CPJ disturbed by acquittal in Indonesian journalist’s death
New York, March 10, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists is dismayed by a provincial court’s decision in Indonesia to acquit three accused killers of TV journalist Ridwan Salamun. On Wednesday, a panel of judges in the Tual District Court in Maluku declared the three men not guilty of the reduced charge of “persecution” in the…
In El Salvador, 11 sentenced in filmmaker’s 2009 slaying
New York, March 10, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes Wednesday’s sentencing of 11 defendants in the brutal 2009 slaying of Christian Poveda, left, a French photojournalist and filmmaker who had spent decades documenting gang violence in El Salvador. Twenty other suspects, accused of being accomplices, were acquitted.
Uighur website editor sentenced in secret in China
New York, March 10, 2011–The secret sentencing of a Uighur website editor emerged this week, eight months after he was tried along with other journalists and dissidents charged in the 2009 unrest in northwestern Xinjiang, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
In Libya, 7 journalists unaccounted for, 3 others abused
New York, March 10, 2011–At least seven journalists covering the conflict in Libya are unaccounted for, according to research by the Committee to Protect Journalists, which expressed deep concern today about their well-being. The most recent to go missing is Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, a correspondent for London’s Guardian newspaper, whose disappearance was reported today.
Peruvian news daily attacked; editor threatened
New York, March 9, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the attack on the Peruvian news daily Voces, which was hit with homemade explosive devices on Saturday. The daily’s editor recently received threats following critical reporting on a national congressional candidate, he told CPJ.
CPJ condemns attacks on press in Libya, Yemen, and Egypt
New York, March 9, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by an attack on the Ouzo Hotel in the rebel-held city of Benghazi in eastern Libya on Tuesday. Unknown assailants threw an explosive device into the hotel, which has been the primary residence for journalists in the city, in the early morning hours, according…
Accused Maguindanao mastermind may go free
New York, March 8, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists is worried that a special five-judge panel named by the Philippines Court of Appeal in Manila will free the suspected mastermind behind the Maguindanao massacre, or release him on a technicality. Lawyers for Zaldy Ampatuan, the former governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, have…
CPJ condemns attack on radio station in Iraqi Kurdistan
New York, March 8, 2011–Nearly a dozen gunmen stormed an independent radio station in Sulaimaniya’s Kalar district on Sunday, vandalizing the office, breaking most of the equipment, and confiscating the rest. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the assault on Radio Dang and calls on the authorities in Iraqi Kurdistan to thoroughly investigate the attack. …
Media rights groups to U.N.: Intervene in Sri Lanka case
New York, March 8, 2011–Five prominent media rights organizations sent a letter on Monday to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, calling on the U.N. to intervene in the case of Prageeth Eknelygoda, the Sri Lankan columnist and cartoonist for the Lanka eNews website, who disappeared on January 24, 2010. Since then, the letter notes, his wife,…
CPJ concerned about rash of journalist arrests in Turkey
New York, March 7, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the wave of journalist arrests in Turkey in connection with an alleged plot to overthrow the government known as “Ergenekon.” At least 12 journalists have been detained in less than a month; and at least nine are currently in custody, according to international…