New York, March 18, 2008—With international attention focused on the unfolding violence in Tibet, the Chinese media are confronting massive censorship, leaving the Chinese public largely in the dark, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The Chinese government has barred or expelled virtually all international reporters from the region, and the state media presents…
New York, March 17, 2008—Mexican federal police arrested a member of the Arellano Félix drug cartel on Saturday on suspicion of involvement in the 1997 shooting of Zeta Editor Jesús J. Blancornelas. Federal police officers arrested Saúl Montes de Oca Morlett in the tourist city of San Felipe, Baja California, as he was getting ready…
New York, March 17, 2008—The Chinese government should abide by its promises to the international community not to restrict the news media, and it should immediately halt efforts to block domestic and foreign coverage of protests in Tibet, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Chinese authorities expelled journalists with six Hong Kong broadcasters from…
UKRAINE: New York, March 17, 2008—An appeals court in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, convicted on Saturday three suspects in the 2000 abduction and murder of Internet journalist Georgy Gongadze. The court sentenced a former police officer, Nikolai Protasov, to 13 years in prison; his fellow officers, Valery Kostenko and Aleksandr Popovych, were given 12-year terms.…
New York, March 24, 2008―The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by an upcoming court ruling in Cairo that might send a leading Egyptian editor to prison. The ruling is expected on March 26. Ibrahim Eissa, editor-in-chief of the daily Al-Dustour and one of Egypt’s top critics of President Hosni Mubarak’s 27-year rule, was charged…
New York, March 14, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the murder of an Iraqi journalist by at least one unknown gunman in Baghdad on Thursday. Qassim Abdul Hussein al-Iqabi, 36, of the local daily Al-Muwatin (The Citizen) was shot dead in Baghdad’s predominantly Shiite Karradah neighborhood, according to local and international news reports.
New York, March 14, 2008—Police in Uganda should respect a court ruling that lifts a ban on two live radio programs, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The court decision today allows two live political shows on Life FM in Fort Portal to resume broadcasting, but the station has since received a warning from…
New York, March 14, 2008—Iranian authorities should immediately disclose the legal status of Afghan journalist Ali Mohaqiq Nasab who was arrested in the north-central city of Qom 10 days ago, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Nasab, 50, was taken from his home on March 4 by three plainclothes police officers who were bearing…
New York, March 14, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists denounces yesterday’s brutal attack on Agil Khalil, a reporter with the opposition daily Azadlyg (Freedom). Four unidentified assailants encircled Khalil as he was leaving his office in the evening; one stabbed him in the chest, according to the Baku-based Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS).…
New York, March 13, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is pleased that a federal appeals court on Tuesday temporarily blocked a lower court’s ruling requiring a former USA Today journalist to pay thousands of dollars of fines out of her own pocket for refusing to disclose sources. On February 29, U.S. District Court Judge Reggie B.…