Iraqi journalist reportedly abducted
New York, February 22, 2005—Two Indonesian journalists and their driver, who were abducted by gunmen last week west of Baghdad, were released yesterday, according to international press reports. According to The Associated Press (AP), reporter Meutya Viada Hafid and cameraman Budiyanto, who work for Indonesia’s 24-hour news channel Metro TV, and their driver, Ibrahim Abdel…
Interior Ministry says journalist will not be deported
New York, February 22, 2005—The Interior Ministry in North Ossetia says a journalist recently ordered deported by the Federal Security Service may instead stay in Russia and reapply for citizenship, according to local press reports. But the apparent shift does not lift any of the restrictions that have prevented Yuri Bagrov—who has covered the North…
Gunmen seize Indonesian TV journalists
New York, February 18, 2005—Two Indonesian television journalists and their driver were seized by Iraqi gunmen in the city of Ramadi this week, an Indonesian government spokesman told reporters today. Reporter Meutya Hafid and a cameraman identified as Budiyanto, who work for Indonesia’s 24-hour news channel Metro TV, went missing on Tuesday while driving from…
Security forces arrest prominent editor
New York, February 17, 2005—Guinean security forces arrested the editor of one of the nation’s leading private weeklies at his home in the capital, Conakry, on Wednesday night. Authorities did not disclose charges against Mohamed Lamine Diallo, known by his pen name Benn Pépito, but local journalists believe the arrest could be linked to his…
Captors release video of kidnapped Italian journalist
New York, February 16, 2005—The kidnappers holding Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena have released a video showing her pleading for her life and calling on U.S. and coalition troops to leave Iraq, The Associated Press (AP) has reported. On February 4, gunmen seized Sgrena, a reporter for the Rome-based Italian daily Il Manifesto, near Baghdad University,…
Journalist’s deportation delayed
New York, February 16, 2005—A journalist ordered deported by the Russian security service was allowed to stay in Russia temporarily because officials in the passport office told him they could find no legal basis to expel him. Yuri Bagrov, who has covered the North Caucasus for The Associated Press and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL),…
CPJ concerned about journalist’s pending deportation
New York, February 15, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is disturbed that the Russian government is planning to deport Yuri Bagrov, a journalist who has covered the North Caucasus for The Associated Press and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, in retaliation for his independent reporting on the war in the southern Russian republic of Chechnya. An…
Provincial journalist shot dead
New York, February 15, 2005—Unidentified gunmen shot and killed Pongkiat Saetang, editor of the bimonthly newspaper Had Yai Post, near a market in Had Yai, in southern Thailand’s Songkhla Province yesterday. The Committee to Protect Journalists is investigating to determine whether he was killed for his journalistic work. Two assailants shot Pongkiat twice in the…
must reveal sources in CIA leak case
New York, February 15, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed that a federal appeals court has ruled that two journalists can be jailed for not revealing their confidential sources. A panel of three judges for the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., ruled today that Time magazine, Time White House correspondent Matthew Cooper,…
CPJ concerned about harassment of international correspondents
New York, February 15, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned that Zimbabwean police repeatedly visited the offices of three senior freelance reporters for international publications on Monday and Tuesday. Officials first said they were investigating espionage allegations against the journalists. Then they claimed they were looking into the reporters’ accreditation. Finally, the officers said…