New York, July 18, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns recent moves by both Burmese and Thai authorities to crack down on the media in response to heightened tensions between the two countries. A series of official orders in both nations has restricted journalists’ ability to report on important cross-border developments. Already tense relations…
New York, July 18, 2002—Ahead of a mission scheduled to arrive in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, on Monday, July 22, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) today protested the sentencing of Tewodros Kassa, former editor-in-chief of the Amharic-language weekly Ethiop, to two years’ imprisonment. On July 10, Kassa was sentenced for violating Ethiopia’s restrictive Press…
New York, July 18, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) strongly condemns yesterday’s verdict convicting a Kansas-based free-circulation monthly, its publisher, and its editor of criminal defamation. Jurors found publisher David W. Carson and editor Ed Powers of The New Observer, as well as Observer Publications Inc., guilty on seven counts of criminal defamation.
New York, July 17, 2002—Haitian broadcast journalist Israel Jacky Cantave and his cousin, who went missing on July 15, were found tied and blindfolded by last night on the side of a road. Cantave, who is known for his in-depth reports on sensitive issues, works for Radio Caraïbes, which is based in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince.…
New York, July 17, 2002—Zimbabwe’s High Court has suspended government orders to deport Andrew Meldrum, a U.S. citizen and the Zimbabwe correspondent for the British Guardian newspaper, and referred the case to the Supreme Court. Meldrum was served with two deportation orders on July 15, just minutes after being acquitted of “publishing false information” and…
New York, July 16, 2002—Haitian broadcast journalist Israel Jacky Cantave has been missing since last night, and colleagues said that they fear he has been kidnapped in reprisal for his reporting. Guyler C. Delva, head of the Haitian Journalists Association told the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) that Cantave, who covers a range of sensitive…
New York, July 16, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns last week’s ban on the reformist Iranian newspaper Azad. On July 11, Tehran’s Press Court ordered the pro-reform daily to cease publishing indefinitely because it had violated a government directive banning media commentary about the resignation of prominent cleric Ayatollah Jalaleddin Taheri. Iran’s Supreme…
New York, July 16, 2002—In the latest instance of Kazakhstan’s official harassment of independent and opposition journalists, a prominent journalist has been charged with defaming Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev. Sergei Duvanov, who writes for several Web sites financed by Kazakhstan’s political opposition, was summoned to the Almaty office of the National Security Committee (KNB, successor…
New York, July 15, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is gravely concerned by the passage of new regulations restricting online news in China. The regulations, together with a voluntary pledge signed by more than 300 companies and organizations—including the U.S.-based Yahoo!—to prevent distribution of “harmful” material online, indicate a clear step backward for freedom…
July 15, 2002 Monday 9:04 AM Eastern Time By KATHY GANNON; Associated Press Writer HYDERABAD, Pakistan The British-born Islamic militant accused of masterminding the kidnap-slaying of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was convicted Monday and sentenced to death by hanging. Three accomplices were sentenced to 25 years imprisonment. Pakistani authorities braced for a violent…