Alerts
2006
India: Veteran journalist escapes assassination attempt
New York, June 12, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the attempted murder of senior Indian journalist Shujaat Bukhari, a correspondent in Kashmir for The Hindu newspaper. Bukhari told CPJ his life was spared because his attacker’s gun jammed. Bukhari was forced at gunpoint by two men into a motor rickshaw on the…
Journalist acquitted but media prosecutions continue
New York, June 9, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the acquittal of a Turkish newspaper columnist by an Istanbul court on Thursday, but remains deeply concerned by the ongoing criminal prosecution of journalists in Turkey. Murat Belge of the daily Radikal was acquitted on charges of attempting to influence the outcome of judicial proceedings…
Journalist arrested after criticizing the police
New York, June 9, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply troubled by the arrest of a radio journalist in the Democratic Republic of Congo who criticized the police on air. Pierre-Sosthène Kambidi, who works for the local private radio station Concorde FM, and the Kinshasa-based press freedom organization Journaliste en Danger (JED), was arrested…
Journalists on trial for “promoting sectarianism”
New York, June 8, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply troubled that two journalists are to go on trial in Uganda, charged with “promoting sectarianism” in an article criticizing government persecution of opposition leader Kizza Besigye. Editor James Tumusiime and reporter Ssemujju Ibrahim Nganda of the independent Weekly Observer face up to five years…
Cambodia: Newspaper journalist arrested while covering squatter evictions
New York, June 8, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the arrest of Cambodian journalist Hem Choun, a reporter with the occasional Khmer-language newspaper Samrek Yutethor. Chuon was arrested June 7 by military police while reporting on the eviction of squatters by security forces at Sombok Chab, 11 miles (19 kilometers) outside the capital Phnom…
Online journalist to serve six months in prison
New York, June 7, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by the prison sentence handed down to a Syrian online journalist by a military court for articles advocating rights for Syria’s Kurdish minority, and criticizing the ruling Baath Party. Muhammad Ghanem, editor of the news Web site Surion, was found guilty Tuesday of…
Turkish journalists face ongoing criminal prosecutions
New York, June 7, 2006— The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by the ongoing criminal prosecution of journalists in Turkey. Three journalists are before the courts in Istanbul this week for their work. Perihan Magden, a columnist for the weekly magazine Yeni Aktuel, went on trial today charged with discouraging Turks from performing military…
Arson attack on investigative journalist
New York, June 7, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the arson attack on an investigative reporter and his family in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson. Attackers set fire June 3 to the apartment of Sergei Yanovsky, correspondent of the Kyiv-based newspaper Kievskiye Vedomosti. The newspaper reported that unidentified assailants poured gasoline through the…
CPJ concerned about deteriorating health of two Cuban journalists
New York, June 6, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed concern today at the worsening health of two independent Cuban journalists. Guillermo Fariñas, who has refused food for four months to protest government restrictions on Internet access, was still unconscious five days after emergency surgery to remove fluid from his left lung, his mother told…
Palestinian journalists attacked, threatened by leading factions
New York, June 6, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalist is deeply concerned by attacks and threats against the press in the West Bank and Gaza Strip by suspected members of the two major Palestinian parties, the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), and the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Fatah movement.