Americas
2007
COLOMBIA: Bogotá journalist receives threats after probe
AUGUST 13, 2007 Posted August 21, 2007 Juan Pablo Monsalve, RCN THREATENED Monsalve, a Bogotá-based reporter for the nightly news program “La Noche” on national television station RCN, received multiple threatening calls after he did initial reporting on alleged government corruption in a small town in the northern Bolívar province. Monsalve told CPJ the piece…
Committee will oversee Haitian investigations of journalist murders
New York, August 13, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the creation of an independent committee of Haitian journalists that will review the progress of official investigations into the unsolved murders of journalists in Haiti from 2000 to 2007. Haitian President René Préval announced Friday the creation of the committee, which will be composed of…
Former mayor receives prison sentence for journalist’s murder
UPDATE August 10, 2007 Original case: April 20, 2004 Samuel Romã, Radio Conquista FMKILLEDEurico Mariano, former mayor of Coronel Sapucaia in the southwestern state of Mato Grosso do Sul, was sentenced to 17 years and nine months in prison for hiring the gunmen who in 2004 shot Romã, a host and owner of Radio Conquista…
Journalists detained by Mexican army are released
New York, August 10, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release this afternoon of four Mexican journalists who had been detained on Tuesday night by the army while covering a drug raid. Charges of possession of a firearm and marijuana are still pending against them. The reporters told their lawyer that the weapon and…
Mexican army detains four reporters covering a drug raid
New York, August 9, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists today expressed deep skepticism about drug and weapons charges leveled against four reporters in northern Mexico covering a drug raid. The reporters were detained Tuesday by the Mexican army while they were covering a routine drug raid in the northern state of Coahuila. They have been…
CPJ urges Argentine municipal government to reopen newspaper plant
Dear Mayor De la Quintana, The Committee to Protect Journalists is writing to express deep concern about the closure of the San Lorenzo-based daily El Observador’s printing plant ordered by your government in late July, which prompted the paper to stop publishing. CPJ believes the decision violates freedom of expression as enshrined in the Argentine constitution and in the provincial constitution of Santa Fe.
Journalist shot and wounded after corruption reports
August 6, 2007—Mexican journalist Alberto Fernández Portilla was shot and wounded early Sunday morning as he arrived at his home in Salina Cruz, a Pacific port city in the southern state of Oaxaca. The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Mexican authorities to investigate the attack. Fernández told CPJ that the shooting occurred around 1:50…
Suspect confesses to Oakland editor’s murder
New York, August 6, 2007—CPJ welcomes the swift apprehension of the man who killed Oakland editor Chauncey Bailey. Following a police raid on Friday, a 19-year-old handyman at a local bakery confessed to the murder. Bailey was gunned down in broad daylight as he walked to work on the morning of August 2.
U.S. editor gunned down in Oakland
New York, August 2, 2007—U.S. journalist Chauncey Bailey was shot to death this morning on a street in downtown Oakland. The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed alarm and called on local authorities today to conduct a prompt and vigorous investigation into his murder. Around 7:30 a.m., an unidentified assailant dressed in black clothes approached Bailey,…
In Venezuela, court’s decision allows RCTV to remain on cable
New York, August 2, 2007—Venezuela’s Supreme Tribunal of Justice issued a stay Wednesday allowing RCTV International and dozens of regional stations to remain on cable temporarily, a ruling that came just hours before a deadline set by the government that could have removed their signals from paid subscription television. The constitutional chamber of the…