KYRGYZSTANBroadcasting bill rolls back press freedom gains
New York, May 15, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev to veto a bill that would reverse efforts to reform Kyrgyzstan’s state television and radio company (KTR) into a public broadcaster. Kyrgyzstan’s parliament passed the bill on April 24. It gives the president the right to appoint KTR’s chief…
Chinese journalist sentenced to four years
New York, May 13, 2008—Qi Chonghuai, a journalist in China’s Shandong province who had written critically about local officials, was sentenced today to four years in prison for fraud and extortion in a trial that lasted 12 hours, according to his wife and lawyers. Access to the trial was limited, and reporters were not allowed…
CPJ condemns murder of Guatemalan journalist
New York, May 12, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the murder of Jorge Mérida Pérez, a correspondent in Quetzatenango province for the national Guatemalan daily Prensa Libre. Mérida was shot to death in his home on Saturday afternoon. CPJ calls on the Guatemalan authorities to begin an immediate, thorough investigation into this brutal killing.
Photojournalist killed in crossfire in Kashmir
New York, May 12, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists mourned the killing of photojournalist Ashok Sodhi in crossfire Sunday in Indian-controlled Kashmir. Sodhi, a photographer for local English-language Daily Excelsior, was killed when suspected militants exchanged fire with security forces from a house where they held several hostages, in Samba district near the border with…
Photojournalist killed in crossfire in Kashmir
New York, May 12, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists mourned the killing of photojournalist Ashok Sodhi in crossfire Sunday in Indian-controlled Kashmir. Sodhi, a photographer for local English-language Daily Excelsior, was killed when suspected militants exchanged fire with security forces from a house where they held several hostages, in Samba district near the border with…
Pakistan Supreme Court moves to silence media
New York, May 12, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the Pakistani Supreme Court to drop its efforts to control media coverage. The court today ordered Geo TV, the country’s most popular private broadcaster, and its print affiliate, Jang Group, to present all video clips and news articles dating to November 3, 2007, on…
Ethiopian police threaten paper over opposition party coverage
New York, August 5, 2008—Ethiopian police in the capital, Addis Ababa, threatened on Monday to block distribution of an independently owned newspaper if it continues its leading coverage of a new political opposition movement, according to local journalists. The Amharic-language weekly Awramba Times reported today that it had received two separate phone warnings from top…
CPJ alarmed by attacks on pro-government media
CPJ alarmed by attacks on pro-government media New York, May 9, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists denounces a series of threats and attacks carried out today by the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah and its allies against pro-government news outlets in the Lebanese capital, Beirut. In separate incidents on Friday, Hezbollah gunmen and allied opposition groups…
Zimbabwean editor, media lawyer charged, released
New York, May 9, 2008—In separate cases today, a magistrate court in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, released from police custody a top newspaper editor and a leading lawyer working in defense of journalists. Both were formally charged, however, according to local sources. Davison Maruziva, editor of Zimbabwe’s leading Sunday newspaper, The Standard, was charged with…