On December 18, 16 members of the European Parliament (MEPs) wrote an open letter to Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn calling for the immediate release of the independent journalist and blogger Eskinder Nega, who was condemned in July to 18 years in prison under the country’s tough 2009 anti-terrorism legislation.
London, December 19, 2012–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed that two attacks against journalists in Northern Ireland have taken place over the past week. On Friday, a pipe bomb was left at the door of the home of freelance press photographer Mark Pearce. On Monday, Adrian Rutherford, a reporter with the daily Belfast Telegraph,…
New York, December 19, 2012–CPJ is deeply concerned by sedition charges leveled against Mahmudur Rahman, the acting editor and majority owner of the Bengali-language pro-opposition daily Amar Desh and the paper’s publisher, Alhaj Hasmat Ali. The two were charged after publishing news stories based on leaked transcripts of conversations between a lawyer and the lead…
Abuja, Nigeria, December 18, 2012–State security agents in Southeast Nigeria blocked a reporter from filing a story Saturday evening about the status of a governor who hasn’t been seen for several months. The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned this act of crude censorship. At about 11:30 p.m. local time Saturday, seven plainclothes men accosted…
South Africa is in the midst of one of its most important political events–the ruling African National Congress’s Mangaung elective conference, which takes place once every five years to shape policy and elect new leadership. Because of the power of the ANC as South Africa’s leading political party, the conference holds not only the future…
New York, December 18, 2012–Brazilian authorities must immediately provide protection to journalist Mauri König, who went into hiding on Monday after receiving death threats related to his reports on police corruption, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Dear Prime Minister Singh: The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by Indian authorities’ continued abuse of a colonial-era sedition law to stifle freedom of expression. CPJ calls on your government to begin taking action toward repealing the law, section 124A in the Indian penal code, which Indian lawmakers have deemed punitive and outdated.
Murder is the leading cause of work-related deaths among journalists worldwide–and this year was no exception. But the death toll in 2012 continued a recent shift in the nature of journalist fatalities worldwide. More journalists were killed in combat situations in 2012 than in any year since 1992, when CPJ began keeping detailed records.