Government suspends ads in private media; three journalists detained
New York, April 8, 2005 – The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Nepalese government’s abrupt decision to stop publishing all ads in private media—an action that CPJ interprets as an attempt to stifle critical coverage. According to a copy of a government memo reproduced on April 6 in the weekly Jana Aastha, the new…
TV reporter granted early release from home confinement
New York, April 8, 2005—The Rhode Island television reporter convicted of criminal contempt for refusing to reveal a confidential source was granted early release from his home-confinement sentence this week. Jim Taricani, an investigative reporter with NBC-owned WJAR-TV in Providence, R.I., is expected to be released tomorrow after U.S. District Court Judge Ernest Torres found…
CPJ urges vigorous investigation into the death of a reporter
New York, April 7, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists today urged Haitian and United Nations authorities to conduct a vigorous investigation into the shooting of a Haitian reporter who died this week from injuries suffered while observing a clash between UN troops and members of the disbanded Haitian military in the city of Petit-Goâve. Robenson…
In Mosul, Iraqi freelancer wounded by U.S. fire
New York, April 6, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by an incident yesterday in which an Iraqi freelance journalist working for CBS News was wounded by U.S. fire in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. Troops from the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, mistook the journalist’s camera for a weapon, the U.S.-led…
Al-Arabiya cameraman detained for more than a week
New York, April 6, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists said today that it is alarmed by the more than weeklong detention in Iraq of a journalist working for the Dubai-based satellite news channel Al-Arabiya. Iraqi forces detained Wael Issam, a Palestinian cameraman on assignment for the station, at Baghdad International Airport on March 28, according…
CPJ condemns shooting of border journalist
New York, April 6, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the vicious attack on a Mexican crime reporter, who was in critical condition today after being shot repeatedly in front of her radio station in Nuevo Laredo, a city on the Texas border beset by a wave of drug-related violence.
Authorities launch criminal inquiry of Internews
New York, April 6, 2005—The prosecutor-general’s office in Uzbekistan said yesterday it was investigating the Tashkent bureau of the media training and advocacy group Internews Network on criminal charges of operating without a license, according to international reports. Witnesses have been questioned, “but at this stage nobody has been arrested,” the prosecutor’s spokeswoman, Svetlana Artikova…
Judge acquits editor of criminal charges and creates new interpretation for media law
New York, April 5, 2005—The managing editor of the Nairobi-based East African Standard’s Sunday edition was acquitted of criminal charges yesterday. The charges against David Makali, pending since 2003, stemmed from an investigative article about the alleged murder of Dr. Crispin Odhiambo Mbai, a key player in Kenya’s constitutional reform process. Nairobi Chief Magistrate Aggrey…
Ukrainian prosecutor claims confessions in Gongadze case
New York, April 5, 2005—Ukraine’s prosecutor-general said yesterday that two former police officers arrested in March as suspects in the 2000 murder of Internet journalist Georgy Gongadze have confessed to the killing, according to local and international press reports. Vyacheslav Astapov, a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office, said the officers were cooperating with investigators in…
New judge named in the Dominique case; CPJ urges government to revive the investigation
New York, April 4, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists urged Haitian transitional authorities today to revive the stalled investigation into the murder of Jean-Léopold Dominique, one of the country’s most renowned journalists. Last Thursday, Haiti’s Minister of Justice Bernard Gousse announced the nomination of a new examining judge, Jean Perez Paul, who will conduct the…