Europe & Central Asia
2002
Attacks on the Press 2001: United Kingdom
Press freedom is generally respected in the United Kingdom, and CPJ does not routinely monitor conditions in the country. However, CPJ was extremely alarmed by the September 28 murder of investigative reporter Martin O’Hagan, the first working journalist to be killed in Northern Ireland since the outbreak of violence more than three decades ago. O’Hagan…
Attacks on the Press 2001: United States
Since its founding in 1981, CPJ has, as a matter of strategy and policy, concentrated on press freedom violations and attacks against journalists outside the United States. Within the country, a vital press freedom community marshals its resources and expertise to defend journalists’ rights. CPJ aims to focus its efforts on those nations where journalists…
Attacks on the Press 2001: Uzbekistan
Torture of political and religious dissidents remains commonplace under the brutal regime of President Islam Karimov. In February, writer Emin Usman died in detention, and the July death of imprisoned human rights activist Shovriq Rusimorodov confirmed the deteriorating political situation. Karimov has also cracked down on civil liberties by jailing thousands of Muslims under the…
Attacks on the Press 2001: Yugoslavia
The revolutionary political changes of late 2000 and early 2001 that ousted former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic ended a decade of repression for Yugoslavia’s independent journalists. But after a year in power, the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS), which replaced Milosevic, failed to enact needed reforms in media-related laws. And while the DOS proved far…
Attacks on the Press 2001: Journalists in Prison
There were 118 journalists in prison around the world at the end of 2001 who were jailed for practicing their profession. The number is up significantly from the previous year, when 81 journalists were in jail, and represents a return to the level of 1998, when 118 were also imprisoned.
CPJ protests court rulings against satirical weekly
New York, March 19, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is very concerned about two recent crippling libel judgments against the satirical weekly Feral Tribune. The judgments were issued in two separate libel suits filed by Marica Mestrovic, the daughter of a famous Croatian sculptor, and Zeljko Olujic, an attorney and former ally of the…
Lawsuits, assassination attempt threaten survival of independent newspaper
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is extremely concerned that crippling damage awards in two recent libel suits threaten the survival of the independent, twice-weekly newspaper Novaya Gazeta. We also condemn a recent attempt to assassinate one of the paper’s reporters.
CPJ condemns murder of journalist in Rostov region
New York, March 13, 2002—Natalya Skryl, a business reporter working for the Nashe Vremya newspaper in the city of Rostov-on-Don in southwestern Russia, died on March 9 from head injuries sustained during an attack the night before, according to local press reports. Skryl, 29, reported on local business issues for a newspaper owned by Rostov…
CPJ Delegation in Moscow Calls for the Release of Grigory Pasko
Moscow, March 7, 2002—Three representatives of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) today completed a four-day mission to Russia with an urgent call for the release of jailed Russian journalist Grigory Pasko. “We are here to support our Russian colleagues in attempting to free Grigory Pasko, and to halt what seems to be an increasingly…
Terry Anderson’s Statement
Vladivostok, March 4, 2002 —Three representatives from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called for the release of jailed Russian journalist Grigory Pasko at a press conference in Vladivostok today. A CPJ request to meet with Pasko in prison was turned down by a local military official, who said the request would be given a…