New York, January 25, 2008—Several Yemeni news and opinion Web sites have apparently been blocked domestically by the government-owned Internet service provider, according to news reports and a CPJ interview. Three Web sites became unavailable to domestic users on January 19, joining a list of at least five others that have disappeared within Yemen without…
New York, January 25, 2008—A court in Nigeria’s southern Akwa Ibom State today lodged criminal charges against a newspaper distributor over a story not-yet published. The article was critical of the state governor, according to local journalists. The court in Uyo sent the distributor, Essien Asuquo Owoh, to prison. Owoh, the owner of Ezedom Enterprise,…
New York, January 25, 2008–Several Yemeni news and opinion Web sites have apparently been blocked domestically by the government-owned Internet service provider, according to news reports and a CPJ interview. Three Web sites became unavailable to domestic users on January 19, joining a list of at least five others that have disappeared within Yemen without…
New York, January 23, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by the detention in Gaza of a Palestinian newspaper bureau chief by the Hamas government’s internal security services. Hamas security agents arrested Munir Abu Rizq, Gaza bureau chief for the daily Al-Hayat al-Jadida, on January 15 while he was on his way to…
New York, January 23, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is appalled by the death sentence given to a young journalist by a court in northern Afghanistan yesterday. The court in Balkh province sentenced 23-year-old Parwez Kambakhsh in a closed-door trial without a defense attorney present, according to local press freedom advocate Rahimullah Samander, president of…
New York, January 23, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned that the Burmese government has suspended the weekly Myanmar Times for one week as a result of its publication of unauthorized news, according to international news reports. Burma’s Press Scrutiny Board ordered the temporary closure because of the newspaper’s January 11 Burmese-language edition, which…
Washington, January 22, 2008—In testimony today before the House Middle East and South Asia Subcommittee, the Committee to Protect Journalists raised concern about mounting press freedom abuses in U.S. ally nations in the Middle East and urged the U.S. government to prioritize press freedoms in its bilateral relations.
New York, January 22, 2008–Gambian authorities have shut down Radio France Internationale (RFI) broadcasts in Banjul, local journalists and the Gambian Press Union told CPJ. The RFI relay transmitter was blocked by Gambian authorities after the Paris-based station reported that three suspected murderers of four French tourists in Mauritania had fled south through The Gambia…
New York, January 22, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the one-day closed-door trial of imprisoned journalist Lü Gengsong that took place today in Hangzhou, southeast China, and calls on the Chinese government to release him and all journalists held under vague “national security” laws before the 2008 Olympics.
New York, January 22, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned that the government of President Pervez Musharraf unfairly pressured GEO TV, Pakistan’s largest and most popular independent broadcaster, to modify its editorial policies before the station was allowed to resume domestic cable distribution on Monday. The station has been off domestic cable since November…