Pakistan: Journalists arrested for blasphemy
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply dismayed by the recent arrests of at least a dozen employees of the English-language newspaper The Frontier Post and its sister publication, the Urdu-language daily Maidan. District officials in Peshawar, where both newspapers are published, ordered the arrests and sealed The Frontier Post’s printing press without having conducted any investigation into allegations of blasphemy against the daily.
Indonesia: Foreign Minister seeks to limit journalists’ access to trouble spots
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is alarmed by a proposal announced last week by Indonesian Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab that could severely restrict foreign journalists from traveling to a number of crisis-prone regions in Indonesia.
Zimbabwe: “Unpatriotic” newspaper bombed
Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) strongly condemns yesterday’s early-morning bombing of the printing press of the independent Daily News in Harare. Sunday’s attack is the second such bombing of the private daily in less than a year. These violent attacks appear to be part of a deeply disturbing campaign against the Daily News and its staff, which have suffered frequent and ongoing harassment at the hands of police and top-ranking officials of the ruling ZANU-PF.
CPJ Press Freedom Award Winner Held for “Dangerousness”
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) welcomes yesterday’s release of independent journalist Jesús Joel Díaz Hernández, who was imprisoned for two years because of his work, in clear violation of international law. We urge Your Excellency to release the two other journalists who remain behind bars, Bernardo Arévalo Padrón and Manuel Antonio González Castellanos.
Russia: Journalist’s killers sought to intimidate his newspaper, CPJ research finds
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) wishes to inform you that after a thorough investigation into the murder of Igor Domnikov, a reporter for the independent, twice-weekly newspaper Novaya Gazeta, we have concluded that Domnikov was targeted by assassins who sought to intimidate his paper.
Belarus: Missing journalist feared dead; official investigation stalled
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply disturbed by the lack of progress in the investigation into the disappearance of Dmitry Zavadsky, a cameraman with the Russian public television network ORT who has been missing since July 7. Because no group has come forward to take responsibility for Zavadsky’s disappearance over the past six months, we now fear that the journalist may have been killed. The official investigation, which has been carried out in secret, now appears to be stalled.
Angola: Rafael Marques forbidden to travel
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) strongly protests your government’s continued harassment of journalist Rafael Marques, who was refused the right to leave the country this morning despite official assurances, and a signed court order, stating clearly that all travel restrictions against him had been lifted.
Slovakia: Journalist sentenced for defaming his country
Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is writing to express its dismay over recent defamation charges brought against Vladimir Mohorita, a journalist with the Slovak weekly Zmena. On March 16, Mohorita received a registered letter from the Bratislava 2 Regional Court informing him that unspecified, undated criminal charges had been filed against him. Mohorita received another registered letter two days later, explaining that the charges had in fact been filed two weeks earlier. The letter added that, having reached a decision on March 7, the court was sentencing him to four months in prison under Article 102 of the Slovak Penal Code for “publicly defaming the country and its officials.”
Ukraine: Editor assaulted by public official
Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the recent beating of Oleg Liachko, editor-in-chief of the weekly newspaper Svoboda. We demand that the attack be investigated immediately and that the assailant — a prominent public official–be held accountable for his actions.