Alerts
2005
Court upholds 10-year sentence for journalist Shi Tao
New York, June 30, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists deplores the Hunan Supreme People’s Court decision to uphold the conviction of journalist Shi Tao on charges of “illegally leaking state secrets abroad.” The ruling makes it more likely that Shi will serve out the bulk of a 10-year prison sentence for e-mailing to the editor…
CPJ alarmed about President Uribe’s comments
New York, June 30, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed at recent comments by Colombian President Álvaro Uribe Vélez that could endanger journalists in his country. In a June 27 interview with radio station W Radio, Uribe suggested that leftist guerrillas told a foreign news organization in advance about an impending attack in southern…
CPJ condemns harassment of journalists covering opposition protests
New York, June 30, 2005—Security forces today harassed and detained several journalists covering opposition protests in the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, and at least one camera operator was still being held at the end of the day, according to local sources. A presidential spokesperson told the Committee Protect Journalists that any journalists detained while doing their…
Knight Ridder correspondent killed
New York, June 30, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists mourns the death of Yasser Salihee, an Iraqi reporter for Knight Ridder Newspapers who was killed in Baghdad last Friday on his day off from work. Knight Ridder reported yesterday that Salihee was driving alone in his neighborhood of Amariyah and approaching a joint patrol of…
Russian journalist assassinated in Dagestan
New York, June 30, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the murder late Tuesday of Magomedzagid Varisov, a prominent journalist and political analyst, who was gunned down in a contract-style assassination in Makhachkala, capital of the Russian republic of Dagestan.
CPJ alarmed by journalist deaths, detentions at hands of U.S., Iraqi forces
New York, June 29, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists today expressed alarm at reports that three Iraqi journalists were killed this week by U.S. forces’ fire in Iraq. CPJ is investigating the circumstances, and it called on U.S. military authorities to provide further information about each case. Ahmed Wael Bakri, a director and news producer…
Thousands of Chinese journalists appeal for release of colleagues
New York, June 28, 2005–More than 2,000 journalists have signed an open letter to the Guangdong High People’s Court appealing for the release of imprisoned Nanfang Dushi Bao employees Yu Huafeng and Li Minying. The letter describes Yu and Li as innocent victims of an unjust prosecution. It was signed by 2,356 journalists who work…
CPJ protests wave of attacks on the press
New York, June 28, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed at a recent wave of attacks on the press in Tshikapa, a town in southern Democratic Republic of Congo where authorities have detained two journalists and harassed several more. One journalist has gone into hiding after the provincial governor called publicly for his arrest,…
Four editors arrested, released on bail
New York, June 28, 2005—Police arrested four editors of private Amharic-language newspapers today in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, CPJ sources said. The arrests stem from reports in the weeklies about Ethiopian air force pilots who allegedly defected during a training program in Belarus last week, one source said. That source said the Defense Ministry ordered…
Russian reports say Maksimov murdered
New York, June 28, 2005–Police in the northwestern Russian city of St. Petersburg consider three senior police investigators to be suspects in the June 2004 disappearance of local reporter Maksim Maksimov, according to local press reports. Police now believe the journalist was murdered for his work, those reports said. Maksimov, 41, an investigative reporter for…