Letters

  

Azerbaijani Authorities Close, Then Fine, Independent TV Station

Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply disturbed by the closing and continued harassment of the Baku independent station Sara TV and Radio. At 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, October 9, some 15 police officers, along with officials from the Baku City Prosecutor’s Office, the Baku and Yasamal district police departments and the Ministry of the Interior entered the offices of Sara TV, halting all broadcast transmissions and demanding that staff evacuate the office immediately.

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Jang Group of Newspapers Targeted by Government

Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is shocked by the range of tactics your administration is using to harass and intimidate the Jang Group of Newspapers, Pakistan’s largest newspaper publishing company.

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Solomon Islands: Government imposes harsh media regulations under state of emergency

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned over your administration’s decision to impose draconian regulations governing all media coverage of the ethnic tensions there. On June 28, the Governor General issued an amendment to the Emergency Powers Act of 1999 (see below) that threatens journalists who violate state–imposed reporting restrictions with up to two years imprisonment or a fine of up to SI$5,000 (US$1,050), or both. The regulations prohibit any reporting that “may incite violence,” “is likely to cause racial disharmony,” or that is “likely to be prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state.” There are also provisions in the amendment that criminalize the possession of an official document by anyone “who has no right to retain it.”

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Yugoslavia: CPJ protests police attacks on nine journalists covering anti-Milosevic demonstrations in Belgrade

Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply alarmed by recent police attacks against journalists covering this week’s political demonstrations in Belgrade, and by police attempts to close down the opposition newspaper Glas Javnosti.

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Colombia: Cali newspaper office bombed

Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is writing to express its outrage over Sunday’s bomb attack on the Cali office of the Bogotá-based daily El Tiempo. We urge you ensure that this attack on press freedom is fully investigated and its authors duly punished.

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Venezuela: New constitution would restrict press freedom

Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is writing to express its deep concern about the continued inclusion of a provision guaranteeing the right to “timely, truthful, and impartial information” in the draft constitution of Venezuela. This provision violates international standards for freedom of expression.

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Sri Lanka: New censorship regulations for journalists covering civil war

Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply dismayed by your administration’s recent expansion of censorship regulations on media coverage of the civil war between the government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The latest restrictions follow news reports that as many as 1,000 government troops may have been killed by LTTE forces last week.

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Yugoslavia: Independent journalists under siege

I am writing once again to express CPJ’s ongoing concern about the deterioration of press freedom conditions in Serbia, and about the continued harassment and prosecution of journalists there. I last wrote on September 30, to remind you of the commitment you made during our September 20 meeting in Belgrade to investigate a number of press freedom abuses. In your October 6 response, you objected to statements I made to the Serbian press regarding the April 23 bombing of Radio and Television Serbia (RTS). As you well know, the concerns I raised about RTS officials not taking sufficient action to safeguard the security of their employees prior to the NATO attack have been voiced repeatedly in the local press, and by the families of the victims.

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Correspondent killed in Grozny rocket attack

Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is gravely concerned by the death of Supian Ependiyev, a veteran correspondent for the independent Chechnya weekly Groznenskiy Rabochiy, in a recent rocket attack on the Chechen capital, Grozny

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Iran: Editor charged with “insulting Islam” arrested for missing court date

Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is writing to express its profound concern about the arrest on Tuesday of Mashallah Shamsolvaezin, editor-in-chief of the daily Asr-e-Azadegan.

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