New York, January 22, 2009–The convictions of three former public officials on charges of plotting the 2003 murder of Colombian radio commentator José Emeterio Rivas represent a historic step forward in the campaign to end impunity in the killings of journalists, CPJ said today. The three are the first masterminds to be convicted and imprisoned…
Agence France-Presse has coverage of our letter sent to Cameroonian President Paul Biya on January 16. The letter protested the jailing of four Cameroonian journalists, which makes the country Africa’s second-leading jailer of journalists. The reporters have been held since September on charges of criminal defamation. AFP quotes CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon: “The journalists…
New York, January 16, 2009–Unidentified individuals shot and injured a Venezuelan journalist outside the offices of the local daily El Regional in the southwestern Portuguesa province on Tuesday evening. The Committee to Protect Journalists called today on Venezuelan authorities to investigate the attack and bring all those responsible to justice.
A new report investigating conduct by St. Paul police during last summer’s Republican National Convention faults them over their handling of journalists. But the St. Paul Police Department’s response to the report raises questions over how the department will respond to journalists, including those from alternative and new media outlets, who cover similar future events.
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki says he will reconsider the deeply flawed communications legislation that he signed into law at the beginning of the year. Kibaki said he would direct the Information Ministry and attorney general to consider the concerns of Kenya’s media and present them to the cabinet for possible legislative revision. CPJ and other…
The aftermath of the January 6 attack on the Televisa studios in Monterrey, a city that until recently was considered one of the safest in Latin America, has generated great interest locally in how the media is protecting itself. As part of the coverage, headlines in the Mexican media this morning said that journalists reporting for the…
Dear President-elect Obama: I am writing as chairman of the Committee to Protect Journalists to seek your leadership in reaffirming America’s role as a staunch defender of press freedom throughout the world. Journalists in many countries who risk their lives and liberty upholding the values of free expression look to the United States for support.