In Mali, radio targeted over critical broadcasts in wake of presidential polls
New York, March 12, 2007—A private radio station in the central town of Markala was given an eviction notice by authorities last week, after airing broadcasts critical of President Amadou Toumani Touré ahead of next month’s elections. Radio Jamakan, housed in the government-owned complex of Office du Niger (ON), an agency managing irrigation projects, was…
Russian journalists detained, harassed when covering local elections
New York, March 12, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by reports that police and security services harassed several journalists covering local parliamentary elections on Sunday. Police in the southern city of Samara detained reporter Pavel Sedakov and photographer Artyom Pigarov of the independent business daily Kommersant when the two tried to interview a…
Dominican court sentences man to 30 years in journalist’s murderer
New York, May 3, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes Wednesday’s decision by a Dominican court to sentence a gang leader to 30 years in prison for the 2004 murder of local journalist Juan Emilio Andújar Matos. A court in Azua also ordered Vladimir Pujols, leader of the drug trafficking gang “Los Sayayines,” to pay…
Pakistani journalist’s family massacred in apparent retribution for his work
New York, April 3, 2007—Foreign militants killed the brother, father, uncle, and cousin of Urdu-language Inkishaf reporter Din Muhammed at his home in South Waziristan in apparent retribution for his work, colleagues told the Committee to Protect Journalists. Three other family members were also abducted. It is not clear whether Muhammed was among them. “We…
Disappointment as mediation fails to free U.S. video blogger
New York, March 9, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is disappointed that a freelance video blogger will remain in jail after a court-appointed arbitrator was unable to mediate a settlement that could have led to the journalist’s release. Joshua Wolf has spent 198 days in jail, the longest incarceration of a journalist in U.S. history,…
CPJ calls for release of Italian journalist in Afghanistan
New York, March 9, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists joins colleagues in Afghanistan and around the world in calling for the release of La Repubblica correspondent Daniele Mastrogiacomo, missing since Sunday when he was abducted in southern Afghanistan. Mastrogiacomo appears to be held by a Taliban military group, which has told media organizations they are…
Journalists hit by Israeli stun grenades in the West Bank
New York, March 8, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned that two journalists were bruised by Israeli stun grenades at an Israeli military checkpoint between Jerusalem and the West Bank city of Ramallah today. Rami al-Faqih, a correspondent for the local Al-Quds Educational Television, and Iyad Hamad, a cameraman for The Associated Press, were…
Kenyan tabloid editor jailed for libel
New York, March 8, 2007— A court in the capital Nairobi convicted Mburu Muchoki, editor of the private weekly The Independent, of libel on Tuesday and sentenced him to a year in prison over a 2004 story critical of Justice Minister Martha Karua, according to local journalists. Muchoki was also fined 500,000 shillings (US$7,200)—twenty-five times…
In Bangladesh, editor of outspoken daily arrested in military raid
New York, March 8, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is troubled by the arrest of Atiqullah Khan Masud, editor and publisher of the popular Bengali-language daily Janakantha, in a military raid on the Dhaka newspaper’s office Wednesday night. Bangladeshi police today accused Masud of corruption, criminal activities, and “tarnishing the country’s image abroad” through his…
In Mexico, landmark libel bill awaits Calderón’s signature
New York, March 7, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists today urged Mexican President Felipe Calderón to sign new federal legislation decriminalizing defamation, libel, and slander. Voting 100-0 with one abstention, the Mexican Senate passed a bill on Tuesday that effectively directs all such cases to civil court. The measure, already approved by the lower chamber…