PHILIPPINES The Philippines remained one of the world’s most dangerous countries for journalists, but it also became one of the more litigious as numerous criminal defamation lawsuits were filed by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s husband and other political figures. A deteriorating political situation and increased security concerns in February led Arroyo to declare a state…
SRI LANKA Hopes that the Sri Lankan government and Tamil rebels would be able to salvage their crumbling cease-fire were dashed in 2006. By September, the military and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were again locked in combat in the north and east of the country. While the conflict looked similar to that…
A year of political turmoil climaxed in a military coup that accelerated the deterioration of Thailand’s press freedom climate. Royalist generals seized power on September 19 while Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was in New York attending the U.N. General Assembly. The coup was condemned abroad, but the new leadership was endorsed by King Bhumibol Adulyadej,…
UNITED STATES After consuming the press freedom landscape for more than two years, an investigation into the leak of a CIA operative’s name wound down with a whimper. News organizations reported in August that special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald apparently knew from the day his investigation began in December 2003 that then-Deputy Secretary of State Richard…
VIETNAM As Vietnam continued a period of impressive economic growth, two milestones marked its increased presence on the world stage. In November, Hanoi hosted its most important international event, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, which brought together U.S. President George W. Bush, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and other major…
ALGERIA: 2 Djamel Eddine Fahassi, Alger Chaîne III IMPRISONED: May 6, 1995 Fahassi, a reporter for the state-run radio station Alger Chaîne III and a contributor to several Algerian newspapers, including the now-banned weekly of the Islamic Salvation Front, Al-Forqane, was abducted near his home in the al-Harrache suburb of the capital, Algiers, by four…
Armenia Germany/Poland Poland Bosnia Italy Portugal Bulgaria Lithuania Romania Croatia Macedonia Serbia Cyprus Moldova Switzerland Denmark Netherlands ARMENIA • On May 25, authorities denied independent television station A1+ a broadcasting license for the 12th time. According to press reports, the National Commission on Television and Radio justified the rejection by saying that competitors submitted stronger…
New York, January 31, 2007—Thailand’s army-appointed government should fully investigate a grenade attack on the Thai-language Daily News, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. A grenade exploded in the office compound of the mass circulation newspaper around 1:30a.m. on Tuesday, local media reported. Another explosive device went off in the parking lot of an…
New York, January 30, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi’s calling online critics of his government liars, and his support of a civil libel suit brought against two bloggers. In an interview with the New Straits Times Sunday edition, Badawi made broad accusations against bloggers, claiming that they…
New York, January 30, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is disturbed by attacks and threats against journalists by protesters in southern Nepal that have inhibited news coverage of unrest in the area. Several journalists from the towns of Biratnagar, Birgunj, Inuwara, and Lahan, and in Bara and Saptari districts, have been forced from their homes…