AP photographer is latest in long list of U.S. detainees
New York, December 7, 2007—Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein, held by the U.S. military without charge for nearly 20 months, is scheduled to face unspecified charges in an Iraqi court on Sunday. Hussein is among a number of journalists who have been held by the U.S. military in Iraq for prolonged periods.
Tenth Azerbaijani journalist imprisoned
New York, December 6, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the jailing today of yet another journalist in Azerbaijan, making him the tenth currently behind bars in the country. Ilgar Nasibov, correspondent for the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in the western exclave of Nakhchivan, was arrested; summarily tried without defense counsel; and sentenced…
Tunisian writer sentenced to jail
New York, December 5, 2007— The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the one-year prison sentence handed down on Tuesday to a Tunisian freelance journalist known for his published criticism of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and members of the first family. A court in Sakiet Ezziet, in the suburbs of Sfax, Tunisia’s second-largest city…
Somaliland expels 24 journalists
New York, December 5, 2007–CPJ condemns the Somaliland authorities’ decision to expel 24 Somali journalists from Hargeisa, the capital of the northern breakaway republic. The group had recently fled there to escape ongoing persecution in Mogadishu, Somalia. Yesterday, Somaliland Police Chief General Mohammed Saqadhi Dubad and the head of the Criminal Investigations Department, General Ahmed…
CPJ condemns jailing of two journalists for criminal libel
TEMPLATE New York, December 4, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned at the jailing in Benin of two journalists convicted of criminal defamation. A court in the capital Cotonou sentenced editor Clément Adéchian and reporter Cécil Adjévi of the private daily L’Informateur to six months in prison on December 2. It also fined…
Senegalese government official sends threatening note to journalist
New York, December 4, 2007—A Senegalese government official threatened a reporter with unspecified harm on Monday in response to a story implicating him in an alleged corruption scandal, according to news reports and local journalists. He was the third top official this year to threaten physical harm against journalists in response to critical coverage of…
Pakistani journalists face warrantless arrests
New York, December 3, 2007 — The Committee to Protect Journalists is greatly concerned by the Pakistani government’s authorization of police to arrest without warrant members of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), the country’s largest media organization. The legal move also mentions members of the Rawalpindi/Islamabad Union of Journalists, Pakistan’s largest local journalist…
Journalists detained in Manila
New York, November 29, 2007 — The Committee to Protect Journalists is angered by the detention of about 17 journalists by Philippine police after a seven-hour standoff between a dissident group of soldiers and government security forces at the Peninsula Hotel in Manila’s Makati business district today. Some of the reporters were released in a…
Critical journalist jailed in St. Petersburg
New York, November 28, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed alarm today at the imprisonment of Nikolai Andrushchenko, co-founder and an editor of the weekly newspaper Novy Peterburg in the Russian city of St. Petersburg. On Saturday, a court sentenced Andrushchenko to two months of pre-trial detention on charges of defamation and obstruction of justice.…
Bolivian media attacked in protests over constitutional reform
New York, November 27, 2007—At least five journalists were beaten by police on Sunday in Bolivia while covering antigovernment protests in which four people were killed and hundreds were injured. The violence occurred in the city of Sucre during protests against the government’s efforts to approve a new constitution, according to international news reports. Violence…