Alerts
2005
Three journalists among those injured in bomb attack
New York, December 1, 2005 – Three journalists were among at least 29 people injured today in a bombing near a court building north of the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, international news organizations reported. At least one person was killed in the blast in the town of Gazipur which targeted lawyers protesting twin suicide bombings against…
CPJ calls for release of 24 others still unjustly imprisoned
New York, December 1, 2005—Mario Enrique Mayo Hernández, an imprisoned Cuban journalist who wounded himself and waged repeated hunger strikes to call attention to his plight, was released on medical parole today, more than two and half years after he was jailed in the government’s massive March 2003 crackdown on the independent press.
Journalist imprisoned for report on alleged arms dealing
New York, December 1, 2005—A Somali reporter has been jailed since Monday following his recent online story claiming that a faction known as the Jubba Valley Alliance has been importing arms in violation of the 2004 peace agreement and a United Nations arms embargo, the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) reported. The faction, which…
Authorities crack down on opposition papers
New York, December 1, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the legal harassment of opposition and independent newspapers over the past month by the Yemeni authorities, including the closure of one newspaper and a barrage of defamation lawsuits against others. The legal actions come amid a broader government crackdown on the media. Several…
Radio director freed but faces expulsion from country
New York, November 30, 2005—Chadian authorities freed community radio director Tchanguis Vatankah on Tuesday after improperly holding the journalist in detention for more than two months. Vatankah, whose station is known for critical reporting and commentary, still faces a government expulsion order and has been ordered not to speak to the press, according to Evariste…
Supreme Court provisionally allows radio news back on the air
New York, November 30, 2005— The Committee to Protect Journalists applauds a decision today by Nepal’s Supreme Court to provisionally lift a government ban on the broadcasting of FM radio news. Independent radio stations such as Kantipur FM and Radio Sagarmatha resumed news bulletins after the interim ruling, local reporters said. “This is an important…
After a year in jail, editor freed in Sierra Leone
New York, November 30, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes Tuesday’s release of jailed journalist Paul Kamara after an appeals court overturned his conviction and two-year sentence for seditious libel. He had served more than a year in prison for articles criticizing President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. “I am happy that I have been acquitted at…
Supreme Court stays suspension of independent radio station
New York, November 29, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomed an interim ruling by Nepal’s Supreme Court today preventing the government from suspending Radio Sagarmatha. Police raided the independent Kathmandu-based station on Sunday to stop it from broadcasting a BBC interview with Maoist rebel leader Prachanda. The Court summoned government officials to a hearing on…
In Philippines, ex-police officer convicted in Damalerio murder
New York, November 29, 2005— The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes today’s conviction of former police officer Guillermo Wapile in the 2002 murder of journalist Edgar Damalerio in Pagadian City. Judge Ramon Codilla of the Cebu Regional Trial Court sentenced Wapile to life imprisonment.
Rwandan journalist jailed for one year on contempt charge
New York, November 29, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the one-year prison sentence imposed on Jean-Léonard Rugambage, a Rwandan journalist who reported alleged corruption among judges in the semi-traditional “gacaca” courts. Rugambage, a reporter for the twice-monthly newspaper Umuco, also faces charges of participation in the 1994 genocide, but CPJ and others believe…