Alerts
2007
Russian daily says Politkovskaya reports spur Chechnya investigation
New York, January 25, 2007—The Chechnya prosecutor’s office is investigating officers of the southern republic’s Interior Ministry in connection with articles by the slain investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya, the Moscow business daily Kommersant reported Wednesday. The daily quoted Chechnya prosecutor Valery Kuznetsov as saying that Politkovskaya’s accounts of alleged torture last spring prompted his office…
CPJ welcomes high-level efforts in probe of Chinese reporter’s death
New York, January 24, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes Chinese President Hu Jintao’s call for a swift and thorough investigation into the brutal beating of Zhongguo Maoyi Bao (China Trade News) journalist Lan Chengzhang at the site of an illegal mine in northern China’s Shanxi province. Lan died of a brain hemorrhage in Datong…
Held without charge, Sri Lankan journalist sees detention extended 90 days
New York, January 24, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the Sri Lankan government to bring charges against detained Tamil reporter Maunasámi Parameswaree or release her. Parameswaree, who wrote for the Sinhala-language weekly Mawbima, was arrested at her home south of Colombo on November 24. On Tuesday, the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) in Colombo…
Bomb blast damages Al-Arabiya office in Gaza
New York, January 23, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the bomb attack targeting the Gaza City office of the Dubai-based satellite news channel Al-Arabiya on Monday night. No causalities were reported, but the office was severely damaged, Al-Arabiya reported. A bomb exploded around 9 p.m. outside the entrance to Al-Arabiya’s office in the Al-Shurouq…
Murder unsolved, but Burkinabé journalists convicted of defamation
New York, January 23, 2007—A court in the capital, Ouagadougou, convicted two top journalists with the private bi-monthly L’Evénement on criminal defamation charges on Monday in connection with critical stories about the unsolved 1998 murder of editor Norbert Zongo. Director Germain Nama and editor Ahmed Newton Barry were found guilty of defaming Francois Compaoré, brother…
Chechnya police may be behind Politkovskaya murder, Russian officials tell CPJ
Moscow, January 23, 2007—Russia’s prosecutor general has opened a criminal investigation into several police officials in Chechnya who may have killed reporter Anna Politkovskaya because she was about to publish an article alleging their involvement in torture. The information was disclosed to a delegation from the Committee to Protect Journalists in a meeting on Monday…
Journalist severely beaten in the Russian far east
New York, January 22, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the brutal assault on Tamara Golovanova, a reporter for the newspaper Vesti in the far eastern city of Partizansk, who was beaten on Friday while covering a story at a municipal office. The attack occurred in mid-afternoon, when Golovanova was interviewing people at the city…
Turkish-Armenian editor murdered in Istanbul
New York, January 19, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the murder today of a prominent Turkish-Armenian editor outside his newspaper’s offices in Istanbul. Hrant Dink, 52, managing editor of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos, was shot three times in the neck, according to the Turkish television channel NTV.
CPJ calls for charges against Burkinabé journalists to be dropped
New York, January 19, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in Burkina Faso to drop criminal defamation charges against two private newspaper journalists over stories on the unsolved 1998 murder of editor Norbert Zongo. The articles discussed a report by the Paris-based press freedom group Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) that raised questions about…
Popular Moldovan radio station still off the air; CPJ deplores shutdown
New York, January 19, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists deplores the suspension of the popular Chisinau-based public radio station Antena C. The station, which frequently aired reports critical of the government, has been off the air for more than a month, and local sources said they fear it is part of an official clampdown on…