New York City, October 28, 2002—Iraqi officials have denied reports that the government has expelled foreign journalists from the country. On Friday, CNN reported that its Baghdad bureau chief, Jane Arraf, and five other non-Iraqi reporters and staff members were ordered to leave the country by today, because officials were angered by the network’s coverage,…
New York, October 28, 2002—The trial of Internet essayist Le Chi Quang, originally scheduled for today, has been postponed until further notice, said international news reports and CPJ sources. According to Agence France-Presse, an official at the People’s Court in the capital, Hanoi, told reporters that, “Our judges need more time to prepare.” A new…
New York, October 25, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the recent attack on journalist Hedley Thomas and his family at their home in Brisbane, on the east coast of Australia. Thomas is a reporter with the Courier-Mail, a national daily. At about 10:30 p.m. on October 23, an unidentified gunman fired four shots…
New York, October 25, 2002—The Colombian government announced yesterday that it will require foreign journalists to obtain authorization from the Interior Ministry before entering two state-run security zones. Yesterday’s announcement clarified an earlier decree, released on September 9, requiring all foreigners traveling to the zones to get permission from the government first. It was unclear…
New York, October 25, 2002—Iraq’s government has ordered a number of foreign news reporters to leave the country after their recent coverage of events inside Iraq angered authorities. The U.S. network CNN reported that its chief Baghdad correspondent, Jane Arraf, and five other non-Iraqi reporters and staff members were ordered to leave the country by…
New York, October 25, 2002—The hostage standoff in central Moscow has highlighted growing restrictions on the Russian media, including this week’s passage of legislation banning “propaganda of terrorism” in mass media. Although the legislation has not become law, the government is already using it to censor coverage of the hostage crisis. A large group of…
New York, October 24, 2002—Armenian free-lance journalist Mark Grigorian suffered serious shrapnel wounds to the head and chest from a grenade thrown at him as he walked through the center of the country’s capital, Yerevan. The grenade exploded at around 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 22, as Grigorian walked past the entrance of the Yerevan…
New York, October 24, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) deplores the recent recommendation by a five-member military tribunal that editor Hassan Bility, who has been detained since June 24, be treated as a “prisoner of war.” According to a Liberian Defense Ministry statement, Bility, editor of the independent weekly The Analyst, is a prisoner…
New York, October 22, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) welcomes today’s release of Agence France-Presse (AFP) photographer Hussam Abu Alan, who had been held by Israeli authorities without charge for nearly six months. Abu Alan was detained on April 24 at the Beit Einun checkpoint north of the West Bank town of Hebron while…
New York, October 22, 2002—The trial of Internet essayist Le Chi Quang, 32, is scheduled for October 28 in Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi. He is being tried on national security charges, including distribution of “reactionary and subversive documents,” said CPJ sources. Quang was targeted after he wrote a number of essays criticizing government policy. On February…