Minsk and other cities across the country detained at least 28 journalists on Wednesday who were covering protest rallies that opposition activists have…
Chinese censorship fans rumors on Jiang Zemin
Sina’s Twitter-like microblog platform Weibo blocked searches for “death,” “river” and “301 Hospital” on Wednesday, according to The Wall Street Journal website. The company was responding to what Reuters reported was the service’s most-discussed topic yesterday–the rumored demise of former President Jiang Zemin, whose surname, Jiang, means “river,” and who may or may not have…
Release Swedish journalists immediately
New York, July 7, 2011–Following Ethiopian state television’s broadcast of a clip presenting jailed and injured Swedish journalists Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye as accomplices to terrorists, the Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Ethiopia to immediately release the two journalists.
When rape is inevitable: Surviving imprisonment in Iran
As I read the account of Saeeda Siabi in an Iranian prison it became hard for me to breathe. Her descriptions of being raped in front of her 4-month-old son stopped the air in my chest. “They took me to a torture room and tied me to a bed,” she said. “I was wounded and…
Armed man pursues journalist in Moscow
Moscow, July 7, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Moscow police to thoroughly investigate today’s incident involving Vadim Rechkalov, a political commentator with the popular daily newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets, in which an unknown man threatened him with a gun.