Four from al-Sharqiya TV killed in Mosul; arrests made
New York, September 15, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the arrest of suspects in the killing of three journalists and a media worker in Mosul on Saturday. CNN reported that two suspects have been arrested in Mosul, according to Gen. Jalal Tawfeeq, military operations commander of Nineveh province, who spoke to al-Sharqiya. According to…
In Senegal, editor sentenced to prison; convictions in newspaper raids
New York, September 12, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by a Senegalese judge’s decision today to sentence a newspaper editor to three years in prison on criminal charges in connection with an editorial about President Abdoulaye Wade and his son. Today’s ruling came on the heels of Thursday’s sentencing of 12 individuals to…
Amid arrests and threats, Malaysia cracks down on media
New York, September 12, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemns the arrests today of Raja Petra Kamarudin, founder and editor of the influential Malaysia Today Web site and blog, and Sin Chew Daily reporter Tan Hoon Cheng. Three newspapers, including Sin Chew Daily, have also been officially threatened with suspension today, according to news…
Sri Lankan journalist critically injured in gun attack
New York, September 11, 2008— The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the shooting of Sri Lankan journalist Radhika Devakumar on Monday evening. A gunman or gunmen fired on Devakumar, an ethnic Tamil, at her home in Batticaloa, eastern Sri Lanka, according to local news reports. She was in critical condition today after being…
Critical blogger given 30 months in prison
New York, September 11, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemns a Vietnamese court decision on Wednesday to imprison blogger Nguyen Van Hai, better known by his penname Dieu Cay, on charges of tax evasion. The court in Ho Chi Minh City, in southern Vietnam, convicted Hai, 55, in a closed-door trial, sentencing him to…
Blogger sentenced to two years in prison
EDITOR’S NOTE: The original version of this alert has been modified to correct the age of the blogger. New York, September 10, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a Moroccan court’s decision to jail and fine blogger and journalist Mohamed Erraji for “failing to respect the king.” The court in Agadir, in southwest Morocco, convicted Erraji…
Opposition activists attack state-owned media
New York, September 10, 2008–Opposition activists in the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra stormed the offices of two state-owned media outlets on Tuesday, destroying equipment and forcing them to halt broadcasts in the wake of two-week long antigovernment protests. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the attacks and called on Santa Cruz’s governor…
Polish television crew freed in South Ossetia
New York, September 9, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes today’s release of Telewizja Polska (TVP) crew members who were detained outside the Georgian village of Karaleti by South Ossetian militia members, and taken into custody in the regional capital, Tskhinvali on Monday. Reporter Dariusz Bohatkiewicz told CPJ that authorities in Tskhinvali transferred him and…
Filmmaker Berends freed, Nigerian still faces questioning
New York, September 9, 2008—U.S. filmmaker Andrew Berends, detained by Nigerian security officials for 10 days, was aboard a flight to Germany late today, two U.S. State Department officials told the Committee to Protect Journalists. Berends, the focus of an international advocacy effort, was scheduled to fly from Frankfurt, Germany, to the United States, they…
Nigerian senator calls for release of journalist and translator
New York, September 9, 2008—Nigerian Sen. Chris Anyanwu urged the ministers of information and defense today to assist in the immediate release of American filmmaker Andrew Berends and Nigerian translator, Samuel George. Anyanwu, a prominent former journalist, also urged that the government undertake formal discussions with the media to avoid future arrests of journalists.