TALIBAN CHARGE FRENCH JOURNALIST AND TWO PAKISTANI GUIDES WITH ESPIONAGE
October 10, 2001, New York—CPJ is deeply concerned by the ruling Taliban’s announcement that journalist Michel Peyrard and his guides, Mukkaram Khan and Mohammad Irfan, will be tried on charges of espionage. Peyrard, a French national, is a reporter for the weekly magazine Paris Match. Khan, a Pakistani, is the regional correspondent in Mohmand Agency…
TALIBAN ARREST FRENCH JOURNALIST AND TWO PAKISTANI GUIDES
New York, October 9, 2001—CPJ is deeply concerned about the detention of French journalist Michel Peyrard and his two Pakistani guides in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. A Taliban official has accused Peyrard, a reporter for the magazine Paris Match, of spying. The Afghan Islamic Press (AIP), a Pakistan-based news agency with close links to the Taliban, reported…
Taliban release British journalist
New York, October 9, 2001—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) welcomes the release of British journalist Yvonne Ridley, a reporter for London’s Sunday Express who was imprisoned by Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban militia for 10 days after entering the country without a visa. Late yesterday evening, October 8, Taliban escorts drove Ridley to the Pakistani border…
DETAINED BRITISH JOURNALIST FACES TRIAL IN AFGHANISTAN
New York, October 4, 2001—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is greatly alarmed by the Taliban’s announcement today that British journalist Yvonne Ridley will face trial for entering Afghanistan without authorization. “She will be tried because she broke the laws of our land and entered the country without permission,” Mullah Abdur Rahman Zahid, the Taliban’s…
CPJ DISTURBED BY TALIBAN ACCUSATIONS AGAINST DETAINED JOURNALIST
New York, October 3, 2001—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply disturbed by comments reportedly made by a senior official in Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban militia, accusing British journalist Yvonne Ridley of “ill intentions” and suggesting the reporter may be working as a “special forces” agent.
CPJ Demands Release of British Journalist and Colleagues Held in Afghanistan
New York, October 1, 2001—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban militia’s recent arrest of Yvonne Ridley, a reporter for London’s Sunday Express newspaper, and two male guides. Soldiers arrested the group on September 28 near the eastern city of Jalalabad and detained Ridley on suspicion of spying, according to news reports.
CPJ Condemns Taliban Restrictions on Foreign Journalists
New York, September 10, 2001—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the recent official harassment of journalists covering the trial of eight foreign aid workers whom the ruling Taliban militia accuses of preaching Christianity. “Reporters serve a crucial role as witnesses,” said CPJ executive director Ann Cooper. “If this trial is to have any international…
CPJ Condemns Taliban’s Expulsion of BBC Reporter
New York, March 14, 2001 — The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is dismayed by the ruling Taliban militia’s decision to expel BBC correspondent Kate Clark from Afghanistan. Authorities ordered Clark to leave the country within 36 hours in response to BBC reports about the militia’s destruction of ancient Buddhist statues in Bamiyan, some 100…