Freed Italian journalist wounded by coalition fire
New York, March 4, 2005—Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena, held hostage in Iraq for a month, was wounded shortly after her release today and an Italian security agent was killed when U.S.-led coalition forces fired on their car near a military checkpoint in Baghdad. Sgrena, a reporter for the Rome-based daily Il Manifesto who was held…
Former Ukrainian minister implicated in Gongadze case is found dead
New York, March 4, 2005—Former Interior Minister Yuri Kravchenko was found dead this morning outside the capitol of Kyiv just hours before he was to be questioned by prosecutors about the September 2000 abduction and murder of Internet journalist Georgy Gongadze, according to local and international press reports.
Freed Italian journalist wounded by coalition fire
New York, March 4, 2005—Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena, held hostage in Iraq for a month, was wounded shortly after her release today and an Italian security agent was killed when U.S.-led coalition forces fired on their car near a military checkpoint in Baghdad. Sgrena, a reporter for the Rome-based daily Il Manifesto who was held…
Sixteen journalists remain in secret jails
New York, March 3, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists has learned that Voice of America (VOA) correspondent Aklilu Solomon has been released after almost 18 months in jail. He was freed on December 31, 2004, and is said to be in poor health. Solomon was arrested in July 2003, after the VOA broadcast his report…
Editor of opposition weekly gunned down
New York, March 2, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the murder of Elmar Huseynov, the founder and editor of the opposition weekly news magazine Monitor, who was gunned down this evening in his apartment building in the capital, Baku. Huseynov was shot several times while walking up the stairwell of his building on his…
Government maintains chokehold on independent press
New York, March 2, 2005—The Nepalese government yesterday directed editors of four weeklies to replace the word “Maoist” with “terrorist” or face punishment. The weeklies, including Jana Astha, were forced to change large portions of their text to comply with the order. The Ministry of Information and Communication also issued a new notice banning media…
olumnist found shot dead
New York, March 2, 2005—A local newspaper columnist was found shot dead on a road in the town of Naic, Cavite Province, just south of Manila. A local village official found the body of Arnulfo Villanueva, 43, a columnist for the community paper Asian Star Express Balita, on the night of February 28, according to…
Authorities suspend license of jailed journalists’ lawyer
New York, March 1, 2005—Authorities in Shanghai have suspended the law license of Guo Guoting, defense attorney for three jailed journalists as well as a number of other dissidents and members of the Falun Gong religious sect. The suspension throws into question the defense of imprisoned writers Shi Tao, Zhang Lin and Huang Jinqiu.
French reporter abducted in Iraq pleads for help in video
New York, March 1, 2005—A French reporter who disappeared in Baghdad nearly two months ago appeared pleading for help in a videotape released today by her captors. In the videotape, Florence Aubenas, a correspondent for the French daily Libération, is shown looking pale and tired and states that she is in bad health, The Associated…
Suspects detained; key witness injured in grenade attack
New York, March 1, 2005—Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said today that Kyiv investigators had detained and were questioning suspects in the 2000 murder of investigative reporter Georgy Gongadze, whose decapitation had shocked Ukraine and whose unsolved case had tainted the highest reaches of government. The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomed the president’s announcement and urged…