A Pakistani ‘sword of Damocles’ in the making?
Given that it is usually punishable by death, “treason” is a dangerous word to bandy about. When it is applied to journalists, it is even more worrisome. We’ve seen that in Sri Lanka, which is in the throes of a backlash against a U.N. resolution on past human rights abuses. (See “Amid Sri Lankan denial,…
In China, website restrictions after politician’s ouster
New York, April 2, 2012–The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by Chinese authorities’ recent clampdown on the Internet after rumors circulated about politician Bo Xilai’s dismissal from the Communist Party leadership in Chongqing. In recent days, authorities have shut down several microblog sites and detained and targeted Internet users.
Wary about Burma? So are others
Amid the rush to see changes in Burma as an inexorable move toward full democracy–Aung San Suu Kyi’s electoral victory over the weekend is certainly cause for hope–CPJ has maintained a healthy skepticism about media reform in Burma. Shawn Crispin’s “In Burma, press freedom remains an illusion,” posted on Friday, is the most recent example…
In Vietnam, wife convicted in deadly attack on journalist
On March 29, 2012, Tran Thi Thuy Lieu was convicted of the murder of her husband, journalist Le Hoang Hung, after a one-day trial in southern Long An province. Hung died January 30, 2011, after he was set ablaze while sleeping in his home in Tan An, news reports said. Reports said Lieu, who had…
Chinese journalist, a Bo Xilai critic, reportedly jailed
New York, March 30, 2012–Authorities in Chongqing must clarify the status of a journalist who reports say was secretly sentenced to prison in 2010 for criticizing a government official in a personal blog, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. CPJ has not been able to independently confirm the journalist’s jail sentence or his whereabouts.
In Burma, press freedom remains an illusion
Just ahead of this weekend’s highly anticipated Burma by-elections, opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi today denounced the vote as not “free and fair.” Indeed, Thein Sein government’s harassment of opposition media in the run-up to the polls raises disturbing questions about the country’s reputed new democratic direction after decades of repressive military rule.
Mumbai police, media have failed Jyotirmoy Dey
New Delhi-based Tehelka weekly news magazine has published a scathing indictment of the police investigation into the 2011 killing of Mumbai crime reporter Jyotirmoy Dey–and of the Indian media’s coverage of it. Beneath the allegations and the rumors, we still don’t know exactly why he was killed, while the self-confessed mastermind is a fugitive from…
In the Philippines, two murders that should be solved
The investigation into the notorious murder of muckraking Philippine journalist Marlene Garcia-Esperat in Mindanao is now seven years old. A separate hunt for conspirators in the January 2011 killing of Palawan radio journalist Gerardo Ortega is just getting started. The Regional Trial Court in Puerto Princesa City issued arrest warrants against three suspects in the…
How to stop rumors in China: Stop censorship
The sacking of Chongqing party leader Bo Xilai has sparked some entertaining gossip this month, leaving journalists covering China with the difficult task of reporting on unconfirmed reports. The Chinese government blames the international media, not its own lack of transparency and comprehensive censorship apparatus, for the burgeoning rumors.