A year after editor’s murder in Baku, case appears to grow cold
New York, March 1, 2006—One year after the founder and editor of the opposition weekly Monitor was slain in the entrance of his apartment building in Baku, Azerbaijan, no suspects are in custody and many colleagues and relatives believe the government’s investigation is on the wrong track. The Committee to Protect Journalists called today for…
‘Secret’ presidential meeting lands Kenyan journalists in custody
New York, February 28, 2006—Police detained three journalists with the independent East African Standard for questioning today in connection with a story of political intrigue that ran in Saturday’s edition, the paper’s chief executive officer, Tom Mshindi, told the Committee to Protect Journalists. The weekend edition’s managing director, Chaacha Mwita, sub-editor Dennis Onyango, and reporter…
Burma: Government agents threaten journalist
New York, February 28, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns harassment and death threats by Burmese security officials against Maung Maung Kyaw Win, a senior reporter and editor at the Burmese-language Myanmar Dana economics magazine. The threats have prompted the journalist to flee the country, and he is now seeking political asylum. Maung Maung Kyaw…
Computer, phone taken, bloody print left in Moscow slaying
New York, February 28, 2006—A laptop computer and cell phone were stolen from the Moscow apartment of slain NTV correspondent Ilya Zimin, and a bloody fingerprint belonging to someone other than the victim was found on a light switch, local news outlets reported today. Authorities continued to say that the weekend killing was probably not…
Uzbek reporter freed after serving term for ‘insulting’ officer
New York, February 28, 2006—Nosir Zokirov, a correspondent for the Uzbek service of the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), was released from prison on Sunday after serving a six-month sentence for insulting a security officer, the broadcaster reported. Zokirov, 55, a veteran RFE/RL correspondent in the eastern city of Namangan, was detained, tried…
Tunisian journalist freed after 15 years; another still held
New York, February 27, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes Sunday’s release of Tunisian journalist Hamadi Jebali but calls again for Tunisian authorities to release writer and human rights lawyer Mohamed Abbou, who has been jailed solely for expressing his views. Jebali, the longest-serving imprisoned journalist in the Arab world, was among 1,600 of prisoners…
Newspaper suspended, journalists barred from working
New York, February 27, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is troubled by the National Communications Council’s decision last Wednesday to suspend the private bimonthly Les Echos for two months and ban two of the newspaper’s journalists from working during that time. The decision by the government-controlled council cited “the publication of false news and an…
China: CPJ calls for release of journalist Li Yuanlong
New York, February 27, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists called on China today to release Li Yuanlong, a reporter with the daily Bijie Ribao, who was charged with “inciting subversion of state authority” for articles he posted online. Li was charged on February 9 but news of the indictment has only recently emerged. “Chinese authorities…
NTV reporter found murdered in Moscow apartment
New York, February 27, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists today called for a thorough investigation into the killing of Ilya Zimin, a 33-year-old correspondent for the national television station NTV, who was found murdered in his Moscow apartment. Several of Zimin’s colleagues from NTV—which is owned by the state oil giant Gazprom—went to his apartment…
CPJ condemns ongoing harassment of independent journalists
New York, February 24, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Cuban authorities for continuing to harass independent journalists and failing to provide adequate medical treatment for those in prison. Independent journalist Jorge Olivera Castillo, who was released from jail in December 2004 on medical parole, was ordered by a Havana municipal court on February 21…