New York, August 27, 2004—Police arrested a suspected gunman yesterday in the August 4 killing of Batangas City journalist Arnel Manalo, according to local news reports. Police believe that the suspect, Michael Garcia, was hired by local political leader Tony Mendoza, who has not yet been charged with murder. Gunmen ambushed and killed Manalo, 42,…
New York, August 26, 2004—Two unidentified assailants stabbed the editor of the Marathi-language daily Mahanagar outside his office in Mumbai on the evening of August 24. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is investigating whether the attack was related to Sajid Rashid’s work as a journalist. The men approached Rashid, 48, as he was leaving…
New York, August 26, 2004—Iraqi police, some masked and firing weapons, threatened and detained dozens of journalists Wednesday night at a hotel in the southern city of Najaf, where U.S. forces have battled with Shiite insurgents for several weeks. The Committee to Protect Journalists is outraged by this “thuggery,” Executive Director Ann Cooper said today.…
New York, August 25, 2004—Armenian photojournalist Mkhitar Khachatryan was assaulted after photographing the opulent homes of government officials in the central Armenian resort city of Tsakhkadzor yesterday, according to local and international press reports. Khachatryan, with the news agency Fotolur, and Anna Israelyan, a correspondent with the independent daily Aravot, were reporting on damages caused…
New York, August 25, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the civil libel suit filed this week by the telecommunications giant Shin Corporation against media activist Supinya Klangnarong. The lawsuit seeks damages of Bt400 million (US$10 million). The Thai-language newspaper the Thai Post and three of its editors—Thaweesin Sathitrattanacheewin, Roj Ngammaen, and Kannikar Wiriyakul—are…
New York, August 25, 2004—Kamal Hossain, the local correspondent for the Bangla-language daily Ajker Kagoj, was abducted and brutally murdered by unknown assailants in the early morning of Sunday, August 22, in Manikcchari, eastern Chittagong District, according to local news reports. The newswire service the United News of Bangladesh (UNB) reported that police discovered Hossain’s…
New York, August 24, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is very concerned about the reported abduction in Iraq of Italian freelance journalist Enzo Baldoni, the 12th journalist kidnapped by an armed group in Iraq this year. A group calling itself the “Islamic Army in Iraq” claimed responsibility for the abduction and called on Italy…
New York, August 24, 2004—Two suspects in the June killing of Radyo Natin journalist Eliseo “Ely” Binoya surrendered to local police today, according to local news reports. The suspects include Ephraim “Toto” Englis, a former police officer and local political leader suspected of masterminding the killing, according to news reports. General Santos City Police Chief…
Washington, D.C., August 24, 2004—A contempt of court ruling against a Time magazine correspondent was dismissed yesterday after he agreed to testify in the CIA leak case. Matthew Cooper agreed to give a deposition after one of his sources, vice presidential aide I. Lewis Libby, waived confidentiality. Cooper was held in contempt this month by…
New York, August 23, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned about the growing number of threats being made against the popular Bangla-language daily Prothom Alo by Islamic groups in the capital, Dhaka, and in the southeastern Chittagong District. The threats began last week in the wake of Prothom Alo’s investigative series about…