CPJ urges Azerbaijan to investigate assaults
Dear Mr. Qaralov, The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly protests the failure of Azerbaijani prosecutors to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation into the brazen assaults against Azadlyg reporter Agil Khalil. In the last three months, Khalil has been beaten, stabbed, and pushed onto train tracks. He has also escaped a kidnapping attempt. Yet despite abundant evidence as to who committed the crimes, there has been no progress in these cases.
Prosecutor suspends television station and newspaper
New York, May 25, 2007—A court in the financial capital, Almaty, ordered the immediate suspension of the television station Kommerchesky Televizionny Kanal (KTK) and the weekly newspaper Karavan on Thursday for alleged violations of Kazakh media laws. “Kazakh prosecutors are selectively using vague legal provisions to silence media outlets,” CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon said.…
In Azerbaijan, new charge filed against imprisoned editor
New York, May 22, 2007—Azerbaijani authorities have filed a terrorism charge against Eynulla Fatullayev, the imprisoned editor of the independent Russian-language weekly Realny Azerbaijan and the Azeri-language daily Gündalik Azarbaycan, in the latest government action against the journalist and his publications. Fatullayev, a persistent government critic, is already in prison on a specious defamation charge…
Russian investigators eye ’private life’ motive in Safronov probe
New York, May 21, 2007—Russian authorities are believed to be focusing on Kommersant reporter Ivan Safronov’s private life as the likely motive in his mysterious death in March, several Russian news outlets reported over the weekend. The Committee to Protect Journalists called on authorities today to give thorough consideration to Safronov’s sensitive professional work as…
Azerbaijani newspapers evicted, editor threatened
New York, May 21, 2007—Local authorities evicted the independent Russian-language weekly Realny Azerbaijan and the Azeri-language daily Gündalik Azarbaycan from their Baku offices on Sunday night, saying that the publications’ building violates safety regulations. The action comes amid a series of threats, attacks, and cases of harassment targeting the muckraking newspapers—including, most recently, an anonymous…
Police detain foreign journalists on the way to opposition rally
May 18, 2007 Adrian Bloomfield, The Daily TelegraphAlan Cullison, Wall Street JournalAllard Detiger, Dutch Broadcasting Foundation Boris Raitshuster, Focus HARASSED Russian police detained three foreign journalists in a Moscow airport as they prepared to fly to the southern city of Samara to cover a rally led by former chess world champion and Kremlin critic Garry…
As world press event approaches, Russian agency evicts journalist union
New York, May 16, 2007—A federal property agency is evicting the Russian Union of Journalists (RUJ) from its Moscow offices as the press organization is preparing for the 26th World Congress of Journalists, an international gathering of media workers starting on May 28 in Russia’s capital. The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply troubled by…