CPJ urges reversal of Iraq bomb coverage restriction
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by the Iraqi Interior Ministry’s recent decision to limit journalists’ access to scenes of bomb attacks. We are further alarmed by the enforcement methods employed by Iraqi police last Tuesday, when officers turned away journalists by firing shots in the air.
Two ABC News journalists killed in Baghdad
New York, May 18, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Thursday’s murder of two ABC News journalists by unidentified gunmen in Baghdad. Gunmen in two cars ambushed and killed cameraman Alaa Uldeen Aziz, 33, and soundman Saif Laith Yousuf, 26, on their way home from the network’s Baghdad bureau, ABC News reported.
CPJ alarmed by gunfire outside Gaza news buildings; urges factions to halt
New York, May 16, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned that the safety of dozens of journalists was endangered by heavy factional fighting today around two Gaza City buildings housing several news organizations. According to CPJ sources and international news reports, Fatah gunmen took over the roofs of the Shawa and Hosari Tower—which…
CPJ calls for release of detained media workers in Iraq
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is gravely concerned that 11 current and former employees of the independent production company Wasan Media have been held by the Interior Ministry for nearly four months on specious criminal charges and without due process.
Student editors jailed for allegedly publishing offensive articles
New York, May 15, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the recent arrests of four Iranian student editors of Amirkabir University of Technology in Tehran following the publication of newsletters carrying articles deemed insulting to Islam. The students say they had no involvement in the publications, calling them a fraud designed to disrupt student elections.…
Journalist, media worker killed in Gaza City
New York, May 14, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalist is outraged by the killings of a journalist and a media worker, who were shot on Sunday in Gaza City. Gunmen wearing presidential guard uniforms stopped a taxi carrying Suleiman Abdul-Rahim al-Ashi, 25, an economics editor for the Hamas-affiliated daily Palestine, and Mohammad Matar Abdo, 25,…
Media company chief slain in Iraq; three others killed
Editor’s Note: The original text of this alert has been altered to reflect the correct spelling of Raad Mutashar’s name. New York, May 9, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns today’s murder of an Iraqi journalist, his driver, and two passengers, who were gunned down outside the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk. Gunmen riding in…
Palestinian group claims it’s holding Johnston, makes public demands
New York, May 9, 2007—The Palestinian militant group Jaish al-Islam has issued a recording in which it claims to be holding BBC correspondent Alan Johnston and demands the release of Muslim prisoners held by the United Kingdom in exchange for the journalist’s freedom. The audio and visual recording, published on an extremist Web site and…