Philippines: CPJ calls for release of abducted radio journalist
New York, March 6, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists called on the Philippine authorities today to work for the release of kidnapped radio commentator Joey Estriber. Four unidentified men seized Estriber on March 3 in Baler, the capital of Aurora province, 125 miles (200 kilometers) northeast of Manila, local media reported. Estriber cried out for…
Belarusian police seize paper’s election edition
New York, March 6, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned escalating media repression in Belarus ahead of March 19 presidential elections. Iosef Serdiyevich, editor-in-chief of the opposition newspaper Narodnaya Volya, announced at a press conference today that police officers had confiscated 250,000 copies of a special election edition of the newspaper, according to local…
Journalist convicted on defamation charges
New York, March 3, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Tuesday’s criminal defamation conviction of Mexican journalist Isabel Arvide for a 2001 article alleging links between state officials and organized crime. Judge Octavio Rodríguez Gaytán, of the Second Penal Court in the state of Chihuahua, sentenced Arvide to one year in prison and ordered her…
Bangladesh: CPJ disturbed by journalist’s sedition trial
New York, March 3, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply troubled by sedition charges pending against Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, editor of the tabloid weekly Blitz. Choudhury, who spent 17 months in jail before his release on bail in May 2005, is due to be tried in a Dhaka court next week. Choudhury told…
Vietnam:Government harasses Internet writers
New York, March 3, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Vietnamese authorities’ recent harassment of two well-known Internet writers, Nguyen Khac Toan and Do Nam Hai. Plainclothes officers on Wednesday detained the two writers at a public Internet café and took pictures of the sites they were viewing, which included the banned Web site…
Newspaper reporter flees after death threat
New York, March 2, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by death threats against a reporter for the Colombian newspaper Vanguardia Liberal which says it is also the target of government surveillance. Jenny Manrique said she fled the city of Bucaramanga, in the western province of Santander, in January after receiving death threats for…
Lebanese journalists face charges of defaming president
New York, March 2, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by criminal charges filed against the daily Lebanese newspaper Al-Mustaqbal, its editor-in-chief, and a staff reporter for defaming President Emile Lahoud. The charges were brought by Beirut prosecutor Joseph Me’mari on Tuesday, four days after Al-Mustaqbal published an interview with former Lebanese ambassador to…
Editor imprisoned for criminal libel, insult
New York, March 2, 2006—A judge in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, has convicted Boyuk Millat Editor-in-Chief Samir Adygozalov of criminal libel and insult and sentenced him to one year in prison, according to local press reports. Adygozalov was immediately taken into custody after the verdict was read in Nizami District Court on February 23. The…
Police beat journalists covering police assault of opposition candidate
New York, March 2, 2006—Police today turned on journalists in Belarus trying to cover an attack by plainclothes police officers on an opposition candidate in March 19 presidential elections. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the assault. Aleksandr Kozulin, one of three candidates challenging president Aleksandr Lukashenko, was beaten and detained by police in the…
Newspaper reporter flees after death threat
TEMPLATE New York, March 2, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by death threats against a reporter for the Colombian newspaper Vanguardia Liberal which says it is also the target of government surveillance. Jenny Manrique said she fled the city of Bucaramanga, in the western province of Santander, in January after receiving death threats…