New York, August 12, 2005—The trial of a journalist accused of working without accreditation for the banned Daily News opened yesterday in a Harare court, according to his lawyer and the Media Institute for Southern Africa (MISA). Kelvin Jakachira faces up to two years in prison in what is seen as a test case for…
New York, August 11, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed its dismay today that an Egyptian editor is still missing two years after his disappearance in central Cairo. CPJ urgently called on Egypt’s government to locate Reda Helal, deputy editor for the semi-official daily Al-Ahram. Colleagues said Helal left Al-Ahram’s Cairo offices early the afternoon…
New York, August 11, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes a Nepalese judge’s decision on Wednesday to block a government order that could have shut Nepal FM 91.8. Authorities have sought to close the station for defying a government ban on broadcasting news. Buoyed by the preliminary court ruling, several FM stations in Nepal have…
Bangkok, Thailand, August 11, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned about the Thai government’s escalating harassment and intimidation of the media. Police on Tuesday raided and shut down FM 92.25, a Bangkok community radio station known for its critical reporting of the prime minister, and threatened to arrest its journalists if they continued…
New York, August 11, 2005—Ugandan authorities shut a prominent independent radio station today after it aired a talk show about the July helicopter crash that killed southern Sudanese leader John Garang, according to local sources. The suspension came a day after President Yoweri Museveni threatened to shut down any news outlet that “plays around with…
New York, August 10, 2005—Gabon’s media regulatory council has indefinitely suspended the independent bimonthly newspaper Nku’u Le Messager over an editorial it says insulted the council, according to local news reports and the publication director. In a statement issued Tuesday, the council said the suspension would be lifted only if the newspaper changed its editorial…
New York, August 10, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Taiwanese government’s recent actions against the cable television news station ETTV-S. The government halted the station’s broadcasts and revoked its license last week, citing “irresponsible” reporting. The Government Information Office, the official agency tasked with monitoring the media, accused the station of abusing broadcast…
New York, August 9, 2005—A radio reporter jailed for five days in Jowhar was released without charge on Sunday, but was expelled from the town and told not to come back, according to the journalist and local sources. Abdullahi Kulmiye Adow, a reporter for the Mogadishu-based independent radio station HornAfrik, had been detained since August…
New York, August 8, 2005—A Polish photojournalist was expelled from Belarus on Saturday and banned from the country for five years. The Committee to Protect Journalists said today it is disturbed by the expulsion of Adam Tuchlinksi, 25, of the weekly news magazine Przekroj. Belarusian security agents detained Tuchlinksi as he was about to board…
New York, August 8, 2005—Michaël Didama, director of the private weekly Le Temps, was convicted on charges of defamation and incitement to hatred today and sentenced to six months in jail in connection with articles describing rebel groups in eastern Chad, according to local sources. The charges stemmed from May articles in Le Temps, one…