Journalist freed in Uzbekistan, but conviction stands
New York, May 8, 2007—A Tashkent appellate panel set independent Uzbek journalist Umida Niyazova free from prison today, reducing the jail term handed down last week to a suspended sentence. The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomed Niyazova’s release but expressed concern at her standing conviction. “We are relieved that our colleague Umida Niyazova is free…
Brazilian journalist who denounced corruption shot to death
New York, May 7, 2007—Brazilian journalist Luiz Carlos Barbon Filho, known for investigative reporting that exposed political corruption, was gunned down on Saturday evening in the southern state of São Paulo. The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Brazilian authorities today to thoroughly investigate the murder and bring those responsible to justice. “We offer our…
Roadside bomb kills Russian photojournalist in Iraq
New York, May 7, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists mourns the death on Sunday of Dmitry Chebotayev, the first Russian journalist to be killed in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003. Chebotayev, a freelance photographer embedded with U.S. forces, was killed along with six American soldiers when a roadside bomb struck a U.S.…
Radio producer gunned down
New York, May 4, 2007—Veteran Guatemalan radio producer Mario Rolando López Sánchez was gunned down outside his home in Guatemala City yesterday. The Committee to Protect Journalists is investigating whether López’ murder is related to his professional work. López, producer of the political debate program “Cosas y Casos de la Vida Nacional” and various social…
Radio producer gunned down
New York, May 4, 2007—Veteran Guatemalan radio producer Mario Rolando López Sánchez was gunned down outside his home in Guatemala City yesterday. The Committee to Protect Journalists is investigating whether López’ murder is related to his professional work. López, producer of the political debate program “Cosas y Casos de la Vida Nacional” and various social…
TV journalist in Bangladesh claims threat from police commander
New York, May 4, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is troubled by a claim that a television journalist was threatened by an elite police force commander after reporting on a police raid on the home of a political activist. ` Jahangir Alam Akash, a reporter for CSB News, said he was threatened over the telephone…
Indonesia must cooperate with Australian coroner’s investigation
New York, May 4, 2007—The Indonesian government should do everything in its power to compel former military commander and minister of information Yunus Yosfiah to testify in an Australian inquest into the 1975 deaths of five Australian television journalists, The Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Yosfiah, now retired, was an Indonesian army captain who…
Journalists jailed for inciting religious hatred
New York, May 4, 2007—A court in Azerbaijan jailed two independent journalists today over an article that said Islam was hampering economic and political progress. The Committee to Protect Journalists, which this week named Azerbaijan as one of the top 10 countries where press freedom has deteriorated, condemned the conviction. Reporter Rafiq Tagi and editor…
Paraguayan journalist threatened after corruption, drug trafficking reports
New York, May 3, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the safety of Paraguayan journalist Oscar Bogado Silva, who has received repeated death threats after reporting on local corruption and drug trafficking. Bogado, correspondent for the Asunción-based daily Última Hora, told CPJ that unidentified individuals broke into his home in the southern city…
Worldwide rallies seek release of BBC correspondent Alan Johnston
New York, May 3, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists joined with colleagues at a rally at U.N. headquarters today to call for the release of BBC correspondent Alan Johnston, abducted in Gaza more than seven weeks ago. Journalists in London, China, and Indonesia also rallied today, World Press Freedom Day, in support of Johnston’s release.…