New York, April 7, 2008—The editor of a New York-based weekly told CPJ he received a death threat. Majeed Babar, executive editor of the Weekly Asia Tribune, said a man called him on March 29 and told him, “We will cut you to pieces” in Urdu. Babar said the threat was linked to opinion columns…
New York, March 6, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the fate of three reporters for Azadi, an Urdu-language daily in the unstable southwestern province of Baluchistan. Two have gone missing in the past several days, while the third disappeared on November 30. Reporter Hameed Baloch disappeared on Monday from the town of…
PAKISTAN: New York, March 4, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists extends its condolences to the family and colleagues of Siraj Uddin, a correspondent for the daily Nation, who died in the February 29 suicide bombing in Mingora, Pakistan. The bombing, which took the lives of more than 40 people, took place at the funeral of…
New York, February 15, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the safety of journalists who confront restrictions placed on the media in the run-up to Pakistani parliamentary elections on February 18. “We know the commitment of Pakistani journalists to serving the interests of their viewers and readers, and we fear that the government…
New York, February 12, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the murder of Dr. Chishti Mujahid, a columnist for the weekly magazine Akbar-e-Jehan, who was shot and killed in a targeted attack outside his home in Quetta on Saturday. Mujahid, an eye doctor who had written a column for more than 20 years, was shot…
New York, February 7, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf’s decision to remove independent broadcaster Aaj TV from air for more than 12 hours. Satellite transmissions of Aaj were shut down Wednesday after a prominent critic of the Musharraf government, Nusrat Javed, appeared on a late-night political talk show, according to…
By Joel SimonIn August 2008, when the Olympic torch is lit in Beijing, more than 20,000 journalists will be on hand to cover the competition between the world’s greatest athletes. Behind the scenes, another competition will be taking place. If the Chinese government has its way, this one will remain hidden. It will be a…
Amid South Asian Conflict, Remarkable ResilienceBy Bob DietzTraffic is sparse during a late-night run to the Bandaranaike International Airport north of the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo. Because of insecurity caused by war between the Sinhalese-dominated government and Tamil separatists in the country’s north and east, the streets are given over to police and army checkpoints.…
The December 27 assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto plunged the nation into further turmoil after months of violent unrest and a bitterly contested state of emergency. An aggressive domestic press corps was in the middle of the momentous events, questioning government assertions and being targeted by government censorship.