Europe & Central Asia
2003
Court rejects journalist’s appeal for travel passport
New York, July 24, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply disappointed with today’s ruling by Moscow’s Lyublinsky District Court to uphold Moscow’s Southeastern District Visa and Registration Authorities (OVIR) decision to deny a foreign passport to journalist Grigory Pasko. Pasko was convicted of treason and sentenced to four years in prison on December…
CPJ DELEGATION CALLS FOR GREATER PRESS ACCESS AND AN END TO IMPUNITY IN TAJIKISTAN
Dushanbe, July 24, 2003—A delegation from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called on the government of Tajikistan to combat the culture of fear and self-censorship lingering from its bloody 1992-1997 civil war by investigating and prosecuting those responsible for the murders of dozens of journalists during that period. The delegation also called on the…
Suspect convicted in television journalist’s murder
New York, July 11, 2003—A Georgian court sentenced former police officer Grigol Khurtsilava on Wednesday, July 9, to a 13-year prison term for the July 2001 murder of popular television journalist Georgy Sanaya. Sanaya anchored “Night Courier,” a nightly political talk show on the independent television station Rustavi 2 in Tbilisi, Georgia’s capital. The journalist…
Journalist Grigory Pasko denied travel passport
New York, July 10, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is dismayed that Moscow’s southeastern district visa and registration authorities (OVIR) have denied a foreign passport to journalist Grigory Pasko, who was released from prison in January after serving more than two years in prison. Pasko told CPJ in a telephone interview that officials denied…
Russian TV bureau and U.S.-funded media organizations closed
New York, July 10, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the recent closure by the Belarusian authorities of Russian television network NTV’s Belarus bureau, as well as the decision to cancel accreditation for the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX) and Internews, both U.S. government-funded organizations that provide support to independent media. On July…
Agence France-Presse reporter abducted
New York, July 7, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is gravely concerned about the safety of Ali Astamirov, a correspondent for Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency, who was abducted on Friday, July 4, by unknown armed assailants in Ingushetia, according to sources in Russia. Astamirov, who previously worked for Chechnya’s Grozny Television and reported…
Free Joshua
Languishing in prison since the fall of 2001, prominent Eritrean journalist Fesshaye Yohannes staged a hunger strike on March 31 with nine other colleagues in hopes of spurring their release. Instead, government officials transferred the journalists to an undisclosed location–and no one has heard from them since.