Reporter is slain in Kirkuk
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…
Police re-arrest Internet writer who was on probation
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…
Tunisian Internet writer freed from prison
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…
Spanish authorities restart Haiti murder investigation
New York, July 16, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is encouraged by the decision of Spanish authorities to reactivate the investigation into the 2004 murder of Antena 3 correspondent Ricardo Ortega, who was fatally shot in Haiti while covering the ouster of former President Jean Bertrand Aristide. As part of this process, CPJ European consultant…
AP cameraman jailed without charge; U.S. continues open-ended detentions in Iraq
New York, July 15, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists protests the detention without charge of an Associated Press journalist who was seized by U.S. and Iraqi forces last month in the Iraqi city of Tikrit. Ahmed Nouri Raziak, a 38-year-old cameraman who has worked with AP Television News since 2003, was detained at his home…
CPJ meets with IOC head to discuss China concerns
Lausanne, Switzerland, July 15, 2008–A delegation from the Committee to Protect Journalists met today with the head of the International Olympic Committee and expressed its concern about a variety of press freedom issues surrounding this year’s Beijing Olympics, from the ongoing harassment of international reporters to the jailing of 26 Chinese journalists. CPJ Chairman Paul…
Journalist shot and killed in run-up to elections
New York, July 14, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the murder of journalist Khem Sambo and calls upon Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen to immediately launch an independent investigation into the killing. CPJ is concerned that Sambo may have been targeted in reprisal for his reporting on government corruption. A journalist with the opposition-aligned…
Journalist shot and killed in run-up to elections
New York, July 14, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the murder of journalist Khem Sambo and calls upon Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen to immediately launch an independent investigation into the killing. CPJ is concerned that Sambo may have been targeted in reprisal for his reporting on government corruption. A journalist with the opposition-aligned…
CPJ mourns death of New York Times reporter in Baghdad
New York, July 13, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply saddened by the killing today of a New York Times journalist in Baghdad. Khalid W. Hassan, 23, a reporter and interpreter, was shot and killed in the south central Seiydia district, the newspaper reported.
Al-Jazeera journalist fined over reporting social unrest
New York, July 11, 2008—A Rabat court fined Hassan Rachidi, Al-Jazeera’s Morocco bureau chief, 50,000 dirhams (nearly $6,000) for maliciously “publishing false news” likely to “disrupt public order and spread panic among people.” Under Article 42 of Morocco’s 2002 Press Law, Rachidi had faced a sentence of a month to a year in prison and…