Letters

Dear Chief Justice Puno, The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about recent maneuvers to delay the ongoing murder trial of journalist Marlene Garcia-Esperat. As you are aware, the assassins in this case, Estanislao Bismanos, Gerry Cabayag, and Randy Grecia, were convicted and sentenced to life in prison on October 6, 2006.

Dear President Rajapaksa, The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by ongoing intimidation of Sri Lanka’s media. Recent events in the state-run Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation in Colombo and the treatment of Tamil journalists under investigation by the Terrorist Investigation Division both reveal how press workers face increasing threat of restriction under your government.

Dear Mr. President, We are writing to express our grave concern about the recent arrest of an editor and a publisher under criminal libel laws, despite your pledges to decriminalize libel cases in Sierra Leone.

Your Excellency, As an independent, nonpartisan organization defending press freedom worldwide, the Committee to Protect Journalists would like to draw to your attention your government’s selective use of politically motivated civil libel lawsuits against critics. Intolerant officials punish what remains of Belarus’ independent media with lawsuits that result in exorbitant fines, further debilitating the outlets. Since 1999, the Committee to Protect Journalists has documented such targeted attacks against at least five independent and oppositions newspapers.

Dear Mr. President, The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned about the recent attacks on the Belgrade-based independent broadcaster B92 and its founder, Veran Matic. The attacks started in the wake of Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence on February 17–culminating in the siege of the station by angry protesters on February 21–and have continued since.

Dear Mr. President, We are writing to express our alarm about the increasing restrictions against Chad’s once-vibrant independent media, particularly following the deadly rebel assault on the capital, N’djamena, in early February.

Dear Mr. President, The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned about the lack of progress in the investigation into the October assassination of Alisher Saipov, editor of the independent Uzbek-language weekly Siyosat (Politics). Four months after this brazen crime, Kyrgyz officials in charge of the probe announced–amid conflicting press reports–that the investigation was suspended. The Saipov family was not informed of the suspension in time to seek reconsideration.

Dear Prime Minister Samak: The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the installation of your popularly elected government, marking a welcome return to democracy after a period of military rule that often worked at odds with Thailand’s proud tradition of press freedom.

Dear General Razon: The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the arrest warrants issued for two suspects in the 2005 murder of journalist Marlene Garcia-Esperat. This is a significant step forward for the Philippines, where no mastermind has been convicted in the killing of a journalist since CPJ began documenting journalist deaths in 1992.

Your Excellency, On the eve of the African Union summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the Committee to Protect Journalists urges the AU to actively defend and uphold press freedom across the continent. CPJ calls on your office to strengthen AU institutions dedicated to supporting press freedom, including the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the African Peer Review Mechanism, and remind states of their obligation to uphold press freedom as part of their membership in the union.