Authorities close prominent critical daily and a monthly
New York, September 11, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalist condemns the closure of Iran’s most prominent critical newspaper today for failing to remove an executive accused of publishing blasphemous articles and insulting officials. Authorities shuttered the daily Sharq saying it had not replaced managing director, Mohammad Rahmanian, as ordered in a letter on August 10,…
Design editor of state-run paper murdered
New York, September 11, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the murder of an editor of Iraq’s state-run daily Al-Sabah. Abdel Karim al-Rubai, 40, a design editor for the newspaper, was shot Saturday morning while traveling to work in the eastern Baghdad neighborhood known as Camp Sara by several gunmen. The driver of the car…
ICU authorities censor radio station, detain journalist
New York, September 11, 2006—Islamist authorities detained a journalist for two days and shut an independent radio station for a similar period in separate incidents this weekend, according to news reports and the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ). In Beledweyne, a western town controlled by the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), authorities jailed journalist Osman…
China: Government restricts foreign news distribution
New York, September 11, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by China’s announcement Sunday that the state-controlled Xinhua News Agency would oversee the distribution of foreign news and information within China, and would censor all news stories, photographs and other information deemed offensive under several broad categories.
Armenian opposition editor sentenced to four years in prison
New York, September 11, 2006—A district court judge in Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, sentenced Arman Babadzhanian, editor of the opposition newspaper Zhamanak Yerevan, to four years in prison on Friday for dodging military service in 2002 by presenting false documents to avoid the obligatory two-year draft, according to local press reports.
Interior Ministry searches television station, arrests employee
New York, September 11, 2006—Interior Ministry officials arrested an employee and searched the premises of an independent television station in Moldova’s capital, Chisinau, while investigating accusations of bribe-soliciting last week, according to press reports and CPJ interviews. Ghenadie Braghis, sales director at the Chisinau branch of the Romanian television station Pro-TV, was arrested on Thursday…
In Sudan, jailed U.S. reporter to be freed
New York, September 8, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the promised release of a U.S. reporter imprisoned in Sudan since August 6 on espionage charges. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir agreed today to release Paul Salopek, a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for the Chicago Tribune, Chadian interpreter Suleiman Abakar Moussa, driver Idriss Abdelrahman Anu on…
Sri Lanka: Tamil newspaper pleads for protection from attacks
New York, September 8, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Sri Lankan authorities to fulfill their duty to protect the staff of the pro-Tamil Jaffna newspaper Uthayan, which was threatened and coerced on Thursday. The incident was the latest in a series of attacks and acts of intimidation against the newspaper. E. Saravanapavan, Uthayan’s…
Lithuanian security agents seize all copies of newspaper
New York, September 8, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists deplores Lithuanian security agents’ seizure of all 15,000 copies of the semimonthly Laisvas Laikrastis (Free Newspaper), which was due out today with a story about alleged political corruption. Government agents, who said the story contained classified information, also briefly detained Editor Aurimas Drizius on Thursday. About…
Government suspends Al-Arabiya TV over sectarian violence claim
New York, September 7, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the decision of the Iraqi government today to close the Baghdad bureau of the Dubai-based satellite channel Al-Arabiya for one month. The station reported that police entered its Baghdad offices to halt operations after the cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered the suspension.