New York, May 20, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) today sent a letter of inquiry to Philippine president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo requesting that authorities investigate the murder of radio announcer Apolinario “Polly” Pobeda and attacks on several other journalists. Pobeda was shot by unidentified assailants on Saturday, May 17 as he rode his motorcycle…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the five-year sentence recently handed down to Internet publisher Huang Qi. The court has long delayed the verdict, which comes nearly three years after Huang’s arrest, compounding a case of grave injustice.
Dear Major General Tellefsen: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is writing to draw your attention to a death threat issued last week against journalist Ponniah Manikavasagam, a correspondent for the Tamil-language daily Virakesari who contributes regularly to the BBC. Manikavasagam lives in the town of Vavuniya and covers news across Sri Lanka’s northern region.
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned about several recent attacks against the press in Sitakunda, an industrial town in Chittagong District, in southeastern Bangladesh. We are particularly worried about the fate of journalist Mahmudul Haq, who was arrested on May 6, and journalist Atahar Siddik Khasru, who disappeared on April…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is gravely concerned by two recent violent attacks on journalists in Vietnam. On April 21, assailants set fire to the car of journalist Hoang Thien Nga outside her home in Dak Lak Province, in the Central Highlands. Nga, the Dak Lak correspondent for the national daily Tien…
New York, April 30, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the threat issued yesterday by the militant group Tehrik-ul-Mujahideen against journalists working “against the freedom struggle” in the disputed territory of Kashmir. The organization is one of more than a dozen armed groups fighting against Indian rule in Kashmir, which is claimed by both…
New York, April 29, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is investigating a news report that radio journalist John Villanueva was shot dead after being ambushed yesterday while riding his motorcycle. Villanueva was an announcer for the station DZGB in Legaspi City, south of the capital, Manila, according to the Agence France-Presse. The motive for…
New York, April 28, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the recent attack on the offices of Doordarshan Television and Radio Kashmir in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir. Five people were killed. At about 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 26, assailants detonated a car laden with explosives near the main gate of…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is gravely concerned by the prolonged detention of writers Yang Zili, Xu Wei, Jin Haike, and Zhang Honghai. On April 21, the Beijing Intermediate Court reopened the trial against the four men, who were arrested in March 2001. No verdict has been announced.
New York, April 22, 2003—Afghan officials announced yesterday that they have arrested five men suspected of involvement in the murder of four journalists killed in an ambush in southeastern Afghanistan on November 19, 2001. Azizullah Haidari, an Afghan photographer for the Reuters news agency; Harry Burton, an Australian cameraman for Reuters; Julio Fuentes, a Spanish…