Asia
2007
China issues decree on government transparencyNew rules contain significant limitations and do not ease state’s control of the press
New York, April 24, 2007—China’s State Council today publicized a decree signed by Premier Wen Jiabao to boost the transparency of government offices. But the new rules make broad exceptions for information deemed by authorities to threaten national security, social stability, public safety, and economic security.
In Sri Lanka, editor of Tamil magazine is killed in his home
New York, April 20, 2007—Subash Chandraboas, editor of the Tamil-language monthly magazine Nilam, was shot and killed in his home near Vavuniya on Monday. The Committee to Protect Journalists is investigating whether the killing was related to his work. The Free Media Movement (FMM), a media-rights organization that first reported the death, said it was…
Philippine journalist killed, another wounded in separate shootings
New York, April 19, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the Philippine government to ensure prompt and thorough investigations into two separate shootings this week, one of which took the life of radio reporter Carmelo Palacios. Police have assigned the cases to a special task force that investigates attacks on journalists. “We’re glad that…
Police raid TV station
APRIL 17, 2007 Posted April 24, 2007 Tolo TV HARASSED, ATTACKED The station’s chief, Saad Mohseni, said 50 police officers raided Tolo’s main office in Kabul at 7 p.m., seizing three staff members and bringing them to Attorney General Abdul Jabar Sabet’s office. Sabet had complained of a clip on Tolo’s 6 p.m. news broadcast,…
Journalist threatened
April 17, 2007 Posted April 25, 2007 Champika Liyanarachchi, Editor, Daily Mirror THREATENED Liyanarachchi said Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa called her to complain about Daily Mirror reporter Easwaran Rutnam’s coverage of sectarian fighting in Pottuvil in Ampara district. The article said that Tamil rebels belonging to the breakaway Karuna faction of the Liberation Tigers of…
Indian government shutters Burmese exile-run news Web site
New York, April 17, 2007—After the forced closure of the New Delhi-based Mizzima News, an exile-run Web site popular for hard-hitting reports on neighboring Burma’s military-run government, the Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Indian authorities to fully explain the move. Approximately 20 Indian police and two municipal officials raided Mizzima’s offices on Monday and…
TV talk show hosts get two-year jail sentences for defamation
New York, April 13, 2007—The prison terms handed down to two Bangkok talk show hosts emphasizes the need to decriminalize defamation, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Bangkok’s Southern Criminal Court made the ruling on Thursday in relation to allegations television political commentators Samak Sundaravej and Dusit Siriwan made during their talk shows on…
Afghan journalist Ajmal Nakshbandi killed by captors
New York, April 9, 2007-The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply saddened by the brutal murder of Afghan journalist Ajmal Nakshbandi. Several Taliban spokesmen told media organizations in Kabul that the group had beheaded Naqshbandi in the Garmsir district of Helmand province Sunday afternoon, after the Afghan government refused to release senior Taliban leaders in…
Journalist gets death threats
April 4, 2007 Posted April 16, 2007 Samaresh Baidya, Bhorer Kagoj THREATENED Baidya has received death threats in a letter, several telephone calls, and text messages. Baidya said the threats could be linked to a three-year old article he wrote about High Court Justice Faisal Mahmud Faijee for the Bengali-language newspaper Bhorer Kagog. The article…
Ministry of Information bans YouTube.
APRIL 4, 2007 Posted April 24, 2007 YouTube CENSORED Thailand’s Ministry of Information and Communications Technology ordered the Communications Authority of Thailand, which controls Thailand’s Internet gateway, to block access to the video-sharing Web site YouTube because of content it deemed offensive to the Thai monarchy. The entire site was blocked rather than the individual…