New York, March 19, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists today renewed its call for the release of BBC correspondent Alan Johnston who was abducted in the Gaza Strip one week ago. “We’re deeply concerned that Alan Johnston has been missing for a week now, and we appeal to those holding our colleague to release him…
New York, March 15, 2007—Four years after the U.S.-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein, Iraq remains the deadliest country in the world for the press as local journalists continue to suffer disproportionately from the violence, research by the Committee to Protect Journalists shows. A total of 97 journalists and 37 media support staffers have been…
New York, March 13, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists today renewed its call for the release of abducted BBC Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston amid reports that the Hamas-led Palestinian government had identified his abductors and expected him to be freed soon. During a meeting in Gaza City, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya told BBC representatives…
New York, March 12, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the abduction of a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) correspondent in the Gaza Strip and called on his kidnappers to free him. Veteran correspondent Alan Johnston, 43, was seized by four unmasked, armed men in a white vehicle as he was driving near the BBC’s…
New York, March 8, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned that two journalists were bruised by Israeli stun grenades at an Israeli military checkpoint between Jerusalem and the West Bank city of Ramallah today. Rami al-Faqih, a correspondent for the local Al-Quds Educational Television, and Iyad Hamad, a cameraman for The Associated Press, were…
New York, March 5, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the brutal murder of an Iraqi editor by unmasked gunmen in Baghdad on Sunday. The body of another editor thought missing was identified by his family in a Baghdad morgue on Wednesday. Around 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, several gunmen in two vehicles attempted to abduct…
New York, March 2, 2007–The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by criminal defamation prosecutions of three Yemeni editors. Independent weekly Al-Deyar Editor-in-Chief Abed al-Mahthari was charged with defaming Watani Bank for Trade and Investment; Al-Shoura.net Editor Abdelkarim al-Khaiwani was charged with publishing false information about the Defense Ministry and defaming Armed Forces Moral…
New York, February 28, 2007—The Committee to Protect to Journalists today called on Tunisia to free an Internet writer jailed two years ago for Web articles that criticized President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and described torture in Tunisian prisons. Secret police in Tunis arrested Mohamed Abbou, a human rights lawyer and contributor to the…
New York, February 27, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) arrest of a local television director and harassment of several journalists during a military operation in the West Bank city of Nablus. At around 3:00 a.m. on February 26, Israeli soldiers detained Nabegh Break, owner and managing…