TV reporter killed covering mudslides
New York, April 17, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists mourns the death of television reporter Jairo Muñoz who was covering mudslides that killed nearly 30 people last week on Colombia’s southwest Pacific coast. Muñoz and cameraman Rodrigo Trejos were among many journalists reporting on rescue efforts on April 13 in the hard-hit town of Santa…
Journalist shot two weeks ago in Diyarbakir riots dies
New York, April 17, 2006—Journalist Ilyas Aktas died on April 14 in an Ankara hospital two weeks after he was shot in the head during protests in the predominantly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, in southeast Turkey, local and international media reported. The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply troubled by the shooting and is still…
Protests against Kremlin control of broadcast media
New York, April 17, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed solidarity today with the more than 1000 Russian journalists and activists who protested the Kremlin’s control of television news reporting. The demonstrators rallied in downtown Moscow Sunday to mark the fifth anniversary of the hostile takeover by state gas monopoly Gazprom of the leading independent…
As strikes continue in Nepal, attacks on journalists reported
New York, April 14, 2006—Thirteen journalists were arrested today in Baglung, west of Kathmandu, while protesting against media restrictions during the seventh day of a nationwide strike, the Federation of Nepalese Journalists reported. Others detained during the past week, including veteran journalist Kanak Mani Dixit, remain in police custody.
Prosecutor files criminal libel charges against editor
New York, April 14, 2006—Prosecutors in the western city of Kaliningrad have filed criminal libel charges against Arseny Makhlov, publisher of the weekly Dvornik, the Moscow-based news agency Regnum reported today. The charges relate to three articles in Dvornik during 2004 and 2005 which criticized a local prosecutor for accepting money to close a fraud…
Death threats force Peruvian journalist to flee the country
New York, April 13, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by death threats made against Peruvian journalist Marilú Gambini Lostanau and her family after she reported on the influence of drug traffickers in Peruvian politics. The threats forced the journalist and two of her children to leave the country last week. An unidentified woman…
Chadian radio journalist seized by rebels
New York, April 12, 2006—Rebel fighters abducted a journalist on Tuesday when they seized the central Chadian town of Mongo, the head of the Union of Chadian Journalists, Evariste Toldé, told the Committee to Protect Journalists today. Eliakim Vanambyl, editor at the N’Djamena-based radio station FM Liberté, had traveled to Mongo to report on a…
Third journalist from leading newspaper arrested
New York, April 12, 2006—A third journalist from The Independent, a leading Gambian newspaper, was arrested at his home this afternoon, according to his colleagues. Reporter Lamin Fatty’s arrest follows that of Editor Musa Saidykhan and General Manager Madi Ceesay, who have been detained without charge since March 28. Fatty was the author of a…
China: Writer Li Jianping tried for online pro-democracy articles
New York, April 12, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is outraged by the prosecution of Internet writer Li Jianping on charges of “inciting subversion” for articles criticizing Communist Party leaders and Chinese government actions. Li was tried today in a proceeding that lasted less than three hours, according to Agence France-Presse. “How can China, one…
Charges dropped against 4 of 5 columnists
New York, April 11, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes a Turkish court ruling today to drop charges against four prominent newspaper columnists but deplores the decision to continue with the trial of a fifth. All five writers were charged over comments they made about an Istanbul conference last September on the killing of Armenians…