Journalist found dead in Belarus; CPJ calls for investigation
New York, September 8, 2010–Belarusian authorities must thoroughly investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of Aleh Byabenin, founder and director of the Minsk-based pro-opposition news website Charter 97, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.Byabenin’s brother and several friends found the journalist hanging from a stairway in his summer house outside the capital city of Minsk…
NYT: On the UK phone-hacking scandal
IN NOVEMBER 2005, three senior aides to Britain’s royal family noticed odd things happening on their mobile phones. Messages they had never listened to were somehow appearing in their mailboxes as if heard and saved. Equally peculiar were stories that began appearing about Prince William in one of the country’s biggest tabloids, News of the…
The Economist: The Invisible Regional Censorship of Russia
Russian federal law doesn’t include Internet censorship provisions, but there’s been a recent rash of cases of court-ordered blocking in individual Russian regions. Even though these are usually narrow blocks of particular sites and are quickly unblocked after media exposure, they can still cover a great deal of ground. The Republic of Ingushetia blocked the…
Trial upcoming for two suspects in Moscow double murder
In an encouraging ruling last week, the Basmanny District Court in Moscow ordered that two suspects in the January 2009 double murder of Novaya Gazeta reporter Anastasiya Baburova and human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov be kept in custody pending trial.
2 Cuban reporters freed, arrive in Madrid; 13 now released
New York, August 19, 2010–Formerly imprisoned Cuban journalists Fabio Prieto Llorente and Juan Carlos Herrera Acosta arrived in Spain today, bringing to 13 the number of imprisoned reporters who were freed this year as part of an agreement between the Cuban Catholic Church and the government of President Raúl Castro.
CPJ calls on Turkey to release American journalist
New York, August 13, 2010–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Turkish authorities to release American journalist Jake Hess, who is being detained in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir, according to the Turkish daily Hürriyet. Hess is accused of collaborating with the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK), referred to in news reports as the “urban wing” of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party…
CPJ decries charges against journalists in Kyrgyzstan
New York, August 12, 2010–Trumped-up charges of extremism against Ulugbek Abdusalomov, the editor of an independent newspaper, and Azimjon Askarov, a journalist and human rights defender, should be dropped immediately, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
CPJ, partner groups urge UNESCO to pull Obiang prize
New York, August 12, 2010–The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization should cancel the Obiang prize at its next session in October 2010, the Committee to Protect Journalists and 95 partner groups said in a letter to UNESCO Executive Board members today.
Eritrean official says jailed journalists were security threat
Since a week after September 11, 2001, when the government of Eritrea threw into secret prisons journalists from its once-vibrant private press, the only certainty it has offered about the fate of the prisoners has been ambiguity. Over the years, officials have offered various explanations for the arrests—from nebulous anti-state conspiracies involving foreign intelligence to press law violations. They have…