New York, May 17, 2002—The man accused in the July 2001 murder of prominent television journalist Igor Aleksandrov was acquitted today by the Donetsk Court of Appeals in eastern Ukraine. The court ruled that there was not enough evidence to convict Yuri Verdyuk and instructed officials to reopen the murder investigation, according to local and…
New York, May 8, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by yesterday’s decision of the Appeals Board of the Supreme Court to reinstate a Defense Ministry decree that was used to convict and jail Russian journalist Grigory Pasko. Pasko was convicted of treason in December 2001, based on the charge that he intended…
Your Excellency: Joel Simon and I enjoyed the opportunity to meet with you and Ambassador Rashid Alimov on April 19 to discuss press freedom conditions in Tajikistan. We very much appreciate Your Excellency’s commitment to review a letter from us outlining our concerns and a number of press freedom cases we have documented. Unfortunately, government harassment, intimidation, and censorship regularly stifle press freedom in Tajikistan. The political factionalism that erupted during the 1992-1993 civil war, as well as the murders of many journalists killed during the conflict, has lead to widespread self-censorship.
New York, May 2, 2002—CPJ is deeply concerned about the draft Supreme Radio and Television Board Bill currently being debated by the Turkish Parliament. The bill was passed last year but vetoed by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer in June 2001. Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit’s government recently resubmitted the bill to Parliament. Under the new law,…
New York, April 30, 2002—Valery Ivanov, editor of the newspaper Tolyatinskoye Obozreniye in the southern Russian city of Togliatti, was shot dead outside his home last night, CPJ has confirmed. At approximately 11 p.m. Ivanov, 32, was shot eight times in the head at point-blank range while entering his car, a colleague at the newspaper…
New York, April 29, 2002—CPJ mourns the tragic deaths of three journalists who were killed yesterday morning when their Mi-8 helicopter crashed in the Krasnoyarsk Region of Siberia. According to press reports, Natalya Pivovarova, of the 7 Channel television company; Igor Gareyev, of the Krasnoyarsk Regional Broadcasting Company; and Konstantin Stepanov, of the newspaper Segodnyashnyaya…
New York, April 17, 2002—In a letter sent today to Serbian National Assembly president Natasa Micic, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) expressed strong support for Parliament’s efforts to safeguard press freedom in Serbia. CPJ believes that by passing the draft Broadcasting Law, currently under consideration, Parliament can create an effective legal framework for the…
New York, April 12, 2002—Two journalists have been injured in separate attacks in Siberia and southern Russia, according to international reports. Yan Svider, a journalist with the opposition newspaper Vozrozhdeniye Respubliki, was attacked today by two unknown assailants in the city of Cherkessk in the southern Karachaevo-Cherkessiya Republic, according to local and international news reports.…
New York, April 11, 2002—On the third anniversary of the murder of journalist Slavko Curuvija, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) remains deeply concerned that the government has made no progress investigating the case. On April 11, 1999, Curuvija, editor-in-chief of the Belgrade daily Dnevni Telegraf, was gunned down near his home in central Belgrade…
New York, April 11, 2002—A bomb exploded last night (April 10) just outside the editorial offices of the Communist Party’s newspaper Kommunist in the Moldovan capital, Chisinau, CPJ has confirmed. The bomb, which was planted near the office entrance, caused structural damage to the building and shattered its windows, as well as those in a…