CPJ RELEASES JOURNALIST SECURITY HANDBOOK New York, February 27, 2003–In an effort to prepare journalists for potentially hazardous reporting duties in conflict zones, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) today released an online journalist security handbook, titled “On Assignment: Covering Conflict Safely” (click here). The handbook, which is geared toward editors and journalists covering conflict,…
New York, February 26, 2003–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release from prison of Abdoulaye Tiémogo, an editor at the weekly Le Canard Déchaîné, which is based in Niger’s capital, Niamey. Tiémogo, who was freed on Tuesday, February 18, after completing his eight-month prison sentence, was arrested on June 18, 2002, for allegedly defaming…
Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is alarmed by the government’s closure of Radio Bombolom, Guinea-Bissau’s main independent news broadcaster, in the latest attempt to silence critical voices ahead of general elections scheduled for April 20. On February 13, police shuttered Radio Bombolom’s offices, forcing the broadcaster off the air. The Ministry of…
New York, February 10, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) deplores last week’s decision sentencing of two journalists to prison. On Thursday, February 6, a court in the capital, N’Djamena, convicted Nadjikimo Bénoudjita, the publisher of the private weekly Notre Temps, and Mbainaye Bétoubam, an editor at the paper, of criminal defamation and sentenced each…
New York, February 5, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) today delivered more than 600 petitions to Eritrean president Isaias Afewerki calling for the release of jailed Eritrean journalist Fesshaye Yohannes (commonly known as Joshua), a recipient of CPJ’s 2002 International Press Freedom Award. Fesshaye, the popular editor of the weekly Setit, Eritrea’s largest-circulation newspaper,…
New York, January 31, 2003–Six men accused of killing Mozambican journalist Carlos Cardoso were convicted today and sentenced to lengthy prison terms, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists’ (CPJ) representative at the trial in Mozambique’s capital, Maputo. Meanwhile, fugitive suspect Anibal dos Santos Junior, commonly known as Anibalzhino, who escaped from pretrial detention, was…
New York, January 30, 2003—A verdict in the trial of six men accused of killing Mozambican investigative reporter Carlos Cardoso is expected tomorrow. South African journalist Phillip Van Niekerk will represent the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on the final day of the trial. Van Niekerk, a former editor of the Johannesburg Mail & Guardian…
ETHIOPIA: New York, November 12, 2003—The Ethiopian Free Press Journalists’ Association (EFJA) has received a letter from the Justice Ministry, announcing that the organization is suspended, because of failure to comply with audit and licensing requirements. EFJA president, Kifle Mulat, says the organization is being targeted for political reasons, but the government says EFJA has…
New York, December 9, 2002—Liberian authorities released journalist Hassan Bility, whom authorities had held incommunicado since June 24 as a “prisoner of war.” According to news reports, Bility, editor of the independent weekly The Analyst, was released without being charged or tried. He left the country this weekend for an undisclosed location. On December 1,…
There were 139 journalists in prison around the world at the end of 2002 who were jailed for practicing their profession. The number is up significantly from the previous year, when 118 journalists were in jail. An analysis of the reasons behind this increase is contained in the introduction.At the beginning of 2003, CPJ sent…