In Nigeria, a veteran award-winning journalist is murdered
New York, December 26, 2006-The Committee to Protect Journalists mourns the December 22 killing of veteran Nigerian journalist Godwin Agbroko in the commercial city of Lagos. Agbroko, editorial board chairman of the private daily ThisDay, was found shot to death in his car, according to local and international media reports. Three police officers and two…
In Azerbaijan, reporter beaten as attacks on newspaper continue
New York, December 26, 2006–Four unidentified men severely beat Nijat Huseynov, a reporter for the Baku-based opposition daily Azadlyg, on Monday morning, according to local and international press reports. Huseynov told the Turan news agency that he had received anonymous threatening phone calls recently. The callers made reference to Huseynov’s work but did not cite…
Magazine banned over religious jokes
New York, December 22, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the banning in Morocco of an independent magazine and the charges brought against its director and a reporter for publishing an article analyzing popular jokes about religion, sex, and politics. Driss Ksikes, the publisher and director of the weekly magazine Nichane, and reporter…
Pakistan: New York Times reporter and photographer harassed and detained
New York, December 22, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists called today for a full investigation into the detention of New York Times photographer Akhtar Soomro and the beating of reporter Carlotta Gall in Pakistan on December 19. Gall, who covers Pakistan and Afghanistan for the Times, told CPJ that men who said they were from…
Philippines: Radio Reporter Stabbed to Death
New York, December 21, 2006–The Committee to Protect Journalists deplores the killing of Philippines radio broadcaster Andres Acosta, which police believe may be linked to his work. He was stabbed to death Wednesday in the town of Batac, 240 miles (390 kilometers) north of Manila. “We join our colleagues in the Philippines in mourning the…
CPJ condemns rising attacks on the press and its leaders
New York, December 18, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by an upsurge in arrests and the harassment of journalists by rival groups battling for control of Somalia. Both the Islamists who hold Mogadishu and the U.N.-backed transitional government based in Baidoa, northwest of the capital, have cracked down on the press this month.…
In Burundi, three radio journalists return to prison after one-day trial
New York, December 14, 2006—Three private radio journalists returned to prison today after their one-day trial in the capital, Bujumbura, according to local journalists. The three have been jailed for more than two weeks while a fourth journalist went into hiding after receiving a judicial summons. Since September, the government has cracked down on three…
CPJ condemns murder of APTN cameraman
New York, December 12, 2006— The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the murder today of an Associated Press Television News (APTN) cameraman in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. Aswan Ahmed Lutfallah, 35, was gunned down by insurgents while filming clashes between Iraqi police and insurgents in the city’s al-Karama neighborhood, The Associated Press reported.
China: CPJ Welcomes Release of Investigative Journalist Jailed Since 1998
New York, December 12, 2006–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the early release of investigative reporter Gao Qinrong, who served eight years of a 12-year prison sentence for his reporting on a corrupt irrigation scheme in northern China’s Shanxi Province. “The long imprisonment of Gao Qinrong is a horrible reminder that even those journalists who…
New law still threatens press freedoms
New York, July 12, 2006— The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply troubled by Egypt’s newly amended press law that fails to honor a promise by President Hosni Mubarak to abolish prison for press offenses. The law also sharply increases fines for defamation. The amendments lift some minor restrictions on the media but still mandate…