New York, June 19, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is disturbed by the closing of the alternative English-language biweekly The eXile in Moscow. The paper announced on its Web site last week that it was forced to shut down after nervous investors withdrew support in the wake of a politicized audit of its content. “Russian…
New York, June 19, 2008—Authorities at Heydar Aliyev International Airport barred a reporter whose life has been threatened from leaving the country today, the Baku-based Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety said. Agil Khalil, a reporter for the independent daily Azadlyg, tried to board a flight to France this morning when he was stopped by…
New York, June 19, 2008—The European Court of Human Rights ruled Tuesday that Armenia’s repeated denials of a broadcasting license to the independent A1+ television station violated Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. According to the verdict, the Armenian government must pay the station 20,000 euros (US$31,000) in damages. Famous for its…
RUSSIA: New York, June 18, 2008—Three men have been charged in connection with the October 2006 assassination of Novaya Gazeta journalist Anna Politkovskaya, the Investigative Committee at Russia’s Prosecutor-General’s Office announced today. With these charges, investigators have completed a preliminary investigation into the journalist’s immediate killers, a spokesman for the committee said. However, separate probes…
New York, June 17, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists denounces repeated efforts by authorities in the southern Russian republic of Ingushetia to shut down the regional news Web site Ingushetiya—one of the few remaining independent news outlets covering the volatile North Caucasus—for alleged extremism. On June 6, Kuntsevo district court in Moscow ordered the closure…
New York, June 17, 2008–Police in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek raided the newsroom of independent newspaper De-Facto on June 14, taking all its financial records, confiscating computers, and sealing the newsroom, the independent regional news Web site Ferghana reported. The paper was shut down after it published a letter to Kyrgyzstan’s president and other…
AZERBAIJAN: New York, June 16, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is outraged by the police beating of Emin Huseynov, head of the Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS), in Baku, Azerbaijan, on June 14. Huseynov was covering an event for the 80th birthday of slain Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara. Policed raided the event and…
New York, June 13, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by the June 7 arrest of Salidzhon Abdurakhmanov, an independent Uzbek journalist for a number of international news outlets. Police arrested Abdurakhmanov in the city of Nukus for alleged drug possession, independent news Web site Uznews reported. If convicted, Abdurakhmanov faces up to five…
New York, June 13, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by the June 7 arrest of Solidzhon Abdurakhmonov, an independent Uzbek journalist for a number of international news outlets. Police arrested Abdurakhmonov in the city of Nukus for alleged drug possession, independent news Web site Uznews reported. If convicted, Abdurakhmonov faces up to five…