June 9, 1999 — The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a nonpartisan organization devoted to safeguarding press freedom around the world, has confirmed the following new developments in the cases of three independent journalists targeted by the Yugoslav military for practicing their profession. Croatian journalist escapes Yugoslav military incarceration
Panama City, Panama, September 8, 1999–A delegation from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) met with newly inaugurated president Mireya Moscoso this morning and urged her to repeal the country’s notorious “gag laws,” which criminalize the practice of journalism in Panama. The gag laws date largely from military governments of the 1970s and 1980s. They…
RECENT ATTACKS ON JOURNALISTS IN EAST TIMOR Click here to read CPJ’s recent protest letter to the Indonesian government. Click here for CPJ’s June 1 report on press freedom in Indonesia. Wednesday, August 25 Time magazine correspondent John Stanmeyer and his Indonesian assistant, Heriyanto, were attacked by members of the anti-independence Aitarak militia outside the…
August 2, 1999 Secretariat of the Prime Minister Government Spokesman Bureau Government House Bangkok 10300 Dear Ms. Cooper, I wish to refer to your letter dated July 15 1999, concerning the unexpected act of intimidation against the Thai Postnewspaper by Deputy Prime Minister Trairong Suwankiri’s private secretary during the night of Tuesday 13 July 1999.
August 18, 1999 To all who respect basic human rights and freedoms, including freedom of expression and the press, all who respect the rights of every person to due process, and all who are concerned about democratic development around the world: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), in partnership with The Trade Union of Journalists…
Former military junta soldiers released a journalist and one other hostage on the night of Thursday, August 6. The two freed hostages were among 40 people kidnapped near the capital, Freetown, on Wednesday. The journalist, local Reuters reporter Christo Johnson, later told the BBC that the soldiers said they would free the remaining hostages once…
Booker Prize-winning author Arundhati Roy is not yet out of the woods. On July 29, the Supreme Court postponed deciding whether to initiate contempt of court proceedings against Roy for publishing a highly critical essay about the social and environmental costs of Gujarat’s Sardar Sarovar dam, part of an ambitious irrigation and hydroelectric project along…
On August 2, 1999, Gambian security officials released three journalists of The Independentnewspaper from detention at National Intelligence Agency (NIA) headquarters in Banul. Baba Galleh Jallow, Yorrow Jallow, and Lamin Daffeh were told to report at NIA headquarters again on August 3 with all the necessary documents pertaining to the registration of the newspaper. The…
July 28, 1999 –On July 28, two days after the Minister of Government and Justice withdrew her proposed amendment to a 1978 gag law in the face of national and international criticism, the Panamanian Cabinet approved an only slightly different amendment to the law. As a July 30 editorial of the Panama City-based daily La…
El 28 de julio, dos días después de que el Ministerio de Gobierno y Justicia retirara un proyecto para modificar una ley mordaza de 1978 ante protestas a nivel nacional e internacional, el Gabinete panameño aprobó un proyecto casi igual. Como dice un editorial del periódico La Prensa,de la ciudad de Panamá, el nuevo proyecto…