Georgia: Italian radio reporter found dead near Tbilisi
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is gravely disturbed by the death of Italian radio journalist Antonio Russo, whose body was found on October 16 outside the capital, Tbilisi. Because of the highly suspicious circumstances surrounding his death, Russo’s colleagues in Tbilisi fear the journalist may have been murdered in reprisal for his coverage of the conflict in neighboring Chechnya, according to local media reports.
Georgia: Local police assault journalist for covering police corruption
Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is outraged by the recent assault on Vasil Silagadze, a Georgian journalist who was apparently beaten up by local police officers after he published an article alleging corruption among high-ranking law enforcement officials, including the interior minister.
Attacks on the Press 1999: Georgia
While many of its neighbors in the former Eastern Bloc grew increasingly intolerant of independent journalism, Georgia offered its journalists good news in 1999: the repeal of libel from the country’s penal code, effective in July 2000. Another critical change in civil-libel law requires government officials to prove malicious intent to demonstrate that they have…
Georgia: Private radio station forced to sell out
Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) urges you to order an investigation into the apparently illegal takeover of the independent television station Telekanal 25 in the Ajarian capital, Batumi. Late on the evening of February 19, former Batumi mayor and current Georgian parliamentarian Aslan Smirba forced three of Telekanal 25’s four owners to sign over 75 percent of the station’s shares to Mikhail Gagoshidze, whom CPJ’s sources describe as an unknown third party chosen by Smirba to be the station’s nominal owner.
118 Journalists Imprisoned in 25 Countries
Washington, D.C., March 25 — The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported today in its annual worldwide study of press freedom that at least 118 journalists were in prison in 25 countries at the end of 1998, and 24 journalists in 17 countries were murdered during the year in reprisal for their reporting.
Armenian Officials Tout Press Freedom But Bully the Press
There are two views of the press in Armenia today. The first holds that the press is entirely free to report as it chooses. The second is that the press is irresponsible. One thing is certain: In the absence of censorship, Armenian officials resort to verbal pressure and sometimes physical retribution, to knock journalists into…