Alerts
2005
Press conditions worsen nationwide
New York, November 3, 2005—Franck Kangundu, a veteran political affairs journalist at the independent daily La Référence Plus, was shot dead shortly after midnight by unidentified assassins who accosted him at his home in the capital, Kinshasa. The attackers also killed Kangundu’s wife, Hélène Mpaka. The Kinshasa-based press freedom organization Journaliste en Danger (JED) reported…
Newspaper publisher found murdered in Thailand
New York, November 3, 2005—Newspaper publisher and freelance reporter Santi Lamaneenil was found dead with multiple gunshot wounds to the head in the back of his car outside the beach resort of Pattaya on Wednesday, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists is investigating to determine whether the murder was related to his…
CPJ condemns government threats against independent media
New York, November 2, 2005—Ethiopian authorities have threatened to arrest journalists and made statements that could endanger independent reporters in the capital Addis Ababa, where opposition protesters and police have clashed for the past two days. The government also appears to be using state media to smear foreign and independent media. The government threatened to…
Editor abducted after publishing corruption allegations
New York, October 31, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply troubled by a report that editor Jean-Marie Kanku has been abducted and held for three days by the national intelligence agency (ANR) in Kinshasa. Kanku’s disappearance follows articles in his newspaper L’Alerte that accused ANR boss Lando Lurhakumbirwa of corruption, Journaliste en Danger (JED),…
Murder story may have sparked interrogation
New York, October 27, 2005—The editor of The Independent newspaper was detained today and interrogated for several hours by Gambian state intelligence agents, who instructed him to return for more questioning on Friday. Local journalists said they believe Musa Saidykhan is being harassed in connection with a recent article on the unsolved December 2004 murder…
Four journalists abducted by former paramilitaries
New York, October 27, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is outraged by the recent abduction of four Guatemalan journalists. On Sunday, October 26, former paramilitary fighters kidnapped reporters Freddy López and Alberto Ramírez, and photographers Emerson Díaz and Mario Linares, all of the Guatemala Citybased daily Prensa Libre, in the town of La Libertad,…
Internet writer missing after reporting on steel worker protests
New York, October 26, 2005 —A businessman who reported online about steel worker protests in the central Chinese town of Chongqing has disappeared, and is thought to be in police custody, according to the advocacy group Chinese Rights Defenders (CRD). Police seized Shi Xiaoyu from his home in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province on October 20, CRD…
Held for nearly four years without charge
New York, October 26, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about alleged attempts by the U.S. military to recruit a detained journalist as a spy. London’s Guardian newspaper reported that U.S. military interrogators allegedly told a journalist for Qatar-based Al-Jazeera that he would be released if he agreed to inform U.S. intelligence authorities about…
CPJ condemns harassment of BBC and foreign media
New York, October 26, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the government harassment of foreign media in Uzbekistan, which today prompted the BBC to close its Tashkent bureau. The BBC World Service said it would immediately close its office and withdraw staff because of continued harassment since its reporting of the May 13 massacre in…
CPJ condemns Afghan editor’s conviction, two-year jail sentence
New York, October 24, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is outraged by the conviction of Ali Mohaqiq Nasab, editor of the monthly Haqooq-i-Zan (Women’s Rights), on blasphemy charges and the two-year jail sentence handed down by Kabul’s Primary Court on October 22. Judge Ansarullah Malawizada said that his ruling in Nasab’s case was based on…