New York, August 7, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the decision of regional authorities in Dagestan to open a criminal case against Nadira Isayeva, editor-in-chief of an independent weekly, after the newspaper quoted a former guerilla leader in an article. According to news Web site Lenta, regional prosecutors in Dagestan’s capital, Makhachkala,…
New York, August 7, 2008–The editor-in-chief of independent news Web site Ingushetiya has fled Russia and is seeking asylum in Europe, daily The Moscow Times reported today. Ingushetiya’s lawyer, Kaloy Akhilgov, told CPJ that Roza Malsagova left Russia two weeks ago being harassed, threatened, and beaten by Ingush authorities. She also faces criminal prosecution. Earlier…
BELARUS: New York, August 5, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is troubled to learn that President Alexander Lukashenko has signed a restrictive new media law, which, according to CPJ research, will allow authorities to further restrict press freedom in Belarus. The Belarusian parliament—before its adjournment in late June—rushed the bill through in three consecutive readings…
UZBEKISTAN New York, August 5, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed to learn that police in the western Uzbek city of Nukus have brought another charge against an independent journalist to justify his arrest and detention, after initially bringing charges of drug use. On August 2, investigators in Nukus acknowledged that Salidzhon Abdurakhmonov’s blood…
We released the following statement today after a magistrate court in the city of Samara convicted Sergei Kurt-Adzhiyev, editor of the shuttered local edition of the Moscow-based independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, of using counterfeit Adobe, Microsoft, and 1C software to produce the newspaper. “The allegation of software piracy is nothing but a lame excuse for…
New York, July 28, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Friday’s vicious attack on Zurab Tsechoyev, editor of Mashr, a human rights Web site based in the volatile North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia. At least 50 armed, masked men in camouflage gear raided Tsechoyev’s home, shoved him into an armored personnel carrier, drove him to…
TURKMENISTAN: New York, July 11, 2008—A contributing reporter for the Turkmen Service of the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) who was forcibly held for two weeks in two different psychiatric facilities has now had his phone disabled, according to RFE/RL. Bowing to international pressure, authorities freed Sazak Durdymuradov on July 3. A security officer…
Dear Mr. President, As an independent, nonpartisan organization defending press freedom worldwide, the Committee to Protect Journalists calls on you to veto a severely restrictive draft media law, which will further curb press freedom conditions in Belarus. The bill was adopted by the upper chamber of the Belarusian parliament on June 28 and now awaits your consideration.
RUSSIA: New York, July 2, 2008—Two journalists in Russia’s Bashkortostan Republic have been convicted under the country’s vague extremism law. Each has been sentenced to serve a suspended two-year prison term. Their newspaper has been shuttered. On June 25, the Kirov District Court in the regional capital of Ufa, in the central Russian Republic of…