New York, July 28, 2008–A Panamanian judge barred sports columnist Bienvenido Brown from leaving the country and ordered him to stand trial on criminal defamation charges filed in 2005. Eleventh Criminal Court Judge Josefina Sclopis issued the ruling on Friday against Brown, a columnist with the daily La Estrella de Panamá, the newspaper reported. The…
New York, July 28, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by the July 26 arrest of a Palestinian cameraman in Gaza by Hamas security services. Hamas security agents arrested Sawah Abu Seif, a cameraman with German broadcaster ARD TV in his home in Tel al-Hawa in southwest Gaza following an explosion that Hamas blamed…
New York, July 28, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the decision by the Lesotho Communications Authority last week to suspend private radio broadcaster Harvest FM for three months. The decision to suspend the award-winning station on July 21 follows defamation complaints lodged separately by the principal secretary in the Ministry of Communications and the…
New York, July 28, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Friday’s vicious attack on Zurab Tsechoyev, editor of Mashr, a human rights Web site based in the volatile North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia. At least 50 armed, masked men in camouflage gear raided Tsechoyev’s home, shoved him into an armored personnel carrier, drove him to…
New York, July 24, 2008–Unidentified individuals set fire to the home of critical journalist Jeso Carneiro on Sunday night in the northern city of Santarém. No one was injured but the house suffered considerable damage. The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Brazilian authorities to investigate the attack and provide the necessary protection to allow…
New York, July 23, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemns the recentarrest and criminal defamation charges filed by the Malaysian government against prominent blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin, editor and founder of the Malaysia Today news Web site. Raja Petra was arrested and charged on July 17 at police headquarters in Kuala Lumpur and later…
New York, July 22, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the murder of Iraqi reporter Soran Mama Hama, who was shot by unidentified gunmen in front of his home in Kirkuk on Monday night, according to news reports and CPJ interviews. Mama Hama, 23, a reporter with the Sulaymaniyah-based Livin magazine, had received threatening messages…
New York, July 22, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the murder of Iraqi reporter Soran Mama Hama, who was shot by unidentified gunmen in front of his home in Kirkuk on Monday night, according to news reports and CPJ interviews. Mama Hama, 23, a reporter with the Sulaymaniyah-based Livin magazine, had received threatening messages…
New York, July 22, 2008–Chinese police arrested prominent dissident and Internet writer Du Daobin on Monday, according to his defense lawyer, Mo Shaoping. CPJ is concerned that the arrest is part of the government’s ongoing campaign to suppress criticism prior to the Olympic Games. Du had been sentenced to a three-year suspended prison sentence in…
New York, July 21, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release from jail on Monday of Tunisian Internet journalist Slim Boukhdhir, who had been held for eight months after writing articles critical of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and the first family. CPJ conducted a fact-finding mission to Tunisia earlier this month as…