January 25, 2008 Posted February 7, 2008 Lal Hemantha Mawalage, Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation ATTACKED The news producer of a national television network, who was recently involved in a staff protest against Labor Minister Mervyn Silva, was targeted in a knife attack in a suburb of Colombo on January 25, according to Sunanda Deshapriya of local…
New York, January 23, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is appalled by the death sentence given to a young journalist by a court in northern Afghanistan yesterday. The court in Balkh province sentenced 23-year-old Parwez Kambakhsh in a closed-door trial without a defense attorney present, according to local press freedom advocate Rahimullah Samander, president of…
New York, January 23, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned that the Burmese government has suspended the weekly Myanmar Times for one week as a result of its publication of unauthorized news, according to international news reports. Burma’s Press Scrutiny Board ordered the temporary closure because of the newspaper’s January 11 Burmese-language edition, which…
New York, January 22, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the one-day closed-door trial of imprisoned journalist Lü Gengsong that took place today in Hangzhou, southeast China, and calls on the Chinese government to release him and all journalists held under vague “national security” laws before the 2008 Olympics.
New York, January 22, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned that the government of President Pervez Musharraf unfairly pressured GEO TV, Pakistan’s largest and most popular independent broadcaster, to modify its editorial policies before the station was allowed to resume domestic cable distribution on Monday. The station has been off domestic cable since November…
Launch of Thai public broadcaster draws concern New York, January 22, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the establishment of the Thai Public Broadcasting Corporation (TPBS), but it is concerned that the military-appointed government closed Thailand’s only independent television station ahead of the move.
JANUARY 19, 2008 Posted February 1, 2008 NDTV ATTACKED NDTV offices were vandalized and a staff member beaten by Hindu nationalist activists after the channel asked viewers to evaluate controversial painter M.F. Husein as a possible candidate for a prestigious national award in an text message opinion poll, according to NDTV photographer Anamitra Chakladar and…
JANUARY 17, 2008 Posted February 15, 2008 Manoj Sah, Freelance ATTACKED Sah was attacked by a group of at least 10 men wielding traditional Nepalese khukuri blades on January 17 in the city of Janakpur, eastern Nepal, according to local journalist Guna Raj Luitel and Ramesh Bista of the Federation of Nepali Journalists. Sah sustained…
Dear President Karzai, The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about your government’s failure to push through proposed media reforms at a time when the Afghan press is growing increasingly restricted. As a nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization of journalists committed to supporting our colleagues around the world, CPJ is troubled by our findings on Afghanistan, which suggest that media policy is increasingly aimed at hampering journalists.