CPJ urges authorities to release French journalist Aziz Zemouri
New York, October 12, 2001—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned about the detention of Aziz Zemouri, a reporter for the French weekly Figaro Magazine. On October 11, Pakistan’s border security forces arrested Zemouri at Ghulam Khan in North Waziristan Agency, according to Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper. A French Foreign Ministry spokesperson told CPJ…
Journalists arrested without charges
Dear Governor Shah: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) respectfully asks you to order the immediate release of Rifatullah Orakzai, a reporter for the Peshawar-based English-language newspaper Khyber Mail; Muhammad Iqbal Afridi, a district correspondent based in Bara, Khyber Agency, who contributes to the national Urdu-language daily Al-Akhbar; and Syed Karim, a stringer for the national Urdu-language daily Khabrain.
TALIBAN CHARGE FRENCH JOURNALIST AND TWO PAKISTANI GUIDES WITH ESPIONAGE
October 10, 2001, New York—CPJ is deeply concerned by the ruling Taliban’s announcement that journalist Michel Peyrard and his guides, Mukkaram Khan and Mohammad Irfan, will be tried on charges of espionage. Peyrard, a French national, is a reporter for the weekly magazine Paris Match. Khan, a Pakistani, is the regional correspondent in Mohmand Agency…
American journalists threatened by protesters
New York, October 10, 2001—Susan Taylor Martin, a reporter for the St. Petersburg Times, and Jamie Francis, a photographer for the same paper, were threatened and harassed by protesters angered by the recent U.S.-led bombing campaign in neighboring Afghanistan. The two were reporting in Sakot, a town in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province, when they…
TALIBAN ARREST FRENCH JOURNALIST AND TWO PAKISTANI GUIDES
New York, October 9, 2001—CPJ is deeply concerned about the detention of French journalist Michel Peyrard and his two Pakistani guides in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. A Taliban official has accused Peyrard, a reporter for the magazine Paris Match, of spying. The Afghan Islamic Press (AIP), a Pakistan-based news agency with close links to the Taliban, reported…
Taliban release British journalist
New York, October 9, 2001—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) welcomes the release of British journalist Yvonne Ridley, a reporter for London’s Sunday Express who was imprisoned by Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban militia for 10 days after entering the country without a visa. Late yesterday evening, October 8, Taliban escorts drove Ridley to the Pakistani border…
DETAINED BRITISH JOURNALIST FACES TRIAL IN AFGHANISTAN
New York, October 4, 2001—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is greatly alarmed by the Taliban’s announcement today that British journalist Yvonne Ridley will face trial for entering Afghanistan without authorization. “She will be tried because she broke the laws of our land and entered the country without permission,” Mullah Abdur Rahman Zahid, the Taliban’s…
CPJ DISTURBED BY TALIBAN ACCUSATIONS AGAINST DETAINED JOURNALIST
New York, October 3, 2001—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply disturbed by comments reportedly made by a senior official in Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban militia, accusing British journalist Yvonne Ridley of “ill intentions” and suggesting the reporter may be working as a “special forces” agent.
Jailed journalist asks United Nations for justice
New York, October 2, 2001—After trying unsuccessfully for three years to secure his release from prison, Gao Qinrong, a reporter for the official Xinhua News Agency, has asked the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights (UNHCHR) to intercede with the Chinese government on his behalf. Gao has been imprisoned since 1998 on trumped-up charges…
CPJ mourns deaths of four journalists in plane crash
New York, October 3, 2001—CPJ mourns the tragic deaths of our colleagues Anju Sharma of the Hindustan Times; Sanjiv Sinha of the Indian Express; Ranjan Jha of the television news channel Aaj Tak; and Gopal Bisht, cameraman for Aaj Tak. All four journalists were killed on September 30 when their chartered plane crashed during a…