Hong Kong, August 6, 2008—Reporters covering the aftermath of Monday’s attack on a border police outpost in Kashgar have been detained, beaten, and harassed, according to international news reports. Japan’s Kyodo News Agency reported today that police in Kashgar dragged Masami Kawakita, a photographer from the Chunichi Shimbun newspaper’s Tokyo headquarters, and Shinji Katsuta, a…
New York, August 5, 2008—Gunmen shot and critically wounded radio journalist Dennis Cuesta in the southern Philippines late Monday, according to news reports. Police told international reporters the shooting may be related to Cuesta’s aggressive broadcasts on crime and social issues. Two gunmen traveling by motorcycle fired several shots at Cuesta, a program director and…
New York, August 5, 2008—The Vietnamese government revoked the press credentials of seven local journalists from four newspapers, of which at least two had aggressively covered the controversial arrest of two journalists in May, according to local and international new reports. All seven of the accused journalists are forbidden to work while their press cards…
BELARUS: New York, August 5, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is troubled to learn that President Alexander Lukashenko has signed a restrictive new media law, which, according to CPJ research, will allow authorities to further restrict press freedom in Belarus. The Belarusian parliament—before its adjournment in late June—rushed the bill through in three consecutive readings…
UZBEKISTAN New York, August 5, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed to learn that police in the western Uzbek city of Nukus have brought another charge against an independent journalist to justify his arrest and detention, after initially bringing charges of drug use. On August 2, investigators in Nukus acknowledged that Salidzhon Abdurakhmonov’s blood…
New York, August 4, 2008–An Ethiopian judge overseeing the high-profile trial of an imprisoned pop singer jailed the editor of an independent weekly for contempt of court today. The contempt charge came after the weekly published an interview with the singer’s lawyer, according to local journalists.
Hong Kong, August 5, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists called on the Chinese government to allow unrestricted reporting of Monday’s attack on police in the city of Kashgar, in the western Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. Local and international media outlets relied largely on the official Xinhua News Agency’s reports, which said two men killed 16…
New York, August 1, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists is very concerned about the treatment of a Palestinian cameraman who was released Thursday after five days in the custody of security agents from the Hamas-led government in Gaza. Hamas security agents arrested Sawah Abu Seif, a cameraman with German broadcaster ARD TV, in his home…
Some Internet limits remain at Games CPJ urges Olympic officials to continue open-access efforts New York, August 1, 2008—Internet censorship at the Olympic press center eased today, but officials with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) acknowledged that the full access once promised was not being delivered. Foreign journalists reported they could see some formerly inaccessible…