It’s an honor
Yesterday, CPJ received the Thomas J. Dodd Prize for International Justice and Human Rights at an outdoor ceremony at the University of Connecticut. It was one of those perfect, crisp fall mornings in New England with a strong wind blowing clouds across the sun and shaking the first leaves from the maples, which have already…
Critical Venezuelan journalist arrested on contempt of court
Venezuelan Judge Fanny Yasmina Becerra ordered the arrest of journalist Gustavo Azócar on July 29, 2009, stating that he violated the conditions of his 2006 parole on charges of illegal acquisition of wealth and fraud by publicly commenting on his case. Táchira state authorities took Azócar into custody at 10:30 p.m., and drove him to…
CPJ receives Dodd human rights prize
New York, October 5, 2009—The Committee to Protect Journalists was honored today with the fourth biennial Thomas J. Dodd Prize in International Justice and Human Rights. The $75,000 prize is given “to an individual or group who has made a significant effort to advance the cause of international justice and global human rights.” CPJ was…
Honduran radio station goes online after suspension
Early Monday morning, military and police personnel forcefully shut down the Tegucigalpa-based Radio Globo under a decree by the de facto government that suspends civil liberties, CPJ reported. Today, Honduran and international media outlets said the radio station was being broadcast online.
U.S. reporter faces ‘insult’ suit in Brazil air crash aftermath
New York, September 29, 2009—U.S. freelance journalist Joe Sharkey, who covered a 2006 plane crash in Brazil in which he was a passenger, faces an onerous civil defamation suit for comments he said were wrongly attributed to him. On the third anniversary of the accident, the Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Brazilian judicial authorities…
Honduras must allow pro-Zelaya broadcasters to reopen
New York, September 28, 2009—The interim government of Honduras must immediately allow two private broadcasters loyal to ousted President Manuel Zelaya to return to the air, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Officials, acting under a new decree that suspends civil liberties, shut down Radio Globo and Canal 36 television early today, according to…
Mexican journalist killed inside newsroom in Chihuahua
New York, September 25, 2009—Mexico must put an end to the pattern of impunity in journalists’ murders by prosecuting all those responsible for Wednesday’s brutal killing of Norberto Miranda Madrid, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Miranda, a harsh critic of local crime, was shot to death in his office in Nuevo Casas Grandes…
Veteran TV reporter shot dead in central Colombia
New York, September 24, 2009—Veteran television journalist Diego de Jesús Rojas Velásquez was gunned down Tuesday outside the central Colombian city of Supía, according to interviews and press reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Colombian authorities to thoroughly investigate the killing.
CPJ to honor five international journalists
New York, September 23, 2009—The Committee to Protect Journalists will honor courageous journalists from Somalia, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, and Azerbaijan with its 2009 International Press Freedom Awards at a ceremony in November. Mustafa Haji Abdinur of Somalia, Naziha Réjiba of Tunisia, Eynulla Fatullayev of Azerbaijan, and J.S. Tissainayagam of Sri Lanka have faced imprisonment, threats…
Anthony Lewis, former New York Times columnist, author
Burton Benjamin Award Awards 2009 |Announcement of the Awards | Eynulla Fatullayev | J.S. Tissainayagam | Naziha Réjiba | Mustafa Haji Abdinur Tony Cenicola Anthony Lewis is a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize and one of the foremost thinkers on freedom of speech and First Amendment rights. In a distinguished career at The New…