Houston papers disappear, editor threatened
UNITED STATES: New York, June 18, 2008—The publisher and editor of an Urdu-language newspaper in Houston, Pakistan Times USA, has received telephone death threats, and thousands of copies of the free weekly were removed in bulk from dozens of locations in southeastern Texas. The threats and theft of the papers came after the Pakistan Times…
After six years, Al-Jazeera cameraman freed from Guantanamo
New York, May 1, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release today of an Al-Jazeera cameraman who was held for six years without charge or trial at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Al-Jazeera reported late this afternoon that Sami al-Haj had been freed and was on a plane that was expected…
Appeals court stays fines against USA Today reporter
New York, March 13, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is pleased that a federal appeals court on Tuesday temporarily blocked a lower court’s ruling requiring a former USA Today journalist to pay thousands of dollars of fines out of her own pocket for refusing to disclose sources. On February 29, U.S. District Court Judge Reggie B.…
Attacks on the Press 2007: United States
Editor Chauncey Bailey was gunned down three blocks from his Oakland, Calif., office in August, becoming the first U.S. journalist killed for his work in six years. Bailey, editor-in-chief of the Oakland Post and four other weeklies focusing on the San Francisco Bay Area’s African-American communities, was targeted after investigating the alleged criminal activities of…
Judge Reverses Ruling on Censored Web site
FEBRUARY 2008 Posted March 5, 2008 Wikileaks UNCENSORED A federal judge in San Francisco reversed a prior ruling to effectively shut down a California-based Web site that routinely posts documents alleging malfeasance by governments and other agencies. On February 29, Judge Jeffrey S. White vacated a permanent injunction that he had imposed only nine days…
Publisher threatened after editor’s murder
JANUARY 2008 Posted February 15, 2008 Paul Cobb, Post Newspaper Group THREATENED Post Newspaper Group publisher Paul Cobb reported to Oakland Police a planned attempt on his life, according to a report by The Chauncey Bailey Project in the Contra Costa Times and other Bay area newspapers. Cobb, publisher of the Oakland Post and other…
Al-Jazeera cameraman’s health deteriorates at Guantanamo
New York, October 10, 2007—An Al-Jazeera cameraman held at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay for five years without charge is in deteriorating health as a result of a hunger strike, his lawyer told the Committee to Protect Journalists. The lawyer also revealed that the U.S. military, in a recent hearing, cited cameraman Sami…
Former BBC captive voices support for detained Al-Jazeera cameraman
New York, October 4, 2007—A BBC reporter kidnapped and held captive in the Gaza Strip for nearly four months this year is expressing his support for Al-Jazeera cameraman Sami al-Haj, who has been held for more than five years without charge at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Editor sues police over seizure and arrest
SEPTEMBER 2007 Posted January 25, 2008 Roberto Lima, Brazilian Voice HARASSED Newspaper editor Lima filed a civil lawsuit against police in Newark, New Jersey, accusing the department of unlawfully seizing photos at a crime scene. On September 6, 2007, Lima, editor of the Portuguese-language weekly, Brazilian Voice, and his staff discovered a dead body, reported…