Philippines: Broadcaster critically wounded in shooting
New York, December 4, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists said today it was investigating whether the shooting of journalist Arnie Pullan on the central Philippine island of Iloilo was related to his work as a radio host. An unidentified gunman shot and seriously wounded Pullan on December 1 as he left the station of MBC-Radio…
Another reporter in Veracruz found murdered
New York, December 1, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists said today it was investigating whether the shooting death of Adolfo Sánchez Guzmán was related to his work as reporter for the Mexican news Web site Orizaba en Vivo. The journalist’s body was found yesterday on the banks of the Blanco river near Mendoza, 74 miles…
China: Court upholds conviction of New York Times researcher
New York, December 1, 2006—The High Court of Beijing on Friday upheld a fraud conviction in August against Zhao Yan, the Chinese researcher for The New York Times who has been jailed since September 2004. Zhao was tried on the fraud charge and leaking state secrets in June, in closed proceedings at which he was…
Sri Lanka: Freelance Tamil journalist arrested
New York, November 30, 2006—Sri Lankan authorities should either charge or release a freelance Tamil journalist detained for nearly a week, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Parameswaree Maunasámi, who wrote for the Sinhala-language weekly Mawbima, was arrested at her home south of Colombo on November 24 along with another Tamil woman, according to…
Third radio journalist jailed in growing crackdown
New York, November 29, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists demands that three radio journalists jailed in Burundi in the past week, including Matthias Manirakiza detained today, be released immediately. “This looks more and more like a campaign to silence respected independent broadcasters who have spearheaded investigative reporting on human rights abuses and corruption,” said CPJ…
Official daily smears award-winning editor
New York, November 28, 2006—Yemen’s leading state-run newspaper Al-Thawra attacked independent editor Jamal Amer upon his return from the United States where he received the Committee to Protect Journalists 2006 International Press Freedom Award. The daily ran a front-page article on November 26 suggesting that he was a U.S. agent and warning of possible legal…
Editor jailed for one year over Prophet cartoons
New York, November 28, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the one-year jail sentence handed down to a Yemeni editor for reprinting Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. A court in the capital Sana’a sentenced Kamal al-Aalafi, editor-in-chief of the Arabic-language weeklyAl-Rai Al-Aam on November 25. It also banned him from practicing journalism for six…
Three journalists jailed in election aftermath
New York, November 28, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by reports that the DRC’s newly elected authorities have been holding two journalists for the past week, while arresting a third on Saturday. All three are being held incommunicado by police in the capital, Kinshasa, after reporting on the aftermath of presidential elections. Clément…
Colleagues of Anna Politkovskaya receive death threats
New York, November 28, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by death threats against two colleagues of murdered Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya. The independent Moscow newspaper Novaya Gazeta said in a statement yesterday that two of its leading journalists received anonymous death threats on November 24. Deputy Editor Sergei Sokolov told the independent radio…
In Niger, three journalists are released from jail
New York, November 27, 2006—Niger’s highest court, the Supreme Court of Appeals in Niamey, today ordered the provisional release of two journalists serving prison sentences for an article criticizing the prime minister. Director Maman Abou and editor Oumarou Keita of the private weekly Le Républicain were freed pending the court’s decision on the merits of…