August 28, 2002 His Excellency Jiang Zemin President, People’s Republic of China C/o Embassy of the People’s Republic of China 2300 Connecticut Ave., NW Washington, D.C. 20008 Via facsimile: (202) 588-0032 Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is gravely concerned about the safety of Web publisher Wan Yanhai, who has been missing in…
August 28, 2002 His Excellency Jiang Zemin President, People’s Republic of China C/o Embassy of the People’s Republic of China 2300 Connecticut Ave., NW Washington, D.C. 20008 Via facsimile: (202) 588-0032 Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is gravely concerned about the safety of Web publisher Wan Yanhai, who has been missing in…
New York, July 25, 2002—To mark the one-year anniversary of the murder of Georgy Sanaya, a popular anchor for the Tbilisi-based independent television station Rustavi-2, Committee to Protect Journalists executive director Ann Cooper issued the following statement: “We are disheartened that one year after Georgy Sanaya’s July 26, 2001, murder, justice has not been done.…
Eritrea: FESSHAYE YOHANNES Languishing in prison since the fall of 2001, prominent Eritrean journalist Fesshaye Yohannes staged a hunger strike in May 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. Fesshaye (who is also known as…
Bangladesh: TIPU SULTAN For Tipu Sultan, an award-winning free-lance reporter from Bangladesh, writing the truth almost cost him his life. On January 25, 2001, Sultan was abducted and savagely beaten by about 15 thugs wielding baseball bats, hockey sticks, and iron rods after producing an article accusing a local legislator of criminal activity. Joynal Hazari,…
Colombia: IGNACIO GÓMEZ Colombia is a country of terrible secrets, none of which are safe from Ignacio Gómez. In almost two decades as an investigative reporter, Gómez has exposed alliances between drug lords and politicians, foreign mercenaries operating in Colombia, corrupt soccer teams, and the role of the Colombian military and paramilitary forces in many…
New York, October 22, 2002–The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) will present its 2002 International Press Freedom Awards to four journalists–from Colombia, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, and Eritrea–who have reported fearlessly on government malfeasance. They have survived brutal physical attack, endured death threats, defied criminal charges, and suffered imprisonment, all in reprisal for their work. The 12th…
July 3, 2002 President Charles G. Taylor President of the Republic of Liberia Monrovia, Liberia Via facsimile: 231-225-217 Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is writing to request urgent information about the status of Hassan Bility, editor-in-chief of The Analyst newspaper based in Monrovia, who is missing and is feared dead. Bility, together with…