WHILE THE PRESS IN KYRGYZSTAN HAS ENJOYED A REPUTATION for greater freedom than in any other Central Asian republic, that freedom has in fact been eroding since the mid-1990s. In 2000, pressure on the independent media greatly intensified in advance of parliamentary and presidential elections. Many observers believe President Askar Akayev is resorting to more…
MACEDONIAN MEDIA ARE DIVIDED ALONG THE SAME ETHNIC LINES that define the country as a whole. At times in 2000, local press coverage of disruptions in the fragile balance between the country’s two main ethnic groups-majority ethnic Macedonians and minority ethnic Albanians-was reminiscent of the verbal wars that preceded the violent dissolution of the former…
STATE PRESSURE ON MOLDOVAN MEDIA REFLECTED broader political tensions between the country’s Romanian- and Russian-speaking citizens. This linguistic conflict, and related questions of sovereignty and identity, motivated government attempts to impose far-reaching restrictions on Russian- and Romanian-language media. Also, the state continued to impose large fines in libel cases, and several newspapers and journalists were…
WITH A PALESTINIAN UPRISING RAGING IN THE ISRAELI-OCCUPIED TERRITORIES, the Oslo peace process dead, and his popularity slipping, the future of Yasser Arafat and his Palestinian National Authority (PNA) seemed precarious. But Arafat’s leadership position appeared unchallenged for the time being, with the result that press freedom remained under threat. The year was marked by…
LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL REFORMS CONTINUED IN 2000, as Poland moved closer to joining the European Union. While journalists struggled under longstanding legal burdens, new court rulings favored press freedom, and legislation was drafted to improve access to information. Meanwhile, one violent attack against a journalist was recorded, and the political opposition alleged that the state…
MEDIA REFORMS INITIATED AFTER ROMANIA WAS INVITED to apply to join the European Union in November 1999 achieved only limited progress, and the country’s politicians spent much of the year debating laws that would limit, rather than promote, press freedom. The parliament also failed to eliminate or reduce criminal penalties for defamation, and journalists in…
THE ASCENDANCY OF PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN brought an alarming assault on press freedom in Russia last year. Under the new president, the Kremlin imposed censorship in Chechnya, orchestrated legal cases against powerful media barons, and granted sweeping powers of surveillance to the security services (see special report).
SLOVAKIA’S RULING COALITION LACKS IDEOLOGICAL COHERENCE, aside from a common aversion to former prime minister Vladimir Meciar and his nationalist HZDS party. Internal bickering and power struggles have slowed government decision-making and the pace of political reform. Direct political pressure on journalists has declined significantly since Meciar left office in late 1998, but the lack…
PRESS FREEDOM IS GENERALLY RESPECTED IN SPAIN, and CPJ does not routinely monitor conditions in the country. However, a series of attacks on journalists by the Basque separatist group ETA, including the murder of a prominent columnist from the Madrid daily El Mundo, greatly alarmed journalists during 2000, forcing many to leave the Basque region…
ALTHOUGH CIVIL WAR NO LONGER RAGES IN TAJIKISTAN, popular unrest and an increasingly authoritarian regime have made conditions hard for journalists in the republic. Reporting remains a dangerous profession, especially for the few journalists who dare to investigate power struggles in the political and military elite or trafficking in weapons and drugs by criminal mafias.…