Europe & Central Asia

2002

  

Progress Denied

Even with Milosevic in jail, Serbia and Bosnia remain dangerous for the independent press.

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Attacks Against Journalists in the West Bank and Gaza since September 2000

See list of recent news alerts about Israel and the West Bank   Click on links for more details: May 24, 2002. Suhaib Jadallah Salem, Reuters: Detained April 30, 2002. Youssry al-Jamal, Reuters: Arrested April 24, 2002. Mazen Dana, Reuters, and Hussam Abu Alan, Agence France-Presse: Harassed April 22, 2002. 17 Palestinian and foreign journalists:…

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Two opposition newspapers attacked

New York, May 22, 2002—This morning assailants threw Molotov cocktails into the office windows of Delovoye Obozreniye Respublika, an opposition newspaper based in the city of Almaty in southern Kazakhstan. In a separate incident, two employees of another opposition paper were attacked yesterday. According to international reports and CPJ sources in Kazakhstan, no one was…

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Suspect charged with journalist’s murder acquitted

New York, May 17, 2002—The man accused in the July 2001 murder of prominent television journalist Igor Aleksandrov was acquitted today by the Donetsk Court of Appeals in eastern Ukraine. The court ruled that there was not enough evidence to convict Yuri Verdyuk and instructed officials to reopen the murder investigation, according to local and…

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Supreme Court reinstates decree used to jail investigative journalist

New York, May 8, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by yesterday’s decision of the Appeals Board of the Supreme Court to reinstate a Defense Ministry decree that was used to convict and jail Russian journalist Grigory Pasko. Pasko was convicted of treason in December 2001, based on the charge that he intended…

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CPJ sends letter to foreign minister requesting information on press freedom abuses

Your Excellency: Joel Simon and I enjoyed the opportunity to meet with you and Ambassador Rashid Alimov on April 19 to discuss press freedom conditions in Tajikistan. We very much appreciate Your Excellency’s commitment to review a letter from us outlining our concerns and a number of press freedom cases we have documented. Unfortunately, government harassment, intimidation, and censorship regularly stifle press freedom in Tajikistan. The political factionalism that erupted during the 1992-1993 civil war, as well as the murders of many journalists killed during the conflict, has lead to widespread self-censorship.

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Parliament debates harsh broadcasting bill

New York, May 2, 2002—CPJ is deeply concerned about the draft Supreme Radio and Television Board Bill currently being debated by the Turkish Parliament. The bill was passed last year but vetoed by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer in June 2001. Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit’s government recently resubmitted the bill to Parliament. Under the new law,…

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Regional newspaper editor killed

New York, April 30, 2002—Valery Ivanov, editor of the newspaper Tolyatinskoye Obozreniye in the southern Russian city of Togliatti, was shot dead outside his home last night, CPJ has confirmed. At approximately 11 p.m. Ivanov, 32, was shot eight times in the head at point-blank range while entering his car, a colleague at the newspaper…

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CPJ mourns three journalists killed in helicopter crash

New York, April 29, 2002—CPJ mourns the tragic deaths of three journalists who were killed yesterday morning when their Mi-8 helicopter crashed in the Krasnoyarsk Region of Siberia. According to press reports, Natalya Pivovarova, of the 7 Channel television company; Igor Gareyev, of the Krasnoyarsk Regional Broadcasting Company; and Konstantin Stepanov, of the newspaper Segodnyashnyaya…

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CPJ urges passage of new broadcasting law

New York, April 17, 2002—In a letter sent today to Serbian National Assembly president Natasa Micic, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) expressed strong support for Parliament’s efforts to safeguard press freedom in Serbia. CPJ believes that by passing the draft Broadcasting Law, currently under consideration, Parliament can create an effective legal framework for the…

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2002