As Ben Ali’s regime falls, 3 Tunisian journalists freed
New York, January 14, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists is heartened by news reports that three jailed Tunisian journalists have been freed as the repressive regime of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali has fallen. CPJ calls on the new interim Tunisian government to release one other journalist believed to be still in custody.
CPJ condemns Israeli security for humiliating screening
New York, January 14, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the humiliating treatment of several journalists by security personnel assigned to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. CPJ calls on the prime minister to ensure that similar episodes are avoided in the future.
Ugandan magazine questioned over Museveni cartoon
New York, January 13, 2011–Police in Kampala arrested the director and editor of the monthly newsmagazine Summit Business Review on Tuesday in connection with a caricature of President Yoweri Museveni that appeared on the cover of the October issue.Director Samuel Sejjaaka and Editor Mustapha Mugisha were released on bond but face continued interrogations, Sejjaaka told…
Geo TV reporter Wali Khan Babar gunned down in Karachi
New York, January 13, 2011–Geo TV reporter Wali Khan Babar was shot and killed in Karachi this evening, shortly after covering gang violence in the city, according to several Pakistani journalists. At least two assailants intercepted Babar’s car at 9:20 p.m., shooting him multiple times in the head and neck, Geo TV Managing Director Azhar…
Journalists continue to be detained and tried in Belarus
New York, January 13, 2011–As a part of the ongoing crackdown in Belarus on independent reporters, the Belarusian security service (KGB) has detained journalist Andrzej Poczobut, a Grodno correspondent for the largest Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza, and freelance reporter Irina Charniauka in Minsk, local press reported today. Poczobut was also summarily tried and fined
Concern as Vietnam plays ‘national security’ censorship card
Bangkok, January 13, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about a new executive decree issued on January 6 in Vietnam that will give authorities greater powers to penalize journalists, editors, and bloggers who report on issues deemed as sensitive to national security. The new media regulations were issued amid a mounting clampdown on dissent shortly before…
Jailed Chinese journalist, freed on medical parole, dies
New York, January 13, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists mourns the death on December 31 of Zhang Jianhong, the founder of Aiqinghai (Aegean Sea), a popular website closed by the Chinese government in 2006, according to several human rights groups. Zhang had been sentenced to six years in prison by a court in Ningbo in…
Zimbabwe hikes media fees under draconian media law
New York, January 13, 2010–Zimbabwe’s power-sharing government should repeal the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), the Committee to Protect Journalists said today after a late 2010 amendment to the legislation hiked mandatory registration and accreditation fees for the press working in the country by as much as 400 percent.