2012
CPJ Impact
News from the Committee to Protect Journalists, June 2012East African journalists flee violence CPJ’s Journalists in Exile report, released on June 19 ahead of World Refugee Day, found that African reporters fleeing violence in their countries make up nearly half of the 463 journalists forced into exile over the past five years. More than a…
Eskinder Nega, 5 exiled journalists convicted of terrorism
Nairobi, June 27, 2012–Today’s conviction of six Ethiopian journalists on vague terrorism charges is an affront to the rule of law and the constitution in the Horn of Africa country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. At least 11 journalists have been charged with terrorism since November 2011, according to CPJ research.
Deadly attack launched on Syrian TV station
New York, June 27, 2012–A number of employees for the pro-government Syrian television station Al-Ikhbariya were killed when the station was attacked by gunmen this morning, according to the official news agency Sana. Other employees were reported wounded or kidnapped, the agency said.
CPJ condemns Eskinder Nega verdict in Ethiopia
New York, June 27, 2012-The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns today’s conviction of Ethiopian blogger Eskinder Nega on baseless terrorism charges. “The Ethiopian government has once again succeeded in misusing the law to silence critical and independent reporting,” said CPJ Africa Advocacy Coordinator Mohamed Keita. “The charges against Eskinder are baseless and politically motivated in…
Another journalist reports sex assault in Tahrir Square
The story sounds hideously like another–one of a chaotic, predatory attack on a woman journalist in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. Clothes torn from her body, hundreds of men surging to grab her breasts and claw at her. A woman wondering, “Maybe this is how I go, how I die.” It has been almost a year and…
Journalists imprisoned, threatened in Belarus
New York, June 26, 2012–Belarusian authorities should immediately release a critical journalist who was tried, convicted and sentenced to prison in a single day on a vague charge of hooliganism, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. In an unrelated incident, a Belarus correspondent for the independent Moscow-based newspaper Novaya Gazeta received a threatening package…