Bush, Blair should set record straight on leaked Al-Jazeera threat
New York, November 23, 2005—U.S. President George Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair should clarify reports by a British newspaper that Bush had raised the idea of bombing the headquarters and other offices of the Qatar-based satellite television network Al-Jazeera during an April 2004 meeting with Blair in Washington. The London-based tabloid the Daily…
Top Brazilian journalist held hostage by punitive lawsuitsAward winner cannot attend presentation; CPJ seeks changes
Belém, Brazil, November 15, 2005—A leading Brazilian journalist being honored by the Committee to Protect Journalists with a prestigious International Press Freedom Award cannot attend the presentation this month because a series of punitive criminal lawsuits has made him a virtual hostage in his Amazonian hometown. “It’s crucial for me to stay in Belém to…
Mexican radio reporter survives murder attempt
New York, November 8, 2005—A Mexican radio reporter was seriously wounded on Sunday after being shot seven times at close range while walking his dog in a park in Loma Bonita, a town in Oaxaca state. The Committee to Protect Journalists is investigating whether the shooting was retaliation for the journalist’s work. Benjamín Fernández González,…
Four journalists abducted by former paramilitaries
New York, October 27, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is outraged by the recent abduction of four Guatemalan journalists. On Sunday, October 26, former paramilitary fighters kidnapped reporters Freddy López and Alberto Ramírez, and photographers Emerson Díaz and Mario Linares, all of the Guatemala Citybased daily Prensa Libre, in the town of La Libertad,…
Held for nearly four years without charge
New York, October 26, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about alleged attempts by the U.S. military to recruit a detained journalist as a spy. London’s Guardian newspaper reported that U.S. military interrogators allegedly told a journalist for Qatar-based Al-Jazeera that he would be released if he agreed to inform U.S. intelligence authorities about…
Cubans: Direct Line to Readers
Since 1995, when the first independent news agencies emerged in Cuba, dozens of journalists have fled the country to escape harassment, threats, detention, or jail. Many have settled in the United States or Spain, where some continue to work as journalists. Manuel Vázquez Portal, who won CPJ’s 2003 International Press Freedom Award, settled in Miami…