New York, May 1, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by the criminal charges brought against two Danish reporters accused of leaking state secrets by publishing intelligence reports that questioned the existence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. Danish journalists say it is the first time that reporters have been indicted in their country…
New York, April 28, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the approval of two measures by the Mexico City Legislative Assembly—one decriminalizing defamation, libel and slander, and the other enabling journalists to withhold the identity of confidential sources. “We’re gratified that the Mexico City assembly has adopted these measures, which represent important milestones in the…
New York, April 28, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned that Yemeni journalists continue to be assaulted and harassed, while authorities have shown no sign that they are bringing the perpetrators to justice. Jamal Amer, editor of the weekly newspaper Al-Wasat, has been subjected to ongoing intimidation and harassment. On April 10, a…
New York, April 27, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the arrest of Al-Jazeera TV’s Cairo bureau chief, and the separate detention of three print journalists, by Egypt’s state security prosecutor. Hussein Abdel Ghani, head of the Qatar-based satellite channel in Egypt, was arrested yesterday on charges of propagating false news while covering…
New York, April 27, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns authorities in Belarus for preventing local and foreign journalists from covering an opposition rally in the capital Minsk on Wednesday to mark the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Police in the eastern city of Bobruisk detained journalists Nikita Bytsenko and Yuri Svetlakov of…
New York, April 26, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by reports that Israeli soldiers have attacked Palestinian journalists covering unrest in the West Bank city of Nablus on at least two occasions this month. On April 17, soldiers fired at a group of cameramen and photographers covering an Israeli army raid on a…
New York, April 26, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists urged the leaders of the United States and Pakistan today to investigate the disappearance of Pakistani journalist Hayatullah Khan, who was seized by unidentified gunman along the Pakistan-Afghan border on December 5. The Khan family say they have been told by Pakistani government sources that Hayatullah…
New York, April 26, 2006—Belarusian authorities in the capital, Minsk, and at the Poland-Belarus border crossing Kuznica Bialostocka-Bruzgi denied entry to two crews from the Polish public television channel Telewizja Polska on Tuesday, the broadcaster reported. Both crews were headed to Minsk to cover opposition rallies marking the 20th anniversary of the April 1986 nuclear…
New York, April 26, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the vicious beating by 10 unidentified assailants of a journalist from a suspended opposition newspaper in Kazakhstan. Kenzhegali Aitbakiyev of Aina Plyus was beaten unconscious as he was walking in the financial capital, Almaty, late Sunday, local and international press reported. Aitbakiyev, who…
New York, April 25, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the arrest on criminal defamation charges of a journalist in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Kazadi Kwambi Kasumpata, of the small private weekly Lubilanji Expansion, was arrested after the Protestant University of Congo lodged a complaint with police over an article he wrote…