CPJ urges Azerbaijan to end persecution of imprisoned editor
New York, June 7, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is calling on Azerbaijani authorities to release an editor imprisoned on libel charges who says he has been denied food and water, and has received death threats. Eynulla Fatullayev, editor of the independent Russian-language weekly Realny Azerbaijan and the weekly Azeri-language daily Gündalik Azarbaycan, told presiding…
Gambia: Reporter for shuttered newspaper convicted over coup story
New York, June 6, 2007—A court in the capital, Banjul, on Tuesday fined a reporter for a now-banned newspaper in connection with a March 2006 story reporting the arrest of several suspects in the aftermath of a purported coup attempt, according to local journalists and news reports. Lamin Fatty of the private bi-weekly The Independent…
In Afghanistan, second female journalist killed in a week
New York, June 6, 2007-The Committee to Protect Journalists is horrified by the murder in her home of radio station director Zakia Zaki in Afghanistan’s Parwan province, north of the capital Kabul. Unidentified gunmen shot her several times near midnight this morning in the bedroom she was sharing with her small children, according to international…
CPJ calls on Pakistani government to drop complaint against 200 journalists
New York, June 5, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed that Pakistani police have filed a complaint against roughly 200 journalists on charges of defying a ban on political rallies. CPJ calls on the government to immediately withdraw the cases, which were announced today, and to stop its pattern of intimidation against journalists. The…
Prosecutor shuts down two Web sites
New York, June 5, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on prosecutors in the Kazakh financial capital, Almaty, to rescind their decision to close the Web sites of the weekly newspaper Karavan and the online news agency Kazakhstan Today. On Monday, the prosecutor general ordered the indefinite closure of Karavan’s Web site for a May…
Chinese reporter arrested following months of police harassment
New York, June 4, 2007—A Nanjing-based reporter whose online video, audio, and written news reports had angered authorities is in police custody today along with his wife, according to his employer at the U.S.-based news Web site Boxun News. Following the May 30 arrest, police accused Sun Lin (known by his pen name Jie Mu)…
Pakistani government moves to silence broadcasters
New York, June 4, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by a presidential ordinance enacted on Sunday that gives the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulation Authority (PEMRA) the power to halt broadcastersí transmissions, close offices, seize equipment, and revoke licenses. The measure also increases fines for violations of PEMRA regulations from 1 million rupees (US$16,665)…
Court tosses out charges against journalism foundation director
New York, June 3, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the Russian Constitutional Court’s verdict on May 27, which proclaimed criminal charges brought against the former head of the now-shuttered Educated Media Foundation (EMF) to be unconstitutional. The court specified that the case should be tried in a civil court. Manana Aslamazian, director of the…
Journalists Abductedin the Gaza Strip 2004-07 In Gaza, captors release video of abducted BBC reporter2007200620052004
New York, June 1, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists today renewed its call for the immediate release of captive BBC reporter Alan Johnston following the disclosure of a videotape showing the journalist alive and in apparent good health. The tape was the first proof of Johnston’s condition that captors have offered since the abduction in…
In DRC, police disrupt media group meeting, assault journalists
New York, June 1, 2007—A journalist remained hospitalized today after police in the central diamond mining town of Mbuji-Mayi disrupted an official meeting of a prominent Congolese media group on Thursday, assaulting dozens of journalists and seizing personal items, according to the press freedom group Journaliste en Danger (JED) and local journalists. François Luboya, the…