New York, January 29, 2008—Authorities in Nigeria’s southern Akwa Ibom State sent a journalist to prison on Monday on sedition charges, according to local journalists and news reports. The move was part of a crackdown launched by the state government in response to a story alleging corruption by the state governor. The newspaper’s distributor was…
New York, January 29, 2008–Police in the southern Russian Republic of Ingushetia detained, beat, and deported journalists and human rights activists who tried to cover an opposition rally in the regional capital on Saturday, according to CPJ sources and local news reports. Authorities mounted a massive crackdown against the roughly 200 protesters in Nazran. Riot…
New York, January 28, 2008—Mexican journalist Octavio Soto Torres, known for his harsh criticism of local authorities, was shot at by four masked gunmen on Wednesday night while driving in the city of Pánuco, Veracruz state. Soto and his son, 16, who was also in the car, were not shot, but Soto was injured as…
CPJ mourns the death of Somali reporter New York, January 28, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists mourns the death of Somali National News Agency reporter Hassan Kafi Hared today. Hared died in a landmine explosion and subsequent gunfire in Siyad Village in the southwestern port town of Kismayo. A remote-controlled mine blew up a Medecins…
New York, March 11, 2008—Six people affiliated with the Sri Lankan news Web site OutreachSL have been detained by the Terrorist Investigation Division of the Sri Lankan police force in Colombo since last week, according to Agence France-Presse and local news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists urges the government of Sri Lanka to charge…
New York, January 25, 2008—Several Yemeni news and opinion Web sites have apparently been blocked domestically by the government-owned Internet service provider, according to news reports and a CPJ interview. Three Web sites became unavailable to domestic users on January 19, joining a list of at least five others that have disappeared within Yemen without…
New York, January 25, 2008—A court in Nigeria’s southern Akwa Ibom State today lodged criminal charges against a newspaper distributor over a story not-yet published. The article was critical of the state governor, according to local journalists. The court in Uyo sent the distributor, Essien Asuquo Owoh, to prison. Owoh, the owner of Ezedom Enterprise,…
New York, January 25, 2008–Several Yemeni news and opinion Web sites have apparently been blocked domestically by the government-owned Internet service provider, according to news reports and a CPJ interview. Three Web sites became unavailable to domestic users on January 19, joining a list of at least five others that have disappeared within Yemen without…
New York, January 23, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by the detention in Gaza of a Palestinian newspaper bureau chief by the Hamas government’s internal security services. Hamas security agents arrested Munir Abu Rizq, Gaza bureau chief for the daily Al-Hayat al-Jadida, on January 15 while he was on his way to…
New York, January 23, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is appalled by the death sentence given to a young journalist by a court in northern Afghanistan yesterday. The court in Balkh province sentenced 23-year-old Parwez Kambakhsh in a closed-door trial without a defense attorney present, according to local press freedom advocate Rahimullah Samander, president of…