New York, January 31, 2007—Thailand’s army-appointed government should fully investigate a grenade attack on the Thai-language Daily News, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. A grenade exploded in the office compound of the mass circulation newspaper around 1:30a.m. on Tuesday, local media reported. Another explosive device went off in the parking lot of an…
New York, January 31, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the criminal libel convictions of two journalists in a suit filed by Azerbaijan’s interior minister who has launched a barrage of defamation suits to silence independent media. Reporter Faramaz Novruzoglu and Editor-in-chief Sardar Alibeili of the weekly independent newspaper Nota Bene were sentenced…
New York, January 30, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by a court order preventing Colombia’s El Heraldo newspaper from publishing follow-up articles to its report alleging links between a company in Barranquilla and paramilitary forces. On January 21, the paper published a joint investigative report with the nongovernmental organization, Fundación Protransparencia, alleging links…
New York, January 30, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi’s calling online critics of his government liars, and his support of a civil libel suit brought against two bloggers. In an interview with the New Straits Times Sunday edition, Badawi made broad accusations against bloggers, claiming that they…
New York, January 30, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is disturbed by attacks and threats against journalists by protesters in southern Nepal that have inhibited news coverage of unrest in the area. Several journalists from the towns of Biratnagar, Birgunj, Inuwara, and Lahan, and in Bara and Saptari districts, have been forced from their homes…
New York, January 29, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the ongoing harassment of a popular newspaper in western Kazakhstan which exposed local government corruption. The independent bi-weekly Uralskaya Nedelya has been subjected to retaliation from government officials since it began a series on corruption last July, Editor-in-Chief Tamara Yeslyamova told CPJ. Three printing companies…
New York, January 29, 2008—Police in the southern Russian Republic of Ingushetia detained, beat, and deported journalists and human rights activists who tried to cover an opposition rally in the regional capital on Saturday, according to CPJ sources and local news reports. Authorities mounted a massive crackdown against the roughly 200 protesters in Nazran. Riot…
New York, January 26, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the fate of Mexican reporter Rodolfo Rincón Taracena, who has been missing in the southern Tabasco state since Saturday night. CPJ is investigating whether Rincón’s disappearance is linked to his professional work. Rincón, an investigative crime reporter for the Villahermosa-based daily Tabasco Hoy,…
New York, January 26, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is greatly concerned about new regulations imposed by the Bangladeshi interim government that severely restrict news reporting. The Emergency Powers Rules of 2007, announced on Thursday, restrict press coverage of political news and set penalties of up to five years in prison for violations. The new…
New York, January 26, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about journalist Suhail Qalander, who has been missing along with a friend since January 2. His colleagues believe he was kidnapped, possibly in relation to his work as a Peshawar editor of the Daily Express, Pakistan’s second largest Urdu language newspaper. “We join our…