CNN.com highlights high number of journalist arrests
CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon spoke extensively to CNN.com’s Tom Watkins about the huge number of journalists imprisoned for their work around the globe. The piece comes at a time when two high profile cases–that of Roxana Saberi in Iran, and Euna Lee and Laura Ling in North Korea–have put the spotlight on jailed journalists. Read…
Executions in editor’s murder trigger doubts, outrage
Sudan’s execution this week of nine men found guilty of involvement in the 2006 assassination of editor Mohammed Taha Mohammed Ahmed, left, is seen by many there as an outrageous miscarriage of justice, spurred by a thirst on the part of President Omar al-Bashir’s regime for settling scores with the rebellious region of Darfur.
Saberi’s parents go to Iran; State Department intervenes
On Monday, the parents of detained Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi left their home in Fargo, North Dakota, to go see their daughter in Iran. Saberi has been held in Tehran’s Evin prison since January 31. Reza and Akiko Saberi are scheduled to arrive in Iran on Wednesday. Since Saberi was picked up at the end…
After CPJ letter, Tunis grants journalist freedom to travel
Nearly a week after CPJ sent a letter to Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali urging him to end the “ongoing cycle of repression of critical journalists and media outlets,” Tunisia’s Ministry of Justice and Human Rights told Mohamed Abbou, a prominent human rights lawyer and writer, in a phone call on Saturday that…
Tunisian president calls criticism “unbecoming”
During his address to the nation on the anniversary of Tunisia’s independence on March 20, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali did not hesitate to reject critical journalism and the right of journalists to cover corruption or mistakes by the government. As customary, local groups concerned with press freedom, including the Tunisian Observatory for Press Freedom…
Major news outlets issue statement on Saberi
Seven major news organizations including NPR, ABC, and the BBC issued a joint statement on behalf of Roxana Saberi, a U.S.-Iranian freelance journalist who is currently being held in Tehran’s Evin prison. The outlets asked that “one or more international organizations that have responsibilities and rights under the Geneva Conventions be permitted access to Roxana…
Saberi meets with lawyer, heartened by support
CNN.com is reporting that Roxana Saberi met with a lawyer in Tehran on Sunday. Her father said she was tearful at first, but that “her spirits changed when she heard about the outpouring of support. She had no idea how much attention her arrest is getting.”
Tunisia’s Radio Kalima shuttered; staffers harassed
Ever since Radio Kalima staffers launched their new station on January 26, Tunisian plainclothes police have done everything they can to suppress the newly launched satellite radio station: besieging the offices for several days, threatening a managing editor with a knife, and finally breaking into the building and confiscating the equipment.