In Malawi, private radio stations censored over political coverage
New York, April 13, 2007—Live radio broadcasts of opposition rallies in the lead-up to presidential polls in 2009 led state regulators in the commercial city of Blantyre this week to bar all private radio stations in Malawi from airing live broadcasts without permission, according to local journalists and media reports. Officials accused unnamed stations of…
TV talk show hosts get two-year jail sentences for defamation
New York, April 13, 2007—The prison terms handed down to two Bangkok talk show hosts emphasizes the need to decriminalize defamation, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Bangkok’s Southern Criminal Court made the ruling on Thursday in relation to allegations television political commentators Samak Sundaravej and Dusit Siriwan made during their talk shows on…
Appeals court upholds criminal libel sentence of two journalists
New York, April 13, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a Baku Appeals Court decision today to uphold the convictions of two journalists with the independent weekly Nota Bene on charges of defaming Interior Minister Ramil Usubov in a series of articles that described corruption and infighting in the agency. The court let stand a…
Russian journalist found dead hours after broadcast on prior attack
New York, April 13, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Russian authorities to fully investigate the death of Vyacheslav Ifanov, a cameraman for the independent Novoye Televideniye Aleiska (NTA), in the Siberian city of Aleisk. Prosecutors have classified Ifanov’s death as suicide by gas poisoning, but relatives and colleagues suspect foul play.
In Gaza, CPJ appeals for BBC correspondent’s immediate release
New York, April 12, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists joins today’s international actions appealing for the immediate release of BBC correspondent Alan Johnston, who was abducted in the Gaza Strip one month ago. “It is deeply troubling that a month after the kidnapping of our colleague Alan Johnston his abductors remain silent,” CPJ Executive Director…
In Uzbekistan, third charge brought against imprisoned journalist Umida Niyazova
New York, April 12, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by a third charge against a Tashkent-based independent journalist and human rights researcher, who has been imprisoned since January 22. Umida Niyazova, 32, covered politics and human rights in Uzbekistan for the Central Asia news Web site Oasis, a project of the Moscow-based media…
In Mexico, two men arrested in connection with journalist’s murder
New York, April 11, 2007—Mexican authorities detained two men in connection with last week’s murder of veteran broadcast journalist Amado Ramírez Dillanes in Acapulco. Leonel Bustos Muñoz and Genaro Vásquez Durán were arrested Tuesday in Acapulco, 198 miles (320 kilometers) from Mexico City. According to an official statement, when federal police stopped Bustos and Vásquez…
Somali government detains three TV journalists
New York, April 11, 2007— Three journalists of Somali-language international broadcaster Universal Television were arrested in the capital Mogadishu in connection with questions they asked during a presidential interview, according to local journalists. On Sunday, director Abdulkader Ashir Nadara, reporter Bashir Dirie Naleye, and cameraman Hamud Mohammed Osman of the London-based satellite network were exclusively…
Iraqi AP photojournalist held by U.S. without charge for a year
New York, April 10, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the United States to release Bilal Hussein, an Iraqi photojournalist for The Associated Press, who has been held in a U.S. prison in Iraq for a year without charge. Hussein, a Pulitzer Prize winner, was taken by U.S. forces on April 12 in the…
In Cameroon, a tabloid director faces criminal charges
New York, April 10, 2007—Prosecutors in the Cameroonian capital, Yaoundé, today lodged criminal charges against the director of a private tabloid who has been detained by police since Saturday in connection with a story about an alleged sex scandal, according to local sources and press freedom group Journaliste En Danger. Georges Gilbert Baongla of the…