Editor of women’s rights magazine arrested
New York, October 3, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by reports that police arrested the editor of a women’s rights’ magazine in Kabul on Saturday after local religious leaders accused him of publishing anti-Islamic articles. The High Court ordered the arrest of Ali Mohaqiq Nasab, editor of the monthly Haqooq-i-Zan (Women’s Rights), after…
CPJ voices concerns in meeting with Chad ambassador
Washington, October 3, 2005—After meeting today with a delegation from the Committee to Protect Journalists, a top Chadian diplomat promised to convey concerns over press freedom violations in Chad to his country’s president, Idriss Déby. In a session with Mahamoud Adam Bechir, Chad’s ambassador to the United States, CPJ representatives called on Chadian authorities to…
In China, a popular Web forum is shuttered
New York, October 3, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the shuttering of the Beijing-based Yannan bulletin board system. Radio Free Asia reported today that the popular Web forum was closed after providing coverage and debate on a turbulent recall campaign in a village in Guangdong province. Yannan posted a September 30 announcement stating that…
Three radio stations shuttered by religious leader
New York, October 3, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is troubled by the forced closure on Friday of three radio stations in the Muslim holy city of Touba, center of the Senegalese Muslim community known as the mourides. In a recorded statement broadcast by local radio stations, chief caliph Serigne Saliou Mbacké ordered all three…
Imprisoned journalist’s health said to deteriorate
New York, September 30, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is very concerned about the health of imprisoned Tunisian journalist Hamadi Jebali, who is in the 16th day of a hunger strike protesting 14 years of unjust imprisonment. The journalist did not feel well enough to leave his cell when his wife, Wahida Jebali, went to…
Release a relief, but CPJ troubled by U.S. message in Miller case
New York, September 30, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is relieved that New York Times reporter Judith Miller has been freed after spending 85 days in a U.S. prison for refusing to disclose a confidential source. But CPJ is deeply troubled by the long-term damage that the federal prosecutor’s investigation has had on the free…
U.S. military to address concerns for safety of Iraqi journalists
New York, September 29, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomed today a request by U.S. Senator John Warner, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, for the Pentagon to address concerns about the safety of journalists in Iraq. Warner raised the issue at a hearing in Washington with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and senior commanders.…
Jail for reporting on corruption in famine aid distribution
New York, September 29, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the jail sentence given to a magazine journalist who reported on alleged corruption in the distribution of food aid during this year’s famine in Niger. On Tuesday, a court in the northern town of Agadez convicted Abdoulaye Harouna, publication director of the monthly Echos…
Journalist released after serving criminal libel sentence
New York, September 28, 2005 – Eduard Abrosimov was released from prison two weeks early on Wednesday after a court in the southern Russian city of Saratov upheld his criminal libel conviction and reduced his sentence from seven months to time served. Abrosimov, a journalist and adviser to former regional governor Dmitry Ayatskov, was convicted…
Newspaper suspended after exposing mining accident cover-up
New York, September 27, 2005— The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the suspension of a Chinese daily for reporting in August on the cover-up of a coal mining accident in the central city of Ruzhou. Henan Shang Bao (Henan Business News) was suspended for a month from September 17 for “inaccurate reporting” on orders…