Journalist attacked
New York, February 11, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the brutal assault on Iqbal Hasan, the local correspondent of the daily Janakantha. On Monday, February 9, armed supporters of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) attacked the journalist in the northwestern city of Natore. Hasan, 48, was called out of his house that…
Journalist murdered outside TV stations facilities
New York, February 11, 2004—Nicaraguan journalist Carlos José Guadamuz was shot dead yesterday in Nicaragua’s capital, Managua, as he was arriving to work. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) continues to investigate whether his murder is related to his journalistic work. According to local news reports, the journalist’s murder took place at around 1 p.m.…
RADIO JOURNALIST SHOT DEAD
New York, February 11, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the murder of journalist Ruel Endrinal, a commentator on radio station DZRC in Legazpi City, Albay Province in the eastern Philippines. At about 6:20 a.m. today, two unidentified gunmen shot Endrinal as he was leaving his house for the radio station. The local police…
Daily News stops publishing
New York, February 6, 2004—The Daily News, Zimbabwe’s only independent daily, decided not to publish its Friday edition following a Thursday, February 5, Supreme Court ruling upholding legislation that criminalizes the publication of unlicensed newspapers. According to international news reports, the directors of the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ), the company that owns the Daily…
TV journalist murdered
Bogotá, February 5, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is investigating the murder of Oscar Alberto Polanco Herrera, a television journalist who was shot dead yesterday, February 4, in the town of Cartago, Valle del Cauca Department, 125 miles (200 kilometers) southwest of the capital, Bogotá. Authorities said that Polanco Herrera, director of the local…
CPJ condemns attacks on Palestinian media outlets
New York, February 5, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) deplores recent violent attacks on private Palestinian media outlets in the West Bank and Gaza Strip by armed gunmen. At around 4:00 a.m. on Monday, February 2, three masked Palestinian men carrying automatic rifles stormed the offices of the Ramallah-based Al-Quds Educational Television, according to…
SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS MEDIA LEGISLATION
New York, February 5, 2004—Zimbabwe’s Supreme Court today upheld legislation that allows the government to decide who can be a journalist and criminalizes the practice of the profession by those who are not approved by the government. “This is a heavy blow to press freedom in Zimbabwe and sends a chilling message to the country’s…
TV host attacked and tortured
New York, February 4, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) strongly condemns the recent violent attack against Colombian journalist and human rights activist Inés Peña, who was assaulted and tortured in the city of Barrancabermeja, Santander Department, last week. On January 28 at around 3 p.m., two armed men abducted the journalist while she was…
Governing council penalizes Al-Jazeera
New York, February 2, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council’s (IGC) decision to bar the Qatar-based satellite broadcaster Al-Jazeera from covering official IGC activities in Iraq. Al-Jazeera’s Baghdad bureau chief, Majid Khader, told CPJ that he was informed on January 29 via e-mail that Al-Jazeera’s staff was barred from…
EXPLOSION ROCKS HOME OF JOURNALIST
New York, February 2, 2004—An explosion at about 2 p.m. today shook the downtown Moscow apartment of Yelena Tregubova, an independent journalist who recently published a controversial best-selling book criticizing the Kremlin. A package was left outside the door to Tregubova’s apartment and exploded as she was leaving to meet a friend.