CPJ urges government to find kidnapped journalist quickly
New York, December 5, 2005 —The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the Pakistani authorities to act with the utmost speed to find journalist Hayat Ullah Khan, who was kidnapped today by unidentified gunmen in the North Waziristan tribal region bordering Afghanistan, where authorities say a top Al-Qaeda leader was killed last week. Five men…
Cuban government detains two foreign journalists
New York, December 2, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Thursday’s detention of two foreign journalists who were reportedly interviewing opposition activists in Cuba’s central Sancti Spíritus province. The government was expected to expel the two journalists. Police detained Polish journalist Anna Bikont, who works for the leading Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza, and Swiss journalist…
Journalists covering elections harassed and attacked
New York, December 2, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the assault and harassment by Egyptian authorities of journalists covering parliamentary elections. CPJ sources and press reports confirm over a dozen cases in which journalists have been attacked, detained, or prevented from working since the first round of voting in the three-round election began on…
Philippine journalist gunned down in Cebu market
New York, December 2, 2005—An unidentified gunman killed radio and newspaper journalist George Benaojan in the central city of Cebu on Thursday night before fleeing in a taxi. Benaojan, 27, died at a local hospital around midnight, according to international news reports. Benaojan was talking to a man in a market when the gunman approached…
Three journalists among those injured in bomb attack
New York, December 1, 2005 – Three journalists were among at least 29 people injured today in a bombing near a court building north of the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, international news organizations reported. At least one person was killed in the blast in the town of Gazipur which targeted lawyers protesting twin suicide bombings against…
CPJ calls for release of 24 others still unjustly imprisoned
New York, December 1, 2005—Mario Enrique Mayo Hernández, an imprisoned Cuban journalist who wounded himself and waged repeated hunger strikes to call attention to his plight, was released on medical parole today, more than two and half years after he was jailed in the government’s massive March 2003 crackdown on the independent press.
Journalist imprisoned for report on alleged arms dealing
New York, December 1, 2005—A Somali reporter has been jailed since Monday following his recent online story claiming that a faction known as the Jubba Valley Alliance has been importing arms in violation of the 2004 peace agreement and a United Nations arms embargo, the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) reported. The faction, which…
Authorities crack down on opposition papers
New York, December 1, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the legal harassment of opposition and independent newspapers over the past month by the Yemeni authorities, including the closure of one newspaper and a barrage of defamation lawsuits against others. The legal actions come amid a broader government crackdown on the media. Several…
Radio director freed but faces expulsion from country
New York, November 30, 2005—Chadian authorities freed community radio director Tchanguis Vatankah on Tuesday after improperly holding the journalist in detention for more than two months. Vatankah, whose station is known for critical reporting and commentary, still faces a government expulsion order and has been ordered not to speak to the press, according to Evariste…
Supreme Court provisionally allows radio news back on the air
New York, November 30, 2005— The Committee to Protect Journalists applauds a decision today by Nepal’s Supreme Court to provisionally lift a government ban on the broadcasting of FM radio news. Independent radio stations such as Kantipur FM and Radio Sagarmatha resumed news bulletins after the interim ruling, local reporters said. “This is an important…