Indonesian editor dead under suspicious circumstances
New York, December 17, 2010–The Committee to Protect Journalists joins with Indonesian journalist groups in calling for a full and vigorous investigation into the death of an editor on Kisar, one of the eastern Maluku Islands. Alfrets Mirulewan, chief editor of the Pelangi Weekly, was found with bruises on much of his body at 3…
Tajik journalist arrested on defamation, insult charges
New York, December 16, 2010–The Committee to Protect Journalists today denounced the imprisonment in northern Tajikistan of Makhmadyusuf Ismoilov, a reporter with the Dushanbe-based independent weekly Nuri Zindagi. Ismoilov was arrested in Sogd region on November 23, but the regional press first reported on the case on Monday. Ismoilov is currently being held in a pretrial facility in the city…
In Iraq, bomb kills one journalist; another denied access
New York, December 15, 2010–Omar Rasim al-Qaysi, an anchor working for Al-Anbar TV, was killed on Sunday in a car bombing in central Ramadi, al-Anbar province. His brother, a fellow staffer at the station, was injured in the attack. Security forces then detained a journalist for the daily Al-Anbar, preventing him from covering the explosion’s aftermath.
Venezuela media bills would harm freedom of expression
New York, December 14, 2010–The Venezuelan legislature should reject proposed legal reforms that would harm freedom of expression, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Legislation that would regulate Internet content and could force broadcaster Globovisión off the air are up for consideration this week in the Venezuelan National Assembly.
Iran jails 7, sentences 1, returns Blogfather to prison
New York, December 14, 2010–In a continuation of its relentless attack on independent and opposition media, Iranian authorities have arrested three journalists from the daily Sharq, bringing the number of the newspaper’s incarcerated staffers to seven in less than a week, according to news reports. In other developments, veteran journalist Mashallah Shamsolvaezin, at left, has…
CPJ condemns closure of Al-Jazeera’s office in Kuwait
New York, December 13, 2010–The Kuwaiti Ministry of Information announced today it has shut down Al-Jazeera’s office in Kuwait, the official Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reported. The ministry also withdrew press accreditation from all of Al-Jazeera’s local staff. The suspension came after the Doha-based pan-Arab news satellite station aired live footage of Kuwaiti police cracking down on…
After running leaked cables, websites face harassment
New York, December 10, 2010–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns harassment of the Lebanese news website Al-Akhbar after it published U.S. diplomatic cables that were first disclosed by WikiLeaks. The website was hacked this week by unknown attackers, while the Tunisian government blocked domestic access to the site. Saudi officials blocked access to the independent…