Egypt detains reporter covering protests
New York, September 26, 2008―The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by the ongoing detention of a reporter for the independent daily Al-Dustour. Hossam Al Wakeel, 20, was arrested on Wednesday while covering protests that erupted after “the arbitrary closure” of the Al Jazeera School in the Al Ajami district in Alexandria, his lawyer, Khalaf…
Radio host gunned down in Tabasco
New York, September 25, 2008–Mexican radio host Alejandro Zenón Fonseca Estrada was gunned down Tuesday as he was putting up anticrime posters in Villahermosa, capital of the Gulf Coast state of Tabasco. The Committee to Protect Journalists is investigating possible links between Fonseca’s work as a journalist and his killing. Four unidentified men riding in…
In Yemen, outspoken editor pardoned and released
New York, September 25, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release from prison today of Abdel Karim al-Khaiwani, an outspoken Yemeni editor who had been held since June on what were widely seen as retaliatory antistate charges. Al-Khaiwani, whose case was the focus of an international advocacy effort, told CPJ that he walked out…
Web site editor beaten with hammers in Sofia
New York, September 23, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Monday’s brutal attack on Ognian Stefanov, editor of the investigative news Web site Frognews, in Bulgaria. The editor and his family had recently received anonymous phone calls warning Stefanov to stop his journalism or face consequences, Stefanov’s deputy, Aleksandar Ivanov, told CPJ. The site publishes…
Malaysian blogger jailed for two years under security act
New York, September 23, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the two-year jail term handed down to Malaysian blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin by the country’s home minister today. Police arrested Raja Petra, who founded and edits the Malaysia Today Web site, on September 12 under the strict Internal Security Act, which allows for prolonged detention…
U Win Tin, Burma’s longest held journalist, released
New York, September 23, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of U Win Tin, the longest serving political prisoner in Burma, and one of the world’s longest-jailed journalists. The 79-year-old former editor had at least two heart attacks and suffered from high blood pressure, a degenerative spine condition, and diabetes since his 1989…
U.S. military frees Afghan journalist from Bagram
New York, September 22, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the U.S. military’s release of imprisoned journalist Jawed Ahmad from Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan on Sunday, 11 months after he was first detained. But CPJ calls again on the U.S. military to end its practice of holding journalists without charge on an open-ended basis.…
Cleric issues fatwa against journalists and writers
New York, September 22, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned about an edict issued Saturday by a top Saudi Muslim cleric, who said that writers who challenge or criticize religious sheikhs should be fired from their jobs, flogged, and jailed. Sheikh Abdallah Ben Jabreen, a former member of the Saudi Arabia’s Establishment of…