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…
Critical writer jailed in Tunisia
New York, November 27, 2007–The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by the detention of a Tunisian freelance journalist known for his published criticism of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and members of the first family. On Monday, police in Sfax, Tunisia’s second largest city, detained Slim Boukhdhir, a well-known blogger and contributor…
Radio commentator shot and wounded in Brazil
New York, November 26, 2007—Brazilian radio host João Alckmin, who reports on corruption in eastern São Paulo state, was shot twice on Thursday; he is in stable condition. The Committee to Protect Journalists today calls on Brazilian authorities to investigate the attack. Alckmin, host of the weekly talk show “Showtime” onlocal Rádio Piratininga, was…
French journalist arrested along with activists
New York, November 26, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the Vietnamese authorities to immediately and unconditionally release French activist and journalist Nguyen Thi Thanh Van, who was arrested on November 17 in Ho Chi Minh City along with a group of five political activists associated with the pro-democracy Viet Tan party. Thanh Van…
Television crew attacked in Ingushetia
New York, November 26, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in the southern Russian republic of Ingushetia to immediately launch an investigation to find all those responsible for a vicious attack on three television journalists and a prominent human rights advocate in the early hours on Saturday. Artyom Vysotsky, Stanislav Goryachikh, and Karen…
Publishing house razed in Sri Lanka
New York, November 21, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned an arson attack on a publishing house in Sri Lanka today that destroyed the printing press of three newspapers critical of the government. At least 12 unidentified masked men stripped publishing staff of their cell phones at gunpoint before starting the blaze and fleeing the…
CPJ alarmed by allegation of assault on jailed blogger in Egypt
New York, November 20, 2007— The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by recent allegations that an Egyptian blogger, jailed earlier this year for his online criticisms, was violently assaulted by inmates and prison guards this month. On November 12, the Cairo-based Arabic Network for Human Rights Information and the Hisham Mubarak Center for Law…
U.S. says AP photographer in Iraq will be charged
New York, November 20, 2007—The U.S. military has said it plans to prosecute an award-winning Associated Press photographer it has held for more than 19 months without charge for alleged links to Iraqi insurgents, but has not revealed evidence of the journalist’s alleged criminal wrongdoing. The U.S. military informed the AP on Sunday that it…
Mass arrest of journalists in Karachi
New York, November 20, 2007 — The Committee to Protect Journalists is angered by the arrest of more than 180 journalists today who were protesting Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf’s government’s crackdown on media following his declaration of a state of emergency on November 3. Mazhar Abbas, the secretary general of the Pakistan Federal Union of…