2002

New York, April 30, 2002—Valery Ivanov, editor of the newspaper Tolyatinskoye Obozreniye in the southern Russian city of Togliatti, was shot dead outside his home last night, CPJ has confirmed. At approximately 11 p.m. Ivanov, 32, was shot eight times in the head at point-blank range while entering his car, a colleague at the newspaper…

New York, April 29, 2002—CPJ mourns the tragic deaths of three journalists who were killed yesterday morning when their Mi-8 helicopter crashed in the Krasnoyarsk Region of Siberia. According to press reports, Natalya Pivovarova, of the 7 Channel television company; Igor Gareyev, of the Krasnoyarsk Regional Broadcasting Company; and Konstantin Stepanov, of the newspaper Segodnyashnyaya…

Bogotá, April 26, 2002—On April 22 and 23, unidentified men threatened to kill television journalist Daniel Coronell and his 3-year-old daughter. Coronell, news director of “Noticias Uno,” a current affairs program on the Bogotá TV station Canal Uno, received threatening calls on his cellular phone and at his home and office after he aired an…

New York, April 25, 2002— CPJ today sent a letter of inquiry to Dr. Vishnu Kant Shastri, governor of Uttar Pradesh State, India, requesting information about the April 14 death of journalist Paritosh Pandey. Pandey, a crime reporter for the Hindi-language daily Jansatta Express, was shot dead at point-blank range at around 10:30 p.m. in…

New York, April 25, 2002—CPJ is alarmed that Kenyan attorney general Amos Wako has reintroduced a repressive media bill in Parliament. The contentious Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill would increase 100-fold the bond publishers must pay to insure against losses they may incur from libel or defamation suits. Currently, publishers must pay 10,000 shillings (US$129)…

April 24, 2002, New York—CPJ deplores the continuing harassment of journalists by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops deployed in the West Bank. In the most recent incident, the IDF today detained Reuters cameraman Mazen Dana, who was CPJ’s 2001 International Press Freedom awardee, and Hussam Abu Alan, a photographer for Agence-France Presse (AFP). IDF troops…

New York, April 23, 2002—After two earlier adjournments, the trial of four men charged with the kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl resumed this week in Karachi, Pakistan. The trial, which is being held before a special anti-terrorism court convened at Karachi’s Central Jail, remains closed to journalists and to the…

Bogotá, April 19, 2002—The campaign of presidential front-runner Álvaro Uribe Vélez said earlier this week that a radio network in central Colombia was targeted for a deadly April 7 bomb attack because the station had broadcast the candidate’s speeches. But network officials denied the claims and said the statements endangered the lives of their staff,…

Bogotá, April 18, 2002–A man being held by authorities in Colombia’s capital has confessed to murdering journalist Orlando Sierra, a newspaper editor and columnist who was shot and killed early this year, CPJ has learned. Luis Fernando Soto told investigators that he shot 42-year-old Sierra, deputy editor of La Patria newspaper, on a whim after…

New York, April 18, 2002—Ali-Hamed Imam, editor of the local weekly Shams-e Tabriz, was sentenced to 74 lashes and seven months in prison on April 16 by a court in Tabriz, 350 miles (560 kilometers) northwest of the capital, Tehran. According to Iran’s state news agency, IRNA, the court also revoked Imam’s publishing license and…