In bid to flee homeland, an Eritrean broadcaster dies
New York, July 10, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists mourns the loss of respected Eritrean broadcaster Paulos Kidane who, CPJ sources said, died after attempting to join the dozens of journalists fleeing the government’s absolute control of the country’s media since a massive crackdown on the now-defunct private press.
German media aid to Eritrea raises concerns
Dear Minister Wieczorek-Zeul: The Committee to Protect Journalists notes that the German government has decided to fund the training of journalists working for Eritrea’s state-controlled media while the nation’s independent press remains shut down and more than a dozen publishers and editors continue to be held incommunicado, many since September 2001.
In Eritrea, a prominent journalist dies in a secret government prison
New York, February 9, 2007— The Committee to Protect Journalists deplores the reported death of prominent, award-winning journalist Fesshaye Yohannes, imprisoned without charges in September 2001, along with the majority of Eritrea’s independent press corps. Yohannes, founding editor of the defunct weekly Setit and a recipient of CPJ’s International Press Freedom Award in 2002, died…
Attacks on the Press in 2006: Introduction
By Joel SimonAs Venezuelan elections approached in November, President Hugo Chávez accused news broadcasters of engaging in a “psychological war to divide, weaken, and destroy the nation.” Their broadcast licenses, he said, could be pulled–no idle threat in a country where a vague 2004 media law allows the government to shut down stations for work…