Alerts
2006
Broadcaster loses contact with two correspondents for 2nd time
New York, March 30, 2006—The Turkmen service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) has lost contact with correspondents Meter Khommadov and Dzhumadurdy Ovezov for a second time this month, the broadcaster said today. Khommadov gave an interview to the service on March 23, describing the conditions of his and Ovezov’s March 7 arrest and 10-day…
Gambian security forces seal off leading newspaper, arrest staff
New York, March 28, 2006—Plainclothes Gambian security agents today sealed the offices of the twice-weekly newspaper The Independent and arrested staffers found on the premises, local journalists told the Committee to Protect Journalists. Most of the staff members were released after brief questioning, but Editor Musa Saidykhan and General Manager Madi Ceesay remained in custody…
Maldives: CPJ urges fair, transparent trial for journalist
New York, March 28, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about Maldivian authorities’ criminal prosecution of Abdullah Saeed, a reporter with the opposition Minivan Daily newspaper. The journalist, also known as Fahala, was sentenced on Sunday to two months in jail for refusing a urine test when he was arrested last October. Saeed still…
More than two dozen journalists jailed in Belarus
New York, March 28, 2006—More than two dozen domestic and foreign journalists are now jailed in Belarus in connection with a tumultuous presidential campaign that included a deeply flawed March 19 vote and ensuing antigovernment protests, according to records compiled by the Belarusian Association of Journalists and other local press groups. On Monday, Canadian Foreign…
Three filmmakers released from prison in breakaway region
New York, March 28, 2006—Authorities in the breakaway region of Abkhazia released three filmmakers on Saturday after detaining them for three weeks on charges of entering the self-declared republic illegally, according to local and international press reports. Abkhazian authorities handed over journalists Tea Sharia, Georgii Sokhadze and Teimuraza Eliava to Georgian authorities at a bridge…
Concerns raised as FBI agents use pepper spray on reporters
New York, March 27, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the use of pepper spray by U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation agents against journalists covering an FBI raid last month in San Juan, Puerto Rico. U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr. of Michigan has scheduled a briefing on Tuesday in Washington, D.C., on this…
Writer sentenced to 18 months in Kurdistan
New York, N.Y., March 27, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the 18-month prison sentence handed down against an Austrian writer for defaming local officials in Iraq’s semiautonomous northern Kurdistan region. A court in the Iraqi city of Arbil sentenced Kamal Karim, whose name is also given as Kamal Sayid Qadir, on Sunday for articles…
Thai prime minister files defamation cases against four papers
New York, March 27, 2006 – The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s decision to file criminal defamation charges against four Thai newspapers related to their news coverage of recent rallies staged against his government. Thaksin’s personal lawyer filed criminal complaints Thursday against the Manager Daily, Krungthep Tooragit, Post Today, and the…
Belarusian authorities continue press crackdown
New York, March 27, 2006—A prominent Russian journalist was detained and beaten by police, another Russian journalist was expelled, and at least six Belarusian and international journalists were handed jail sentences as Belarusian authorities continued to crack down on journalists covering the aftermath of the flawed March 19 presidential vote. Five plainclothes officers pushed Pavel…
Journalist attacked, threatened after reporting on colleague’s murder
New York, March 24, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by threats against Peruvian radio journalist Rory Huaney Rodríguez in the city of Yungay, in the northern Áncash province. Huaney said the threats stem from his coverage of the trial of a former local mayor charged in the 2004 murder of journalist Antonio de…