Gongadze suspect admits to killing, implicates Kuchma
New York, August 31, 2011–A former general with the Ukrainian Interior Ministry testified in a Kyiv court on Tuesday that he killed journalist Georgy Gongadze in 2000 in a plot orchestrated by former President Leonid Kuchma and other top officials, according to news reports and CPJ interviews.
In South Africa, journalists attacked during ANC protest
New York, August 31, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by anti-press violence by supporters of Julius Malema, youth leader of South Africa’s ruling African National Congress, and is relieved that the party leader has urged restraint.
Jailed Egyptian blogger on hunger strike
New York, August 31, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Egypt’s Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to immediately release journalist Maikel Nabil Sanad, who was tried in military court for “insulting the military” and is now serving a three-year sentence in prison. Sanad began a hunger strike in prison on August 22 and…
Sudan frees one journalist; at least 8 still held
New York, August 30, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of a jailed journalist in Sudan, but is troubled by reports of the continued detention of at least eight others without charge. President Omar al-Bashir had announced Saturday that he would free all journalists detained in Sudan.
Venezuelan weekly reopens, executives still charged
New York, August 30, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by ongoing criminal cases against two executives from the Venezuelan newspaper 6to Poder, but welcomes a judge’s decision to allow the weekly to resume publishing. The paper’s owner and a top executive were charged last week with inciting hatred, insulting a public official, and…
Grenade attack damages Puntland radio station
New York, August 29, 2011–Authorities in Somalia’s semi-autonomous region of Puntland should conduct a thorough investigation into a grenade attack against a private radio station that left a security guard injured and the station damaged, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. “This is the second attack on Radio Daljir,” said CPJ East Africa Coordinator Tom…
Omani judiciary attempts to silence newspaper before trial
New York, August 25, 2011–Charges against prominent Omani journalist and filmmaker Youssef al-Haj should be dropped immediately, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Al-Haj’s trial over an article he wrote that allegedly accused the Ministry of Justice of corruption began on August 14 but was postponed until this Sunday. At the August 14 hearing,…
Body of abducted journalist found in Mexico
New York, August 25, 2011–The body of Mexican journalist Humberto Millán Salazar was found early today in a field in the state of Sinaloa near the state capital, Culiacán, with a gunshot wound in the head, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Authorities said the journalist was abducted early yesterday by men in two…