2012

  
Police stand guard outside a court where defendants accused of participating in December's deadly clashes in Zhanaozen are on trial in the Caspian port city of Aktau March 28. (Reuters/Vladimir Tretyakov)

Journalist as a threat to Kazakhstan’s national security

In a reply to CPJ’s protest letter regarding the politicized imprisonment of journalist Igor Vinyavsky, Kazakhstan’s General Prosecutor’s Office said the prosecution wasn’t retaliatory nor related to his journalism. CPJ publicly appealed to Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev after his country’s security service, the KNB, raided Vinyavsky’s newsroom and apartment, confiscated reporting equipment, and imprisoned the…

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Ecuador should scrap new media bill, draft new one

Dear Mr. Cordero: The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned about a new Ecuadoran communications bill currently under debate in the National Assembly that would roll back press freedom by promoting self-censorship and restrictions on criticism of public officials.

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Police officers stand in front of ThisDay newspaper in Abuja, which was bombed earlier today. (AFP/Pius Utomi Ekpei)

CPJ condemns attacks on newspaper offices in Nigeria

New York, April 26, 2012–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns bombings today targeting two of the offices of ThisDay newspaper in Nigeria. At least nine people were killed and more than a dozen wounded in the attacks, for which the Islamist militant sect Boko Haram claimed responsibility, according to news reports.

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CPJ
Gang members at a prison in Izalco shortly after a government-brokered truce. (Reuters/Ulises Rodriguez)

Why journalists need new ways to stay safe

After the Salvadoran online newsmagazine El Faro exposed a secret government deal with criminal gangs last month, its staff faced repercussions that illustrate the new and complicated risks facing journalists worldwide. El Faro’s report, which said the government provided more lenient treatment of imprisoned gangsters in exchange for the groups’ agreement to slow down their…

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Two Egyptian journalists attacked in Alexandria

New York, April 26, 2012–Supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood assaulted two Egyptian journalists seeking to cover a public conference held on Tuesday in Alexandria by a presidential candidate of the brotherhood’s political party, according to news reports. 

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Unspoiled swaths of Koh Kon province have been deforested, a story that has proved extraordinarily sensitive. (Reuters/Samrang Pring)

Cambodian activist killed while helping journalists

New York, April 26, 2012–Cambodian authorities should thoroughly investigate a violent confrontation that led to the deaths of a police officer and an activist who was taking two journalists to a logging site said to be illegal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. 

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Writer jailed for defamation amid China rumor crackdown

New York, April 26, 2012–A court in Hunan province has sentenced local resident Hu Lianyou to two years in prison for defaming a police chief in online writings, according to local news reports.

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CPJ Impact

News from the Committee to Protect Journalists, April 2012CPJ launches Journalist Security Guide CPJ launched the Journalist Security Guide recently, which provides reporters with concrete steps to minimize the dangers of digital and physical reporting. In the guide, Danny O’Brien, CPJ’s Internet advocacy coordinator, and Frank Smyth, CPJ’s senior security consultant, discuss the threats facing journalists…

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Boxun News website was attacked after reporting on the scandal involving Bo Xilai. (AFP/Frederic J. Brown)

Boxun news site attacked amid Bo Xilai coverage

New York, April 25, 2012–The U.S.-based, Chinese-language news website Boxun has come under two crippling denial-of-service attacks in the past week as the outlet sought to report on the unfolding murder and corruption scandal involving former senior Communist Party leader Bo Xilai. The attacks forced Boxun to change its hosting company twice, the site’s founder…

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Jordanian journalist arrested over critical article

New York, April 25, 2012–Jordanian journalist Jamal al-Muhtaseb has been detained since Monday on antistate charges after publishing an article alleging misconduct by the Royal Court, according to news reports. Al-Muhtaseb’s sister, the author of the article, was also arrested but was released the same day, news reports said.

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