Belarusian election undermined by state abuses against media
Moscow, February 10, 2006—The Belarusian government’s persecution of the country’s few independent newspapers undermines the integrity of the March 19 presidential election in which Aleksandr Lukashenko seeks a third term, the Committee to Protect Journalists and two regional press freedom organizations said today. The groups called on the Russian Federation, the European Union, and the…
Turkish judge adjourns trial of five journalists amid scuffles
Istanbul, Turkey, February 7, 2006—Scuffles erupted between riot police and Turkish nationalist lawyers at the start of the trial today of five journalists in a freedom of speech case given prominence by Turkey’s European Union application. After more than two hours of courtroom chaos, the judge adjourned the hearing until April 11 to allow the…
Turkish court to hear criminal charges against five journalists
Istanbul, Turkey, February 6, 2006—Five prominent Turkish journalists are due to appear in court on Tuesday on charges of insulting the judiciary for criticizing a court decision to ban an academic conference on the killing of Armenians during the last days of the Ottoman Empire. The case has embarrassed Turkey, which is in negotiations to…
Reporter beaten in North Ossetian capital
FEBRUARY 3, 2006 Olga Kiry, Channel One ATTACKED Kiry, a North Ossetia correspondent for the national television station Channel One, was beaten when reporting at a hospital in the North Ossetian capital, Vladikavkaz. Kiry tried to report on the condition of patients hospitalized with serious injuries resulting from explosions at local gambling parlors the night…
Chechen comments lead to editor’s conviction for ‘inciting hatred’
New York, February 3, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the criminal conviction of Stanislav Dmitriyevsky, director of the human rights organization Russian-Chechen Friendship Society and editor of its newspaper Pravo-Zashchita. Today’s verdict is based on the newspaper’s publication of comments from Chechen rebel leaders calling for peace talks.
Police confiscate copies of opposition newspaper
New York, February 1, 2006—Police in the southern Belarusian town of Zhlobin confiscated several hundred copies of Tovarishch (Comrade), the official newspaper of the Belarusian Communist Party, on Tuesday, the independent news agency Belapan reported. Vladimir Katsora, a Tovarishch distributor, was transporting copies to the city of Gomel. The seized issue contained coverage of the…
Danish newspaper receives bomb threat for cartoons of Muhammad
Editor’s note: The original text of this alert has been changed to locate the headquarters of the daily Jyllands-Posten in Viby instead of Copenhagen New York, February 1, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by a bomb threat against the Viby-based Danish daily Jyllands-Posten in retaliation for publishing cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad. International…
Belarusian police seize ‘antistate’ video from Ukrainian TV crew
New York, January 30, 2006—Belarusian police stopped a Ukrainian television crew at a border checkpoint on Friday and seized video footage they described as “antistate,” according to local and international press reports. A crew with the independent Inter network was returning to Kyiv from assignment in the Gomel region of Belarus when a border patrol…
Editor threatened, cameraman assaulted
JANUARY 27, 2006 Aleksandr Sveshnikov, Bogatei THREATENED Yuri Smirnov, TVTs-Saratov ATTACKED Sveshnikov, deputy editor of the newspaper Bogatei, was threatened and Smirnov, cameraman with the television station TVTs-Saratov, was assaulted. The incidents came as the journalists tried to cover the government’s seizure of a building hosting the institute Saratovpromproekt in the Volga region city of…