Your Majesty: The Committee to Protect Journalists is writing to protest the 18-month prison sentence handed down yesterday against Toujan al-Faisal, a writer and former member of Jordan’s Parliament. A State Security Court in Amman convicted al-Faisal of publishing “false information abroad,” “harming the dignity of the state and undermining the reputation of the state and its individuals,” and “incitement to unrest,” a source at the hearing told CPJ.
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned about the detention of Amardeep Bassey, investigations editor for the British newspaper The Sunday Mercury, and his two Pakistani guides, Naoshad Ali Afridi and Khitab Shah Shinwari. Pakistani officials have told journalists that Bassey is being held on suspicion of espionage.
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.
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by the recent closure of The Analyst, an independent newspaper based in the capital, Monrovia. During the early morning hours of April 25, police shut down The Analyst and ransacked the publication’s offices. According to an Associated Press (AP) report, Monrovia police chief Paul Mulbah said the ban was permanent and refused to give reasons for the closure. “The paper is closed and will not print again. This is a government order,” Mulbah told the AP.
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) strongly protests the Israeli government’s continued detention of several journalists in the West Bank. As of today, at least three journalists are in Israeli custody after being arrested while carrying out their professional duties. The IDF has so far provided no explanation for their detentions.
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is writing to condemn the arrests this week of three Harare-based, independent journalists Lloyd Mudiwa, Collin Chiwanza, and Andrew Meldrum. Central Intelligence Division officers arrested Mudiwa and Chiwanza, both staff writers at the privately owned Daily News, at their Harare office in the early morning hours of April 30.
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the continued incarceration of Pham Hong Son, who was detained in late March for publishing an online article about democracy. Son is the third person to be apprehended in Vietnam since February for writing or distributing content on the Internet.