Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ ) is greatly alarmed by a December 27 grenade attack near the offices of the independent weekly Elet es Irodalom in Budapest. The newspaper’s editors suspect the attack came in reprisal for its recent court victory in a libel suit that Your Excellency and Fidesz, the main governing party, filed against it in October.
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is greatly alarmed by the criminal prosecution of broadcast journalist Zdenek Zukal for allegedly making false accusations against public officials. If he is found guilty on all three charges filed against him, Zukal could be jailed for up to nine years.
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is greatly concerned by the Azerbaijani parliament’s December 9 adoption of a new media law that severely restricts press freedom in your country. Although the new law formally forbids censorship, it outlines several provisions that limit the internationally-recognized right of journalists to practice their profession. The legislation:
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is writing to protest your government’s ongoing legal campaign against the Peruvian journalists group Asociación Prensa Libre, and in particular against Prensa Libre member Guillermo Gonzales Arica. We believe this campaign is designed to quell investigative journalism in Peru.
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned about recent death threats against Sunday Standard reporter Ray Choto. The threats began in November, shortly after Choto returned to Zimbabwe after collecting an international press freedom award in Canada, along with his colleague Mark Chavunduka, editor of the Sunday Standard. On November 21 a package arrived at Choto’s home in Harare, containing a teddy bear, two live bullets, and a note threatening him and his family. Two other independent journalists, Basildon Peta of the Financial Gazette and Ibbo Mandaza of the Zimbabwe Mirror, received anonymous threats at around the same time.
Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is gravely concerned about a series of recent attacks on journalists covering the conflict in Chechnya. Two Chechen cameramen have been killed in recent weeks, while a Russian reporter and a French photojournalist have disappeared.
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is writing to condemn the three-year prison sentence handed down on Saturday against Mashallah Shamsolvaezin, editor of the reformist daily Asr-e-Azadegan. We are also greatly alarmed by the conviction and jailing of Abdullah Nouri, the former Interior Minister and publisher of the daily Khordad, which also took place on Saturday.
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.