Alerts
2006
Arrest of a suspected mastermind in Ortiz Franco murder
New York, August 17, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists today urged Mexican authorities to investigate the suspected involvement of Arturo Villarreal in the 2004 killing of a Tijuana newspaper editor. Villareal was picked up as part of a drug sweep by U.S. security services on August 14. A Mexican prosecutor last year identified Villarreal, who…
Concern grows for kidnapped Fox News journalists
New York, August 17, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists voiced concern today for the safety of two Fox News Channel journalists seized in Gaza three days ago, and appealed to their kidnappers to release them. No group has claimed responsibility for the abduction of the journalists from the U.S. television network, and the kidnappers have…
Editor abducted in Baghdad
New York, August 16, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by the abduction of an Iraqi editor by unidentified assailants in Baghdad yesterday. Seif Abd al-Jabbar al-Tamimi, an editor for Al-Akha’ newspaper, which is affiliated with the Iraqi National Turkoman Party, was seized in Baghdad’s al-Adil neighborhood, according to Journalistic Freedoms Observatory, an…
Editor assaulted after critical articles
August 16, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns an attack on Igor Mosiichuk, editor-in-chief of the independent Ukrainian weekly Vecherny Vasilkov, which follows a series of articles he published on local land deals and a controversial oil tank farm. Two unidentified assailants beat Mosiichuk August 14 in a street in Vasilkov, 23 miles (37 kilometers)…
In China, a Hong Kong journalist tried in closed-door proceeding
New York, August 15, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for the release of Straits Times reporter Ching Cheong, who was tried today in a closed-door proceeding in Beijing. His trial on espionage charges began this morning and ended late this afternoon without an immediate verdict, according to Ching’s employer.
TV editor convicted in criminal defamation case
New York, August 15, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by a television editor’s court conviction on a criminal defamation charge. The municipal court in the southern city of Prokuplje upheld a lower court ruling against Slavko Savic, senior editor of the local television station RTV Kursumlija. The court, ruling on August 10, sentenced…
Abducted TV reporter released after station airs kidnappers’ tape
New York, August 14, 2006—A Brazilian television reporter abducted by a São Paulo criminal gang was released unharmed today after his station broadcast a message by the kidnappers denouncing prison conditions. Reporter Guilherme de Azevedo Portanova and technician Alexandre Coelho Calado of the São Paulo-based TV Globo network were seized on Saturday by members of…
CPJ calls for release of Fox News journalists kidnapped in Gaza
New York, August 14, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the abduction today of two foreign journalists in Gaza City by unidentified Palestinian gunmen. According to CPJ sources and news reports, gunmen ambushed a Fox News Channel crew on Omar al-Mukhtar Street in the center of Gaza City, abducting correspondent Steve Centanni, a…
CPJ condemns continued detention of two journalists
New York, August 14, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply troubled by Niger’s continued detention of Le Républicain Director Maman Abou and Editor Oumarou Keita following their trial today on charges of spreading “false news” and defaming the government. The two have been in jail since August 4 in connection with a July opinion…
CPJ calls for release of two imprisoned journalists
New York, August 14, 2006—Two journalists have been imprisoned in Nigeria’s southeastern Ebonyi state since June 14 on charges of sedition linked to an article criticizing the state governor, the Committee to Protect Journalists has confirmed. Imo Eze and Oluwole Elenyinmi, respectively director and editor of the local bimonthly Ebonyi Voice, have remained in detention…