Alerts
2011
Ugandan journalists targeted during Entebbe march
New York, May 13, 2011–Security and military personnel attacked local and foreign journalists and confiscated their equipment on Thursday as they covered the return of opposition leader Kizza Besigye to Uganda. Besigye returned to Uganda Thursday from Nairobi, where he was treated for injuries received when security forces assaulted him and his colleagues during demonstrations…
Media memorializing Sichuan earthquake censored
New York, May 13, 2011–Amid a harsh media crackdown, Chinese authorities censored discussion of the May 12, 2008, Sichuan earthquake anniversary that referenced independent investigations into the damage, according to international news reports. CPJ interviewed filmmaker Alison Klayman about activists imprisoned for documenting official negligence which contributed to the destruction, including detained artist Ai Weiwei,…
Media owners prosecuted, forced out of Kyrgyzstan
New York, May 13, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Kyrgyz authorities today to drop trumped-up criminal charges against the founder and director of the largest regional television channel, Osh TV, and the founder, owner, and director of three now-defunct media outlets–the independent broadcaster Mezon TV, and newspapers Itogi Nedeli and Portfel.
Trial of Irina Khalip begins in Belarus
New York, May 12, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists called today for the Belarusian government to drop all charges against Irina Khalip, the Minsk-based correspondent for the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, who has been imprisoned since December.
Philippine court bids to gag massacre trial scrutiny
Bangkok, May 12, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists is gravely concerned by an appeals court resolution in the Philippines that threatens to curb outside scrutiny of legal proceedings against suspects in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre, in which 32 journalists and media practitioners were systematically shot and murdered.
Italian prosecutor files defamation lawsuit, shutters blog
New York, May 11, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Florence and Perugia authorities to drop the trumped-up defamation lawsuit against Perugia Shock, an English-language blog created and maintained by Frank Sfarzo, an Italian freelance journalist and blogger. Sfarzo has endured sustained harassment in retaliation for his reporting and commentary on the official investigation into the…
Syria holds at least five journalists in custody
New York, May 10, 2011–Syria is holding at least five local and foreign journalists as part of its ongoing repression of the media, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. CPJ also called on the Syrian government to make public the names of all journalists currently in detention and to release them without delay.
A week after Pakistan justice pledge, journalist murdered
New York, May 10, 2011–The death of a journalist apparently targeted by militants in Pakistan today highlights the country’s entrenched climate of impunity for anti-press attacks, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari told a CPJ delegation on World Press Freedom Day that he would pursue justice for journalists killed on…
More than a dozen journalists assaulted in Tunisia
New York, May 9, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists called on the Tunisian authorities today to restrain from attacking journalists reporting on anti-government demonstrations after plainclothes police physically assaulted 15 local and international journalists on Friday.