In Egypt, journalists under fire as protests continue
New York, May 25, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by attacks on the Egyptian press related to coverage of alleged election fraud and protests over judicial independence. The Egyptian state security prosecutor brought criminal charges on Wednesday against three journalists who alleged fraud in last year’s parliamentary elections. Security and police officers…
Critical Web sites inaccessible in Ethiopia
New York, May 24, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by reports that Web sites critical of the government have been inaccessible in Ethiopia since late last week. Several blogs have reported that the authorities are blocking sites, although the information minister denied this. An Ethiopian blogger who goes by the alias Ethio-Zagol reported…
Hackers obtain journalists’ e-mail exchanges with sources
New York, May 23, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by reports that unidentified hackers have broken into the e-mail accounts of several prominent journalists and distributed their private conversations with sources, including public officials, to the reporters’ contacts. On May 11, Daniel Santoro, a senior investigative reporter with Argentina’s largest daily Clarín, reported…
State paper closed, editor and cartoonist charged
New York, May 23, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by the closure today of an Iranian state newspaper, and the arrest of its editor-in-chief and a cartoonist who published a cartoon that sparked riots by ethnic Azeris in the northwestern city of Tabriz. Tehran’s chief prosecutor, Saeed Mortazavi, ordered the arrest of Mehrdad…
Attacks on the press rise in run-up to elections
New York, May 23, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed at a spate of attacks on the press in the run-up to the July 30 elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo. On Monday, armed assailants smashed and looted equipment at Kinshasa-based broadcaster Radiotélévision Message de Vie (RTMV), forcing it off the air for…
Story satirizing Putin’s birth goal prompts government retaliation
New York, May 23, 2006—The Ivanovo regional prosecutor’s office in central Russia has opened a criminal libel investigation against Vladimir Rakhmankov, editor-in-chief of the news Web site Kursiv, for allegedly insulting President Vladimir Putin, according to Russian press reports. On Thursday, Kursiv published an article headlined, “Putin as Russia’s phallic symbol,” in which Rakhmankov satirized…
Four journalists held during indigenous protest released
New York, May 22, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of four Colombian journalists who were detained on May 17 while covering indigenous protests against a free trade pact with the United States in Cauca province. Two days after the arrest, police released Richard Calpa, director of the radio station La Libertad in…
Philippines: Radio journalist killed after receiving threat
New York, May 22, 2006— The Committee to Protect Journalists called on the Philippines government to investigate the shooting death Monday of provincial radio journalist and commentator Fernando Batul. Two gunmen on motorcycles shot Batul six times as he drove to work at radio station DZRH in Puerto Princessa on Palawan Island, media reported.
Opposition editor abducted, brutally beaten
New York, May 22, 2006–Five unidentified men abducted and severely beat Bakhaddin Khaziyev, editor-in-chief of the Baku-based opposition newspaper Bizim Yol, early Friday morning, according to local and international press reports. Khaziyev was hospitalized in serious condition with multiple fractures and bruises. Khaziyev, who is also deputy chairman of the opposition People’s Front of Azerbaijan,…
Newspaper attacked in the wake of crime wave
New York, May 19, 2006 The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns an arson attack on the Brazilian newspaper Imprensa Livre in São Sebastião, which had covered nearly a week of fighting between criminal gangs and police in the nearby city of São Paulo, according to national and international press reports.