MARCH 2005 Kyrgyz National Television & Radio CENSORED Senior government officials prevented journalists at the state-run Kyrgyz National Television & Radio Corporation (KTR) from reporting on rallies protesting fraud-marred parliamentary elections, according to local and international press reports.
FEBRUARY 28, 2005 Posted: March 30, 2005 Jeff Ooi, Jeffooi.com HARASSED Police questioned Malaysian blogger Jeff Ooi for two hours in connection with a contributor’s September 30, 2004 posting to his Web log, according to the Centre for Independent Journalism in the capital of Kuala Lumpur. Local and international news sources reported that Ooi is…
FEBRUARY 28, 2005 Posted: March 28, 2005 Arnulfo Villanueva, Asian Star Express Balita KILLED—UNCONFIRMED Villanueva, 43, a columnist for the community newspaper, was found shot dead on a road in the town of Naic, Cavite Province, just south of Manila. A local village official found his body on the night of February 28, according to…
FEBRUARY 27, 2005 Posted: March 14, 2005 Ali Abdel Imam, www.bahrainonline.com IMPRISONED Abdel Imam, an Internet writer, also known as a Web logger, or blogger, was summoned by prosecutors in the capital, Manama, and detained, according to sources in Bahrain. Abdel Imam is the founder and editor of www.bahrainonline.com, which features a blog with commentary…
FEBRUARY 25, 2005 Posted: March 17, 2005 The Weekly TimesCENSORED The government-controlled Media and Information Commission (MIC) shuttered the independent regional newspaper The Weekly Times after just eight weeks of publication, saying the newspaper violated the country’s media legislation. Local journalists told CPJ the closure was part of a systematic clampdown on critical media in…
FEBRUARY 25, 2005 Posted: March 1, 2005 Raeda Wazzan, Al-Iraqiya KILLED—CONFIRMED Wazzan, a news anchor with the Iraqi state TV channel Al-Iraqiya who was kidnapped on February 20, was found dead five days later on a roadside in Mosul, where the journalist had lived and worked, according to press reports citing her husband. She had…
FEBRUARY 24, 2005 Posted: March 7, 2005 Radio Azattyk (Kyrgyz Service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) CENSORED A state broadcast regulator shuttered the popular Kyrgyz Service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, known locally as Radio Azattyk, just three days ahead of the country’s parliamentary elections, according to local and international press reports.
FEBRUARY 22, 2005 Posted: March 7, 2005 The Media Support Center HARASSED Authorities cut off electricity on February 22 to the country’s only independent printing house. The Media Support Center, funded and operated by the U.S.-based non-governmental organization Freedom House, prints the country’s major independent and opposition newspapers.