Two journalists held without charge
New York, September 3, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Iranian authorities to disclose charges against two detained Kurdish journalists or release them immediately. On August 28, security forces arrested Anvar Sa’di Muchashi and his cousin at his home in Sanandaj, the capital of the Kordestan province in northwestern Iran, and took them to…
Taliban-held journalist killed in army strike
New York, September 2, 2008–A journalist who had been kidnapped by a local Taliban group was killed when a Pakistani airstrike hit the private jail where he was being held in the Swat Valley in Pakistan’s tumultuous North West Frontier Province on Friday, according to local news reports citing a Taliban spokesman. Militants abducted Abdul…
Journalist and media worker detained in Port Harcourt
New York, September 2, 2008–Freelance American filmmaker and journalist Andrew Berends and his translator, Nigerian Samuel George, remain in the custody of Nigerian state security services in Port Harcourt today. The Nigerian military arrested Berends and George on the afternoon of August 31 and transferred them to the State Security Services, local journalists told CPJ.
Four arrested covering protest at GOP convention
New York, September 2, 2008—A camera crew, broadcast host, and photographer were arrested Monday while covering protests at the Republican National Convention in St Paul, Minn. Police in downtown St. Paul swept up the journalists while arresting more than 250 other people during an unruly end to an otherwise peaceful anti-war protest, according to news…
Media shut down in Kashmir; one journalist dead
New York, August 29, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Indian authorities to protect journalists and lift restrictions on media workers in the curfew-bound northern Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, after a cameraman was reportedly killed and a near-total news blackout hit the main city of Srinagar. Srinagar newspapers did not reach…
Government blocks popular news site
New York, August 29, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Malaysian government’s censorship of the popular news Web site and blog Malaysia Today. The blocking represents the first time officials have violated the government’s 1996 policy pledge not to censor the Internet. The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), the state agency charged with…
Persecution of Dagestan weekly continues
New York, August 28, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in the southern Russian republic of Dagestan to end their month-long offensive against the opposition weekly Chernovik (Rough Draft) in the regional capital, Makhachkala. Investigators with the local prosecutor’s office and officers with the Criminal Investigation (UR) department of Dagestan’s Interior Ministry searched…
CPJ alarmed by arrest, harassment of ABC producer in Denver
New York, August 28, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the arrest and harassment on Wednesday of an ABC News producer whose crew was on a public sidewalk seeking to film Democratic Party officials and donors leaving a meeting at the Brown Palace Hotel. The case unfolded in separate incidents over two hours.…
Ethiopian managing editor arrested
New York, August 26, 2008—The Committee to Protect journalists calls for the immediate release of Amare Aregawi, managing editor of the English- and Amharic-language newspaper Reporter, whohas been detained since August 22 in northern Ethiopia. Policemen from Ethiopia’s former capital of Gonder arrested Aregawi at his office in the capital, Addis Ababa, at 2 p.m.…
Protesters seize Thai state television station
New York, August 26, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemns an attack led by anti-government protesters against state-run National Broadcasting Service of Thailand (NBT) television news station. The People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) protest group ambushed and seized control of the station’s headquarters in Bangkok early this morning as part of several ambush-style attacks…