Attacks on the Press 2007: Middle East and North Africa Snapshots
AlgeriaBahrainJordanKuwaitLibyaMauritaniaSudan Syria ALGERIA • Authorities arrested Kamel Bousaad, editor of the pro-Islamist weekly Errissala, on February 8 and Berkane Bouderbala, managing editor of the weekly Essafir, on February 11, after their newspapers published controversial Danish cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad. The editors faced charges under Article 144 of the penal code for insulting the Prophet…
Mexican drug cartel gunman arrested for attempted murder
New York, January 29, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists urges Mexican authorities to fully investigate the alleged involvement of Alfredo Araujo Avila, a top hit man for the Arellano Félix drug cartel, in the shooting of editor J. Jesús Blancornelas a decade ago. Araujo was arrested Saturday in Tijuana by the Mexican military, according to…
Gunmen attack director of Mexican daily
New York, January 28, 2008—Mexican journalist Octavio Soto Torres, known for his harsh criticism of local authorities, was shot at by four masked gunmen on Wednesday night while driving in the city of Pánuco, Veracruz state. Soto and his son, 16, who was also in the car, were not shot, but Soto was injured as…
Reporter killed in central Mexico
New York, December 10, 2007–Mexican reporter Gerardo Israel García Pimentel was assassinated on Saturday as he was entering the hotel where he lived in Uruapan, the second largest city in the central state of Michoacán. The Committee to Protect Journalists is investigating possible links between García’s death and his work as a journalist.
MEXICO: Reporter threatened and robbed in central Michoacán
October 26, 2007 Posted November 2, 2007 Ricardo Zarco, Cadena 3 THREATENED, HARASSED Zarco, a 36-year-old freelance cameraman and producer for the Mexico City-based television network Cadena 3, was threatened and robbed while on his way home from work in Morelia, the capital of the central state of Michoacán.
CPJ calls for investigation into Bradley Will murder
Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned that one year after the death of journalist Bradley Roland Will nobody has been brought to justice. Further, we are troubled by the absence of a serious murder investigation and the lack of official response to witness reports and photographs from the murder scene that identify several armed men shooting into the crowd where Will was present.
MEXICO: TV reporter and cameraman disappear
Gamaliel López Candanosa, TV Azteca Noreste, May 10, 2007, Monterrey Gerardo Paredes Pérez, TV Azteca Noreste, May 10, 2007, Monterrey TV Azteca Noreste reporter Gamaliel López Candanosa and camera operator Gerardo Paredes Pérez went missing on May 10 in the northern city of Monterrey, 440 miles (700 kilometers) from Mexico City, after reporting live on…