New York, December 7, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by an apparent government attempt to intimidate journalists from the independent daily Al-Ayyam by sending elite Yemeni Republican Guards to its Aden office. Around 1 a.m. on December 5, five soldiers in a gray-blue Mercedes circled Al-Ayyam’s headquarters several times before asking to meet…
New York, December 6, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is shocked and saddened by the crash today of an Iranian military plane that claimed the lives of more than 100 people, mostly journalists. An Iranian C-130 military transport plane crashed into a Tehran apartment building, killing its 10 person crew and all 84 passengers, who…
New York, December 2, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the assault and harassment by Egyptian authorities of journalists covering parliamentary elections. CPJ sources and press reports confirm over a dozen cases in which journalists have been attacked, detained, or prevented from working since the first round of voting in the three-round election began on…
New York, December 1, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the legal harassment of opposition and independent newspapers over the past month by the Yemeni authorities, including the closure of one newspaper and a barrage of defamation lawsuits against others. The legal actions come amid a broader government crackdown on the media. Several…
NOVEMBER 19, 2005 POSTED: December 2, 2005 Al-ThawryFikri Qassim, Al-Thawry Salahaddin al-Dakkak, Al-Thawry LEGAL ACTION A Sana’a court fined the opposition weekly Al-Thawry one million Yemeni riyals ($5,500) for defaming two government officials. The newspaper already faced 13 defamation charges for criticizing the authorities and risked being closed down if convicted on any one of…
New York, November 14, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists voiced outrage today at the assault on a French reporter in Tunis and the failure of police nearby to intervene. Reporter Christophe Boltanski of the French daily Libération was beaten and stabbed by four men late Friday near his hotel in the capital’s diplomatic quarter, which…
NOVEMBER 11, 2005 POSTED: December 2, 2005 Christophe Boltanski, Libération ATTACKED Boltanski, a reporter with the French daily Libération, was beaten and stabbed by four men near his hotel in the diplomatic quarter of Tunis, which was heavily patrolled by police. He needed several stitches in a stab wound in his back. Boltanski was in…
Your Excellency: As international leaders prepare to gather in Tunis for a summit on the Internet, the Committee to Protect Journalists strongly protests the imprisonment of journalists Hamadi Jebali and Mohamed Abbou, who have been jailed solely for expressing their views.