CPJ protests 30-year jail term for Kurdish writer on defamation conviction
New York, January 11, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on the authorities in Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region to overturn the conviction and 30-year prison sentence handed down to Kurdish writer Kamal Karim for defamation. Karim, whose name is also given as Kamal Sayid Qadir, was convicted by a state security court in the…
India: Journalist killed in Assam after writing about corruption
New York, January 10, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in India’s northeastern state of Assam to fully investigate the death of Prahlad Goala, who was apparently murdered on January 6. Goala had recently written a series of articles on corruption in the Assamese-language daily Asomiya Khabar that linked local forestry service officials…
Police seize second print run this month of opposition daily
New York, January 10, 2006—Police have seized the entire print run of Belarus’ largest opposition daily for the second time this month, the paper said today. Narodnaya Volya (People’s Will), which has been harassed by authorities for criticizing President Aleksandr Lukashenko, lost all 30,000 copies on January 9. The paper has been forced to print…
In Klebnikov case, opening hearing held in closed court
New York, January 10, 2006—Three ethnic Chechens charged in connection with the July 2004 murder of Forbes Russia Editor Paul Klebnikov went on trial today in a Moscow court that was closed to the public, according to local and international press reports. Kazbek Dukuzov and Musa Vakhayev are charged with killing Klebnikov, an American journalist…
Military investigating newspaper over CIA prison story
New York, January 10, 2006—Swiss Defense Minister Samuel Schmid has instructed military officials to open a criminal inquiry after a Zurich-based weekly SonntagsBlick published a confidential document about purported CIA prisons in Eastern Europe, according to international press reports. Defense Ministry spokesman Jean-Blaise Defago said on Monday that Schmid “ordered an investigation into how this…
CPJ appeals for release of freelance journalist seized in Iraq
New York, January 9, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the abduction of U.S. reporter Jill Carroll in Baghdad, and the murder of her Iraqi interpreter. Carroll, a freelancer on assignment in Iraq for the Christian Science Monitor, was seized on January 7 by unidentified gunmen in the Adil neighborhood of western Baghdad…
Harassed newspaper director loses criminal defamation appeal
New York, January 6, 2006 The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by a decision by the Paraguayan Supreme Court of Justice to uphold the criminal defamation conviction of Aldo Zuccolillo, director of the Paraguayan daily ABC Color. The Court ordered Zuccolillo on December 28, 2005 to pay a fine of 1.3 billion guaraníes…
China: CPJ condemns censorship of blogger
New York, January 6, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Chinese authorities for censoring well-known blogger Zhao Jing, and is alarmed by Microsoft’s agreement to pull down his site. Zhao, whose online pen name is An Ti, lost his site on the U.S. company’s hosting service MSN Spaces on December 30 after he wrote…
Pakistan: Authorities fail to answer questions about abducted journalist
New York, January 6, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply alarmed by the failure of the Pakistani authorities to respond to inquiries about the fate of journalist Hayatullah Khan more than a month after he was seized by unidentified gunmen in the North Waziristan tribal region bordering Afghanistan. Family and colleagues have had no…
Cambodia: Journalist and rights activist Pa Guon Tieng arrested
New York, January 5, 2006 – The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the arrest on criminal defamation charges of Cambodian journalist and human rights activist Pa Guon Tieng. Border police arrested Pa and two of his associates on January 4 while they were reporting in northeastern Stung Treng province, the Cambodia Center for Human Rights…