New York, July 25, 2002–The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is alarmed by news reports that Czech investigative reporter Sabina Slonkova was the target of a murder plot allegedly planned by Karel Srba, the former general secretary of the Czech Foreign Ministry. Srba was arrested on July 19–in addition to three others who were arrested…
Addis Ababa, July 25, 2002—After a five-day fact-finding mission to Ethiopia, a delegation from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has found that the Ethiopian government is planning alarming changes to the country’s 10-year-old press laws that would severely restrict the rights of Ethiopia’s already beleaguered private press corps. Although Information Minister Simon Bereket told…
New York, July 25, 2002—To mark the one-year anniversary of the murder of Georgy Sanaya, a popular anchor for the Tbilisi-based independent television station Rustavi-2, Committee to Protect Journalists executive director Ann Cooper issued the following statement: “We are disheartened that one year after Georgy Sanaya’s July 26, 2001, murder, justice has not been done.…
New York, July 25, 2002—Zimbabwe’s Daily News editor-in-chief Geoff Nyarota and reporter Lloyd Mudiwa, who are charged with “abusing journalistic privilege” and “publishing false information,” have successfully petitioned a magistrate’s court in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, to have their case referred to the country’s Supreme Court. . Magistrate Sandra Nhau granted a motion from defense lawyers…
New York, July 24, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is gravely concerned about the deteriorating health of imprisoned journalist U Win Tin, one of Burma’s most prominent political prisoners. A former editor-in-chief of the daily Hanthawati and vice-chairman of Burma’s Writers Association, U Win Tin, 73, is currently serving the 13th year of a…
New York, July 24, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) strongly condemns the decision announced today by a Tehran appeals court confirming the banning of Norooz, Iran’s main reformist daily, and the six-month jail sentence handed down to the paper’s editor, Mohsen Mirdamadi. According to press reports and CPJ sources in Tehran, an appeals court…
New York, July 23, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists has just learned that writer Nguyen Vu Binh has been released from Vietnamese police custody. Authorities, however, have summoned him for questioning each day since his detention on July 21. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Phan Thuy Thanh told reporters today that, “Mr. Nguyen Vu Binh has committed…
New York, July 22, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the detention of writer Nguyen Vu Binh, who is currently being held incommunicado. At around 9 a.m. on July 20, police officers picked up Binh from his home in Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi, and brought him to the local precinct. Officers also searched his computer,…
New York, July 22, 2002—The attorney representing three journalists from Zimbabwe’s Daily News who went on trial today for violating the country’s harsh press laws asked that the case be referred to the Supreme Court, claiming that the section of the law under which the journalists have been charged is unconstitutional. A ruling is expected…
New York, July 19, 2002—After delaying its decision for nearly four years, the Tajik government last week refused a broadcast license to the independent media agency Asia Plus. Asia Plus applied in August 1998 to open a radio station in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, where only state-run television and radio stations operate. The agency received…