Writer to be tried tomorrow
New York, November 11, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the prolonged detention of writer Tran Dung Tien and calls for his immediate release. Tien, 74, is scheduled to go on trial tomorrow at Hanoi People’s Court. A foreign ministry official announced today that Tien will be tried on charges of “abusing democratic rights…
U.S. Embassy issues warning to American journalists
New York, November 10, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is monitoring reports that U.S. journalists and foreigners working for U.S. media in Afghanistan may be targeted for kidnapping in exchange for Taliban members in U.S. custody. At a State Department daily briefing on Friday, November 7, spokesman Richard Boucher said that the U.S. Embassy…
CPJ condemns arrest of photojournalist
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the November 1 arrest of Selim Jahangir, a photojournalist for the national Bengali-language daily Janakantha, in Rajshahi, a city in northwestern Bangladesh. We call for his immediate release from jail. Jahangir’s arrest is a blatant example of the abuse of power by local government officials, who must not be allowed to deny journalists their right to report on public events.
CPJ condemns arrest of Internet essayistDetention is part of continuing crackdown on online speech
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the recent arrest of Internet essayist Du Daobin and is gravely concerned that his arrest could mark an escalation in the continuing crackdown on online speech in China.
Editor convicted of criminal defamation
New York, October 27, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is dismayed that the executive editor of the daily tabloid Rakyat Merdeka was sentenced today on charges of insulting the president. The South Jakarta District Court gave editor Supratman (who, like many Indonesians, uses only one name) a six-month suspended sentence after Rakyat Merdeka published…
Internet essayist sentenced
New York, October 21, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the three-year sentence recently handed down to Internet essayist Luo Yongzhong on charges of subversion. Luo, who has written numerous articles that have been distributed online, was detained on June 14 in Changchun, Jilin Province. On July 7, he was formally arrested. On October…
JOURNALIST MURDERED
New York, October 20, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the Saturday, October 18, assassination of Chou Chetharith, a deputy editor of the royalist FUNCINPEC party’s Ta Prum radio station. A gunman riding on the back of a motorcycle shot Chetharith on his way to work in the capital, Phnom Penh. According to witnesses…
CPJ concerned for safety of kidnapped journalists
New York, October 7, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is gravely concerned about the safety of journalists Ersa Siregar and Ferry Santoro, who have been held hostage by rebels from the Free Aceh Movement (known by its Indonesian acronym GAM) for more than three months. Their current whereabouts are unknown, and Siregar is reportedly…
JOURNALIST KILLED
New York, October 6, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is investigating last week’s murder of Ameer Bux Brohi, 27, a district reporter for The Daily Kawish, the largest Sindh-language daily newspaper in Pakistan’s Sindh Province, and Kavish Television News (KTN). The police chief in the rural town of Shikapur where the murder took place…
CPJ concerned about criminal defamation
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned about the growing use of Indonesia’s antiquated criminal defamation laws to punish and intimidate journalists who are critical of government officials and other powerful individuals. This alarming trend is eroding hard fought press freedoms in Indonesia, and we call on you to put a stop to these criminal cases.