CPJ’s 2009 prison census: Freelance journalists under fire
New York, December 8, 2009—Freelancers now make up nearly 45 percent of all journalists jailed worldwide, a dramatic recent increase that reflects the evolution of the global news business, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. In its annual census of imprisoned journalists, CPJ found a total of 136 reporters, editors, and photojournalists behind bars…
Tunisia jails two critical journalists and harasses others
New York, December 1, 2009—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the rising imprisonment of critical journalists in Tunisia. Harassment has been escalating since President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali threatened to prosecute anyone who casts doubt on his reelection for a fifth five-year term in office on October 25. Journalists Zuhair Makhlouf and Taoufik Ben…
Seen and heard at CPJ benefit: ‘The pen is not broken’
Small in stature but strong in her words, Naziha Réjiba tells a reporter of all the things the Tunisian government does to try to frighten her. But Réjiba said that she will not be scared, that she will never allow such tactics to have power over her. Editor of Kalima, an online news Web site blocked in…
CPJ honors press freedom leaders
New York, November 25, 2009—The Committee to Protect Journalists honored four journalists with its 2009 International Press Freedom Awards in a ceremony Tuesday night that highlighted impunity in journalist murders, this week’s killings of Philippine journalists, and the Internet’s emerging role in press freedom. Anthony Lewis, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and founding CPJ board…
Honored for their work, threatened at home
CPJ introduces 2009 International Press Freedom Awardees Washington, November 19, 2009—Naziha Réjiba, editor of the Tunisian online news journal Kalima, said she knows what to expect when she returns home—surveillance, harassment, and threats conducted by one the world’s most repressive governments.
In Tunisia, government harassment of journalists on the rise
New York, November 4, 2009—The Committee to Protect Journalists is outraged that Tunisian police stripped and mistreated journalist Taoufik ben Brik, a well-known contributor to French newspapers and one of the top critics of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, during his arrest on October 29. CPJ urges Ben Ali to order Ben Brik’s immediate…
As Tunisian elections near, attacks on press mount
New York, October 22, 2009—Tunisian authorities must halt harassment of independent journalists, release a journalist jailed for taking photographs, and allow a prominent French reporter to enter the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. CPJ has documented a spike in government attacks on independent journalists as Tunisian presidential and legislative elections approach.
A Tunisian blogger speaks out: ‘The candles are lit’
My country’s government brags unabashedly that it has not passed any laws that require government authorization to establish an electronic publication or a Web site or a blog on the Internet. Those that cheerlead for this government rely on this point to propagate the lie they call “the freedom to publish electronically” in Tunisia.
