Alerts
2006
BBC reporter released; two journalists remain in detention
New York, June 6, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of a BBC reporter held without charge by the Gambia’s National Intelligence Agency (NIA), but is alarmed by the continued detention of two other journalists. Lamin Cham was freed on Friday, sources told CPJ. He was arrested May 30 and held incommunicado as…
Courts grant injunctions against two newspapers
New York, June 2, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned that courts in Brazil have issued gag orders on two newspapers for their critical reporting on politicians in the run-up to a general election in October. On May 8, the Civil Court in Campo Grande, capital of Mato Grosso do Sul state, granted an…
Iraq: Reuters cameraman freed after 12 days in U.S. custody
New York, June 2, 2006— An Iraqi cameraman for Reuters news agency was released Thursday after being held for 12 days by the U.S. military. Ali al-Mashhadani, 37, was arrested at a U.S. base in his home town of Ramadi on May 20 while trying to recover Reuters cell phones confiscated from him a week…
Thailand: Thaksin brings criminal libel charges against newspaper
New York, June 2, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a decision by caretaker prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his Thai Rak Thai party to file criminal defamation charges against the newspaper Manager Daily, its editor, a columnist, and two senior executives. The charges filed on Tuesday relate to articles which alleged that Thaksin and…
Qassir’s killers still at large after one year
New York, June 1, 2006—A year after Lebanese journalist Samir Qassir was murdered in a Beirut car bombing those responsible remain at large. The Committee to Protect Journalists reiterates its call to Lebanese authorities and the international community to work urgently to bring to justice those behind Qassir’s murder, and the murder and maiming of…
Journalist arrested for criticizing government
New York, June 1, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the detention of a journalist in Burundi for criticizing the government. Aloys Kabura, a correspondent for the state news agency Agence Burundaise de Presse, was arrested late Wednesday for speaking “defamatory words” in public against state institutions, international media quoted a local prosecutor as saying.…
BBC reporter arrested in widening crackdown
New York, June 1, 2006—Gambian security officers arrested a local journalist working for the BBC on Tuesday, a local source told the Committee to Protect Journalists. A BBC source in London confirmed that Lamin Cham had been detained. His whereabouts are unknown. His arrest comes amid a government crackdown on a critical U.S.-hosted Web site,…
Chilean journalists injured, detained during student strike
New York, May 31, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Tuesday’s attacks by local police against six Chilean reporters covering clashes between security forces and high school students during a massive strike demanding reforms in Chile’s education laws. Nearly 600,000 high school students protested in Chile’s capital, Santiago, calling for a reduction in public transportation…
TV sports reporter gunned down in Baghdad
New York, May 31, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the murder of an Iraqi sports journalist by unidentified gunmen in Baghdad today. Ali Jaafar, 24, a well-known sports correspondent and anchor at Iraq’s state television channel Al-Iraqiya, was shot as he opened up his recently deceased brother’s auto shop near his home in Al-Shorta…
Editors given two-month jail sentences for publishing Prophet cartoons
New York, May 31, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by the sentencing Tuesday of two Jordanian editors to two months in prison for publishing controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. Jihad Momani, former editor-in-chief of the weekly Shihan, and Hashem al-Khalidi, editor-in-chief of the weekly Al-Mehwar, were found guilty by an Amman…