Impunity on trial in the Philippines
The prosecution of dozens of defendants in the 2009 Maguindanao murders is testing a faltering judicial system in the Philippines. Bribes, intimidation, attacks, and flawed detective work already threaten to undermine the government’s case. Will this massacre go unpunished? A CPJ special report by Shawn W. Crispin
Audio report: Impunity on trial in the Philippines
In our special report, “Impunity on trial in the Philippines,” CPJ examines the troubled prosecution of defendants in the 2009 massacre of more than 30 journalists and media support workers in Maguindanao province. Among other problems, CPJ found that local investigators mishandled forensic evidence and failed to cooperate with federal prosecutors. Listen to the mp3…
Help journalists in need: An appeal
Mikhail Beketov is lucky to be alive, although I’m sure there are days when he doesn’t think so. On November 13, 2008, the environmental reporter who campaigned against a highway that would have destroyed a forest in Khimki, a town outside Moscow, was beaten nearly to death by men with metal bars. The attackers made…
Japanese journalist held by Burmese government
New York, November 8, 2010–Burma must immediately release Toru Yamaji, a reporter with Tokyo-based APF news agency, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Yamaji, 49, was detained Sunday in Myawaddy, on the country’s eastern border with Thailand while trying to cover the country’s first elections in two decades, according to international media reports, which quoted Japan’s embassy in Rangoon. He…
Lugar: Umar Cheema case a ‘bellwether’ for Pakistan
Sen. Richard Lugar, ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, wrote to Pakistani Prime Minster Yousuf Raza Gilani on September 22 to express concern about the brutal attack on Umar Cheema. The journalist was abducted on the weekend of September 4-5 by men in black commando-style uniforms, who beat and humiliated him. It’s…
Remembering Philippine prosecutor Leo Dacera
Leo Dacera, a senior state prosecutor and head of the witness protection program for the Philippine Department of Justice, died suddenly on November 4. Initial news reports said Dacera, 54, left, was the victim of an apparent heart attack. Dacera’s untimely death is a tremendous blow to all those seeking to end the culture of…
Internet Blotter
Turkey lifted its ban on YouTube and then re-asserted it within the same week. Digital technology is helping get news out of North Korea. Small digital cameras and tiny SD memory cards make it easier to smuggle images out. In China, meanwhile, Amazon’s Kindle 3G e-reader is reportedly being used to get the news in.…
Remembering Pakistan’s bad old days of November 2007
November 3, 2007, was a dark day in the history of Pakistan’s media. Former military dictator General Pervez Musharraf banned all private news channels, and some entertainment and sports channels, through an “oral order.” He said he made the move to stop “irresponsible journalism.” Many of the staff in the president’s office who dealt with…
Playboy Indonesia editor speaks out from jail
Although I refuse to say that I am guilty for violating criminal law for publishing Indonesia Playboy magazine, it never crossed my mind to run away or to try to avoid the two-year prison sentence handed down to me by the Supreme Court. I am a good citizen who respects the law in Indonesia.On Saturday,…