New York, April 26, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by reports that Israeli soldiers have attacked Palestinian journalists covering unrest in the West Bank city of Nablus on at least two occasions this month. On April 17, soldiers fired at a group of cameramen and photographers covering an Israeli army raid on a…
New York, April 20, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of Saudi journalist Rabah al-Quwai’, who was held for 13 days in retaliation for his writings about religious extremism. Al-Quwai’, a writer for the daily Shams, said he was compelled to sign a statement saying that he had denigrated Islamic beliefs in his…
New York, April 19, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by a Moroccan appeals court decision to uphold record damages against the independent magazine Le Journal Hebdomadaire in a defamation suit brought by a Belgian think tank. The magazine, which said it was prevented from mounting a proper defense, now faces bankruptcy. The weekly,…
New York, April 18, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the destruction of the studios of a private Bethlehem television station critical of the Palestinian Authority. Masked gunmen believed to be from the Fatah faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization stormed the offices of Al-Roa television on the night of March 23 and…
New York, April 17, 2006—Journalist Ilyas Aktas died on April 14 in an Ankara hospital two weeks after he was shot in the head during protests in the predominantly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, in southeast Turkey, local and international media reported. The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply troubled by the shooting and is still…
New York, April 11, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes a Turkish court ruling today to drop charges against four prominent newspaper columnists but deplores the decision to continue with the trial of a fifth. All five writers were charged over comments they made about an Istanbul conference last September on the killing of Armenians…
New York, April 10, 2006—Reuters news agency said today that an inquiry it commissioned into the shooting of one of its journalists by U.S. troops in Iraq found that the killing was “unlawful” and a violation of U.S. military rules of engagement. The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed concern at the findings. Reuters said the…
New York, April 7, 2006—An Iraqi cameraman held for more than a year by U.S. forces in Iraq without due process was released on Thursday, CBS News has confirmed. Abdul Ameer Younis Hussein, who was working for CBS, was freed a day after an Iraqi criminal court, citing a lack of evidence, acquitted him of…