Nepal’s Birendra Shah is dead, Maoists say
New York, November 5, 2007—Maoist authorities issued a statement today confirming the murder of Nepalese journalist Birendra Shah on October 4, the day he was kidnapped, by members of their party, according to Guna Raj Luitel, news editor of Kantipur Daily in Kathmandu. The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) had distanced itself from the murder,…
Pakistan targets media outlets
New York, November 5, 2007—Pakistan’s government has escalated its efforts since the weekend to silence the press by harassing journalists, attempting to shut down printing presses, and ordering that articles critical of the government be altered, Pakistani journalists told CPJ. According to news editors at the Urdu-language Daily Ausaf in Islamabad and at the Express…
CPJ urges Musharraf to allow Pakistan’s media to operate freely
New York, November 4, 2007—The government of President Pervez Musharraf should withdraw the severe restrictions it has placed on Pakistan’s news media and allow independent television and radio stations to resume coverage of the country’s political crisis, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. “President Musharraf’s drastic steps to silence news coverage make a mockery…
Journalists attacked at legislator’s home
November 1, 2007 Posted November 2, 2007 Prakash Singh, NDTV Habab Ali, NDTV Ajay Kumar, ANI ATTACKED Prakash Singh and at least two other journalists were assaulted in the central eastern state of Bihar, according to NDTV camera operator Anamitra Chakladar and local news reports.
Journalist’s shooting in Sri Lanka raises alarm
New York, October 31, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by an attack on Sri Lankan online editor Kumudu Champika Jayawardana, who was shot as he was driving home from work in a Colombo suburb shortly before midnight Wednesday. Sri Lankan media reports said Jayawardana, editor of the news Web site Ethalaya, was admitted…
The Private Prosecutor
MANILA, Philippines–As a private attorney in the Philippines, Nena Santos does not have standing to try a murder case. But under an unusual provision of Philippine criminal law, she is permitted to work directly with police and government prosecutors in all phases of the investigation and trial: gathering evidence, preparing witnesses, and drafting potential indictments.…
Two injured in rocket attack
October 28, 2007 Posted November 7, 2007 Raza Mehmood Agha, producer Aaj TV Khalid Jameel, reporter Aaj TV ATTACKED The two men were injured by shrapnel when a rocket landed close to where they were filming clashes between Pakistan’s security forces and Islamic militants, near the town of Mingora, in the Swat district of the…
In Bangladesh, investigative reporter beaten in custody
New York, October 26, 2007—A Bangladeshi journalist arrested Tuesday has been beaten in jail, his wife told the Committee to Protect Journalists. Jahangir Alam Akash was arrested at his home in Rajshahi on extortion charges. Akash was taken to the prison hospital on Thursday with leg injuries, his wife told local journalist Shahriar Kabir and…