Philippines:Radio broadcaster and former newspaper columnist shot dead
New York, December 8, 2006—Two unidentified gunmen killed Ponciano Grande, 53, a former newspaper columnist and occasional co-host of a radio variety show, at his farm on Thursday in Cabantuan City, in Central Luzon. The Committee to Protect Journalists is investigating to determine whether the killing was related to Grande’s work as a journalist. Two…
Fiji: Media refuse to bow to military censorship
New York, December 7, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists today congratulated the media in Fiji for successfully resisting censorship attempts by the leaders of Tuesday’s military coup. Executives from the daily Fiji Times newspaper, Fiji TV and two radio stations, Radio Fiji and FM 96, refused to comply with orders to stop critical reporting on…
Internet fuels rise in number of jailed journalists
New York, December 7, 2006–The number of journalists jailed worldwide for their work increased for the second consecutive year, and one in three is now an Internet blogger, online editor, or Web-based reporter, according to an analysis by the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Philippines: Broadcaster critically wounded in shooting
New York, December 4, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists said today it was investigating whether the shooting of journalist Arnie Pullan on the central Philippine island of Iloilo was related to his work as a radio host. An unidentified gunman shot and seriously wounded Pullan on December 1 as he left the station of MBC-Radio…
U.S. reporters detained while interviewing source
DECEMBER 2, 2006 Posted: December 20, 2006 Joseph Kahn, The New York Times Roger Cohen, International Herald Tribune HARASSED Agents from the local police, Foreign Ministry office and Customs Department detained Kahn, The New York Times Beijing bureau chief, and International Herald Tribune reporter Roger Cohen while they were interviewing a businessman in Zigui, near…
China: Court upholds conviction of New York Times researcher
New York, December 1, 2006—The High Court of Beijing on Friday upheld a fraud conviction in August against Zhao Yan, the Chinese researcher for The New York Times who has been jailed since September 2004. Zhao was tried on the fraud charge and leaking state secrets in June, in closed proceedings at which he was…
Sri Lanka: Freelance Tamil journalist arrested
New York, November 30, 2006—Sri Lankan authorities should either charge or release a freelance Tamil journalist detained for nearly a week, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Parameswaree Maunasámi, who wrote for the Sinhala-language weekly Mawbima, was arrested at her home south of Colombo on November 24 along with another Tamil woman, according to…
Ching Cheong conviction upheld
UPDATED: November 27, 2006 Original Case: August 31, 2006 Ching Cheong, The Straits Times LEGAL ACTION The Beijing Higher People’s Court upheld Ching’s espionage conviction in a closed hearing on November 24. Ching, a Hong Kong reporter for The Straits Times, was sentenced to five years in prison in August.
Vietnam: Writer released from prison continues to be harassed
New York, November 27, 2006—Writer Pham Hong Son, who was freed from prison on August 30 in a presidential amnesty apparently intended to clear the way for Vietnam’s accession to the World Trade Organization, says he continues to be harassed and kept under virtual house arrest in Hanoi. In an e-mail to Vietnamese dissident exile…
Pakistan: Amid public outcry, abducted journalist released
New York, November 21, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes today’s release of BBC reporter Dilawar Khan Wazir, who had been seized from a taxi outside Islamabad by unidentified men a day before. Khan, who was not seriously injured, turned up at the BBC’s Islamabad office this evening, the network reported. The BBC reported that…