Alerts
2006
French radio reporter denied accreditation in run-up to election
New York, May 31, 2006—Congolese authorities are refusing to accredit Radio France Internationale’s Ghislaine Dupont to cover July elections, despite the fact that she obtained a visa and has been in the country for five weeks, according to RFI Africa Director Henri Perilhou. Information Minister Henri Mova Sakanyi has pressured RFI to withdraw Dupont, who…
Bangladesh:Party activists attack journalists and printing press
New York, May 31, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is appalled by attacks on journalists and a newspaper in the town of Kushtia in western Bangladesh. Witnesses told local media that about 20 men, whom they recognized as activists from the ruling Bangladesh National Party (BNP), attacked the offices of Quality Press on Wednesday, damaging…
Reporter jailed in Cuba after covering government evictions
New York, May 30, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the detention of independent Cuban journalist Armando Betancourt who was arrested a week ago while covering the evictions of dozens of families from their homes in the central city of Camagüey, sources told CPJ. On May 23, authorities forcefully evicted families allegedly occupying homes illegally,…
Wounded CBS TV correspondent flown to Germany
New York, May 30, 2006—CBS News correspondent Kimberly Dozier, who was critically wounded in Iraq by a bomb that killed her two colleagues, was flown today to a U.S. military hospital in Germany. Dozier, 39 is being treated for injuries to her head and lower body, CBS reported. Col. Brian Gamble of Landstuhl Regional Medical…
Journalist sentenced to six months for “insulting government”
New York, May 30, 2006—A Kinshasa court today sentenced journalist Patrice Booto to six months in prison and a $500 fine for “offending the head of state,” and “insulting the government,” according to local press freedom group Journaliste en Danger (JED). The court ruled that Booto, who has already spent more than six months in…
Three journalists detained in crackdown on U.S.-hosted Web site
New York, May 30, 2006—At least three local journalists were detained by the Gambia’s National Intelligence Agency (NIA) on Friday as part of a growing crackdown on the U.S.-based news site Freedom Newspaper, local sources told the Committee to Protect Journalists. The three were arrested after their names and addresses appeared on a list of…
CPJ alarmed by bill to intercept communications
New York, May 30, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by a bill before Zimbabwe’s parliament that would give the government free rein to monitor telephone calls, letters and electronic mail in the name of national security and crime prevention. Media and civil society groups say the Interception of Communications Bill is a further…
Cambodia: Government abolishes jail time for criminal defamation
New York, May 30, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes Cambodia’s abolition of prison as punishment for libel, but urges Prime Minister Hun Sen to decriminalize defamation completely. On May 26, Cambodia’s lower house of parliament passed legislation eliminating penalties of eight days to one year in prison for defamation convictions. The amendments are expected…
In Pakistan, cameraman killed while covering tribal violence
New York, May 30, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the killing of Munir Ahmed Sangi, a cameraman for the Sindhi-language Kawish Television Network (KTN). Sangi was shot on Monday afternoon while covering a gunfight between members of the Unar and Abro tribes in the town of Larkana, in southeast Pakistan’s Sindh district, according to…
CPJ mourns deaths of two CBS journalists in IraqA third is seriously injured
New York, May 29, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists mourns the deaths today of CBS News cameraman Paul Douglas and soundman James Brolan, killed when a car bomb exploded while they were on patrol in Baghdad with Iraqi and American soldiers. Correspondent Kimberly Dozier, the third member of the CBS crew, was seriously injured and…