Asia
2014
In Sri Lanka crackdown, mobs and death threats turned on journalists
There is genuine cause for alarm about the anonymous death threats going to Sunil Jayasekara’s phone. They started streaming to Jayasekara, the convener of Sri Lanka’s Free Media Movement, an umbrella group (hence calling the leader a convener) of journalists’ organization in Sri Lanka, just before an FMM press conference on Saturday in Colombo.
Seeking release of Pakistani journalist Faizullah Khan, jailed in Afghanistan
It’s not often that CPJ agrees with the Pakistan government, but here is one of the rare occasions when we do. While Pakistan journalists have been pushing for quite a while for the release of one of their colleagues, Faizullah Khan, being held in Nangahar in Afghanistan, the Islamabad government has apparently been working diplomatic…
An Afghan conviction, but little sense of victory
Naqibullah, the Afghan police commander who killed The Associated Press’ Anja Niedringhaus, has been given a death sentence after being convicted of murder and treason. He was also given a four- year sentence for shooting the AP’s Kathy Gannon. Naqibullah (who goes by one name, as many Afghans do) opened fire at near-point-blank range on…
Harsh defamation ruling in Cambodia has broader implications
New York, July 24, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by the hefty financial damages imposed on a blogger in a defamation case in Cambodia. The ruling could have a detrimental effect on online commentary in the country.
Critical Chinese blogger given six-year prison term
New York, July 23, 2014–Chinese authorities today sentenced a blogger to more than six years in prison, according to news reports. Dong Rubin, a businessman who has criticized the ruling Communist Party in his blogs, has been in prison since September 2013.
In a growing clampdown, three editors detained in Burma
Bangkok, July 23, 2014–Burmese authorities should drop national security-related charges brought against journalists and staff members of the Bi Mon Te Nay (Bi-Midday Sun) news journal, and release them from pre-trial detention immediately, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Chinese journalist dismissed after writing on Hong Kong news website
New York, July 22, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by the recent termination of a Chinese journalist from a monthly magazine after he wrote for a Hong Kong website. Song Zhibiao’s dismissal marks the first publicized case of its kind following recent directives by the Chinese government that bar journalists from cooperating with…
Thai junta expands media controls
Bangkok, July 21, 2014–In a mounting clampdown on press, Internet, and social media freedoms, a new military directive in Thailand has barred any critical reporting or commentary about the ruling National Council for Peace and Order junta. The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for an immediate reversal of the freedom-curbing edict and all other measures…
Slideshow: Raising awareness on India’s troubling Internet laws
Today, the Global Network Initiative launched a campaign to raise awareness on India’s Internet laws. The GNI, of which CPJ is a founding member, is a coalition of technology companies–including Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo–and human rights groups and Internet freedom advocates. The coalition, in collaboration with the Internet and Mobile Association of India, has…
New bill in Australia targeting intelligence raises concern
New York, July 17, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by a bill introduced in the Australian parliament on Wednesday that could result in journalists being targeted for prosecution and jail for reporting on intelligence information.