Asia
2011
Imprisoned journalists in Burma
Published September 20, 2011Burma has a long record of jailing independent journalists, ranking among the world’s five worst jailers of the press for four consecutive years, CPJ research shows. Journalists are typically charged with violating the country’s censorship laws, among the strictest in the world, or engaging in “antistate” activities such as disseminating information to…
CPJ welcomes Malaysian reform vow
Bangkok, September 16, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s vow to abolish the Printing Presses and Publishing Act, and urges his administration to follow through with additional press freedom-related reforms.On Thursday, during an Independence Day national address, Najib vowed to dismantle two harsh security-related laws–the Internal Security Act and the…
In Nepal, killers of journalists could go free
Dear Prime Minister Bhattarai: We are alarmed by recent reports regarding the planned amnesty of criminal cases pending from past political violence in Nepal and are writing to express our concern that people convicted of killing journalists could go free based on political decisions made by your government.
Burmese journalist given additional 10-year sentence
Bangkok, September 15, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the 10-year jail sentence handed down to Burmese journalist Sithu Zeya, a photographer with the Norway-based, exile-run Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), and calls on the government to reverse the ruling and stop its retaliation against exile-affiliated journalists.
Press freedom heroes in Southeast Asia
Three Southeast Asian journalists–Cambodia’s Hang Chakra, Malaysia’s Zulkiflee Anwar Ul Haque, or Zunar, and Thailand’s Chiranuch Premchaiporn–were among the 48 awardees of the Hellman/Hammett grant, given to writers targeted with political persecution, who were recognized today by Human Rights Watch for their commitment to press freedom.
Free Burma VJ campaign urges release of journalists
From Paris to Bangkok, London to Geneva, the Free Burma VJ campaign will stage protests in front of Burmese embassies on Friday to call for the immediate release of 17 jailed video journalists working for the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), a leading Burmese exile media organization. The campaign began less than two months after Burma’s…
ISAF takes responsibility for Afghan journalist’s death
New York, September 8, 2011–The International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan said today that one of its soldiers was responsible for the July 28 death of a local journalist working for the BBC Afghanistan service and the Pajhwok Afghan News agency. The ISAF soldier, an American, told authorities that he thought Ahmed Omaid Khpalwak was…
On 9/11 and post-conflict Sri Lanka
For a few years now, I have used Sugi Ganeshananthan’s articles as a frame of reference for CPJ advocacy in Sri Lanka. Ganeshananthan, a novelist and essayist who teaches at the University of Michigan, writes stories often grounded in current events. Her 2008 novel, Love Marriage, addresses the cultural and familial conflicts that Sri Lankans…