DECEMBER 29, 2005 Posted: January 17, 2006 Tieng Noi Dan Chu CENSORED, HARASSED Hackers shut down the Tieng Noi Dan Chu (Democratic Voices) Web site 19 days after it launched on International Human Rights Day, the U.S.-funded broadcaster Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported. Tieng Noi Dan Chu was founded by dissident writer Tran Khue and…
DECEMBER 28, 2005 Posted January 4, 2006 Yang Bin, Beijing NewsSun Xuedong, Beijing News Li Duoyu, Beijing News HARASSED The Propaganda Department removed Yang from his post as chief editor after the daily Beijing News reported aggressively on rural protests and other sensitive topics, according to international news reports. The newspaper broke the story of…
DECEMBER 26, 2005 Posted: January 20, 2006 Phil Sands, freelancer ABDUCTED British freelance journalist Sands, 28, was freed on January 1, 2006 by U.S. soldiers who happened upon him by chance during a routine hunt for insurgents. Sands, who contributed to the San Francisco Chronicle and The Scotsman, was abducted by gunmen while on his…
DECEMBER 23, 2005 Updated: January 19, 2006 Klem Ofuokwu, Rhythm 93.7 FM Cleopatra Taiwo, Rhythm 93.7 FM IMPRISONED, LEGAL ACTION On January 3, two radio journalists were released from prison after paying bail in the southern city of Port Harcourt. Ofuokwu and Taiwo, both of whom work for the private radio station Rhythm 93.7 FM,…
DECEMBER 23, 2005 Posted January 4, 2006 KhabroonATTACKED Armed men threw a gasoline bomb into the offices of the Sindhi-language daily Khabroon in the southern city of Sukkur, setting the reception area on fire, according to local news reports. The attackers threatened the newspaper staff, including journalists, and fired shots into the office.
DECEMBER 13, 2005 Posted: Jauary 23, 2006 James Tumusiime, The Weekly ObserverSsemujju Ibrahim Nganda, The Weekly Observer HARASSED, LEGAL ACTION Editor Tumusiime and reporter Nganda of the privately owned newspaper The Weekly Observer were summoned to a police station in the capital, Kampala, where they were held for about five hours and charged with “promoting…
DECEMBER 8, 2005 Posted January 4, 2006 Do Nam Hai, freelance HARASSED Police in Ho Chi Minh City interrogated Hai overnight about his efforts to make 11 copies of his book, Let’s Have a Referendum, which was published in the U.S. in September. Hai, commonly known by his pen name Phuong Nam, was detained at…
DECEMBER 5, 2005 Posted: December 5, 2005 Hayat Ullah Khan, Ausaf ABDUCTED Khan was kidnapped by unidentified gunmen in the North Waziristan tribal region bordering Afghanistan, where authorities said a top Al-Qaeda leader was killed on December 1, 2005. Five men with AK-47 assault rifles forced Khan’s car off the road, his brother Mohammad Ehsan,…
DECEMBER 2, 2005 Posted December 8, 2005 Patrice Booto, Le Journal and Pool Malebo IMPRISONED Security forces arrested Patrice Booto, publisher of the thrice-weekly Le Journal and its sister publication, Pool Malebo. Booto was detained at a police station in the capital, Kinshasa, according to local press freedom organization Journaliste en danger (JED). On November…