Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned that the independent, twice-weekly newspaper Novaya Gazeta, could be closed by the Basmanny District Court of Moscow at any time following proceedings to seal the paper’s property that were initiated last week by a bailiff. This action comes as a result of an excessive damage award in a recent libel suit against the paper.
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the recent detention and deportation of Canadian journalist Jiang Xueqin, who was filming labor unrest in northeastern China. We call for an immediate easing of restrictions on journalists trying to cover the protests, which are the largest to hit China since the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations.
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is outraged by the continued detention of Internet publisher Huang Qi, who was arrested on June 3, 2000, and today completes two years in prison. Although Huang was secretly tried on August 14, 2001, authorities have not yet delivered a verdict in his case. In October 1998, Huang Qi and his wife, Zeng Li, launched Tianwang Web site (www.6-4tianwang.com), a missing-persons search service based in Chengdu, Sichuan Province.
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the recent attack on Nazmul Imam, Kushtia correspondent for the national Bengali-language daily Manavzamin. We call for an immediate and thorough investigation into this incident. At approximately 1:30 a.m. on May 28 about five men stopped Imam’s rickshaw as he was on his way home in Kushtia. According to several Bangladeshi and international news reports, after the men brandished knives, Imam gave them his wallet and cell phone. When he then tried to run away, one of the men shouted, “Catch the journalist.”
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release from government custody of three leading Nigerois journalists who were arrested and detained on charges of defaming government officials. However, CPJ strongly condemns the criminal prosecution of journalists for their work.
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply disturbed by today’s arrest of Tara Neupane, a columnist for the Nepali-language weekly Sanghu. At around 3:30 p.m., plainclothes officers arrived at the Kathmandu district office of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) and took Neupane into custody. He is being held at the Kathmandu Valley police office at Ratna Park, according to the FNJ.
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.