Asia

Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns today’s arrest of Tikaram Rai, editor of the Nepali-language daily Aparanha. Rai was arrested in Kathmandu following the complaint of a senior police officer accused of bribery in a recent Aparanha article.

Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns today’s sentencing of Internet essayist Le Chi Quang to four years in prison. We are also concerned for the safety of former soldier Tran Dung Tien, who was detained after protesting Quang’s trial. Earlier today, following a three-hour trial on national security charges, the Hanoi People’s Court sentenced Le Chi Quang, 32, to four years in prison followed by three years of house arrest. Quang was charged under articles 88 and 92 of the Criminal Code, which ban the distribution of information that opposes the government. Quang’s parents were the only observers allowed into the courtroom, while his lawyer was not allowed to present a defense before the court, according to CPJ sources.

New York, November 7, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) welcomes yesterday’s indictment in East Timor of two suspected murderers of Dutch journalist Sander Thoenes, who was killed in Dili on September 21, 1999, while he was reporting for The Financial Times and The Christian Science Monitor. Arrest warrants for both men, who are Indonesian…

New York, November 5, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) welcomes today’s release of five journalists, four of whom have been imprisoned for nearly a year on suspicion of supporting Maoist rebels in Nepal. The journalists released today are Ishwarchandra Gyawali, executive editor of the monthly magazine Dishabodh; Manarishi Dhital, a reporter for Dishabodh; Deepak…

New York, October 28, 2002—The trial of Internet essayist Le Chi Quang, originally scheduled for today, has been postponed until further notice, said international news reports and CPJ sources. According to Agence France-Presse, an official at the People’s Court in the capital, Hanoi, told reporters that, “Our judges need more time to prepare.” A new…

New York, October 25, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the recent attack on journalist Hedley Thomas and his family at their home in Brisbane, on the east coast of Australia. Thomas is a reporter with the Courier-Mail, a national daily. At about 10:30 p.m. on October 23, an unidentified gunman fired four shots…

Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the brutal murder of Shahid Soomro, a correspondent for the Sindhi-language newspaper Kawish. Pakistani journalists fear that Soomro, who was based in the town of Kandhkot, Sindh Province, was killed in reprisal for his reporting on abuses committed during recent general elections held on October 10.

New York, October 22, 2002—The trial of Internet essayist Le Chi Quang, 32, is scheduled for October 28 in Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi. He is being tried on national security charges, including distribution of “reactionary and subversive documents,” said CPJ sources. Quang was targeted after he wrote a number of essays criticizing government policy. On February…

New York, October 17, 2002–The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) welcomes the release from house arrest of Chen Ziming, a recipient of CPJ’s 1991 International Press Freedom Award, but remains concerned that he has not been given total freedom. On October 10, the 50-year-old formally completed a 13-year sentence for his role in the 1989…