New York, April 7, 2008—A New York Times reporter and a British national were released on bail from Zimbabwe’s Harare Central Prison today after spending five days in detention on charges of reporting without accreditation. The award-winning Times journalist, Barry Bearak, is currently receiving medical treatment for a chest infection and a back injury he…
New York, April 7, 2008—The editor of a New York-based weekly told CPJ he received a death threat. Majeed Babar, executive editor of the Weekly Asia Tribune, said a man called him on March 29 and told him, “We will cut you to pieces” in Urdu. Babar said the threat was linked to opinion columns…
YEAR NAME AFFILIATION CHARGE ACTION 2000 Obed Zilwa The Associated Press None; accused of involvement in bomb attack on defunct Daily News Held for three nights; left the country Rob Cooper Chris Mazivanhange Vincent Murwira Peter Maringisanwe The Associated Press The Associated Press South African Broadcasting Corp. South African Broadcasting Corp. N/A Beaten by Zimbabwean…
In Zimbabwe, New York, April 3, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the detention in Harare today of New York Times correspondent Barry Bearak and calls for his immediate release. “It is imperative that all journalists, foreign and domestic, be allowed to freely cover the important political situation unfolding in Zimbabwe,” CPJ Executive…
New York, April 4, 2008—Zimbabwe’s acting attorney general recommended today that the police release a foreign correspondent and another man accused of working as a journalist in custody since yesterday. Yesterday afternoon, police raided one of the hotels used by foreign journalists, the York Lodge in the Harare suburbs, and arrested New York Times reporter…
New York, April 1, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists called today for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to insist that Beijing ensure freedom for the press to report in the run up to and during August’s Olympic Games. The IOC’s coordinating committee is in Beijing for a final three days of meetings before the Games…
RUSSIA: New York, April 1, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Thursday’s attack on Arseny Makhlov, founder of the independent weekly Dvornik, in the western city of Svetlogorsk, Kaliningrad region. An unidentified assailant stabbed Makhlov twice in the back at around 7 p.m. as he was leaving a local restaurant, the journalist told CPJ. The…
New York, March 31, 2008—Police in the Senegalese capital of Dakar assaulted a reporter who was covering a violent anti-government protest on Sunday, according to local journalists and news reports. They later raided the reporter’s station and confiscated footage. Walf TV reporter Ousmane Mangane told CPJ that riot police used Tasers on him as he…
New York, March 27, 2008—The Zimbabwean government is using journalist accreditation laws to prevent most major international media outlets and some local journalists from covering the country’s elections on Saturday. According to local journalists and the South Africa National Editor’s Forum, only a handful of foreign correspondents are accredited, while major media groups such as…
BELARUS: New York, March 27, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by a sudden crackdown by Belarusian authorities against independent journalists in the last few days. Today, the Belarusian Security Service (known as the KGB) raided the offices of independent broadcasters and the apartments of more than a dozen journalists, the Belarusian Association of…