Another reporter gunned down, as journalists’ death toll rises
New York, September 29, 2004-Gunmen shot and killed a tabloid reporter early this morning in Bataan province, in the central Luzon region, according to local and international news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists is investigating the circumstances surrounding the murder to determine if it was related to the journalist’s reporting. The reporter, identified as…
CNN producer freed in Gaza City
New York, September 28, 2004—CNN producer Riad Ali was freed and in the custody of Palestinian police today, a day after being abducted by gunmen on a main street in Gaza City, CNN reported. CNN President Jim Walton said the station was “enormously relieved” that Ali had been released. “His ordeal serves to highlight the…
Inter-American Court condemns criminal defamation conviction
New York, September 28, 2004–In a decision with broad implications for press freedom in Latin America, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has ruled that a criminal defamation conviction in Paraguay violated international law. The court, in a decision handed down this month, found that the criminal proceedings themselves violated the American Convention on Human…
Declaration on Criminal Defamation in the Americas
Journalists, freedom of expression, and press freedom advocates gathered in New York on September 10, 2004 welcome the decision by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the case of Mauricio Herrera Ulloa, as well as the concurring opinion by President Judge García Ramírez. The decision and concurrence raise important questions about the compatibility of…
Moscow police say two Chechens suspected in Klebnikov murder
New York, September 28, 2004—Moscow police said today that they have arrested two Chechen men suspected in the July 9 murder of Paul Klebnikov, editor of Forbes Russia, according to local and international press reports. Police Chief Vladimir Pronin said the men, arrested last night, had been wanted in connection with a kidnapping case. Three…
Police beat two photographers covering Kashmir unrest
New York, September 27, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Saturday’s attack on photographers Rafiq Maqbool of The Associated Press, and Amin War of the national newspaper The Tribune, who were beaten by police while covering a violent demonstration in Srinagar, the summer capital of war-torn Kashmir. Maqbool and War were photographing as many as…
CNN producer kidnapped in Gaza City
New York, September 27, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists is gravely concerned about the kidnapping this evening of a CNN producer in Gaza City by unknown gunmen. CNN reported that Riad Ali, a veteran producer for the station, was seized at gunpoint from a car in which he was a passenger with CNN colleagues, including…
SERBIA & MONTENEGRO: Kosovo journalist attacked
New York, September 24, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed that Fatmire Terdevci, an investigative reporter with the Kosovo independent daily Koha Ditore, was shot and wounded yesterday, according to The Associated Press and local CPJ sources. Yesterday, Terdevci, 30, was traveling from Glogovac, a small town in central Kosovo, to the capital, Pristina,…
Independent journalists detained and charged
New York, September 23, 2004—Two journalists and the general manager of the weekly Zimbabwe Independent were detained today for about six hours, charged under Zimbabwe’s repressive media law, and told to report back to police next Tuesday for a court appearance, according to local journalists and a defense lawyer for the three. The charges stem…
Foreign affairs magazine shuttered after criticism of North Korea
New York, September 22, 2004—Chinese government authorities have closed the prominent bi-monthly diplomacy journal Zhanlue Yu Guanli (Strategy and Management) after it published an article strongly criticizing the North Korean government and urging a revised strategy in China-North Korea relations, according to international news reports. Analysts and foreign media initially speculated that the August article,…