Czech reporter beaten, three Belarusians detained in election aftermath
New York, March 21, 2006—Unidentified assailants beat a reporter for the Czech daily Mlada Fronta Dnes as he was completing coverage of a post-election opposition rally in downtown Minsk Sunday night, The Associated Press reported. The attackers broke Jan Rybar’s nose, leaving him with a mild concussion and bruises, and took his laptop computer and…
In Belarus, press attacks continue on election weekend and beyond
New York, March 20, 2006—Belarusian authorities muzzled independent journalists in the final hours of the presidential campaign—and beyond—as President Aleksandr Lukashenko won a third term in balloting on Sunday that international observers said fell short of democratic standards. Authorities arrested three Belarusian editors without explanation and barred at least four Russian journalists from covering the…
Authorities release two RFE/RL journalists
New York, March 20, 2006—Authorities have released two journalists working for the Turkmen service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) after arresting them on spurious charges of hooliganism, according to international press reports. RFE/RL officials in Prague issued a statement saying that the two journalists—Meret Khommadov and Dzhumadurdy Ovezov—were freed on Thursday only after signing…
Government intensifies press crackdown ahead of election
New York, March 17, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists deplores the ongoing government crackdown on independent media in Belarus ahead of a presidential election Sunday. Authorities barred two Polish journalists from entering the country to cover the poll, seized the print-run of an opposition newspaper, and pressured a cable TV operator to drop a Russian…
Editor attacked, threatened
MARCH 10, 2006 Irina Ovsy, Sotsialisticheskaya Kharkovshchina ATTACKED Two unidentified men attacked Ovsy, editor of Sotsialisticheskaya Kharkovshchina, weekly newspaper of the For Union political coalition, at the entrance to her apartment building, according to local press reports. Ovsy was leaving for work at around 10 a.m. when the assailants pushed her against a wall, told…
Arrests, jailings mark pre-election press crackdown
New York, March 16, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the latest government crackdown against independent journalists in the days before Sunday’s presidential election. Police arrested at least four journalists this week, and local courts handed them sentences of five to 10 days in jail on charges of hooliganism. Andrei Pochobut, editor of the magazine…
Uzbekistan targets reporters for German broadcaster
New York, March 16, 2006—The Foreign Ministry has invoked restrictive new regulations to reprimand three correspondents working for the German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle, escalating pressure on the few remaining local journalists working for foreign media, according to international press reports. On Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry revoked the accreditation of Deutsche Welle correspondent Obid Shabanov…
Turkey special report
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