CPJ CALLS ON PUTIN TO ENSURE EDITORS’ KILLERS ARE BROUGHT TO JUSTICE
New York, August 9, 2004—Saying that Russian authorities “have repeatedly disregarded pertinent evidence and witnesses” in the slayings of two editors of a Togliatti newspaper, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called on President Vladimir Putin today to “devote the full resources of your office” to bring the true killers to justice.
Documentary filmmaker arrested
New York, August 6, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the recent arrest of Burmese documentary filmmaker Lazing La Htoi, who was detained on July 27 in Myitkyina, the capital of the northern Kachin State, for filming and distributing footage of extreme flooding that hit the region in late July. La Htoi shot footage…
Radio station shuttered; journalists arrested
New York, August 6, 2004—National intelligence agents stormed an evangelical radio station in the southern city of Lubumbashi, shutting it down and arresting seven employees this week after the station broadcast a sermon critical of the government. The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply troubled by the closing of Radio Hosanna, which broadcasts religious and…
Chechen editor reports ongoing harassment
New York, August 6, 2004—The campaign of harassment against the independent weekly Chechenskoye Obshchestvo (Chechen Society), which is based in Ingushetia’s capital, Nazran, continued this week, according to the publication’s editor. Editor Timur Aliev told CPJ that on August 2 and 3, the paper’s Web site was down, and that some e-mails and phone calls…
Mother of missing journalist requests new investigation of the case
New York, August 5, 2004—Two weeks after the Belarusian president said he had information and documents about the investigation into a 29-year-old cameraman’s disappearance, the journalist’s mother is demanding a renewed inquiry. Olga Zavadskaya, whose son Dmitry is presumed dead after vanishing four years ago, told CPJ in an interview today that she filed a…
Radio journalist killed, second in week
New York, August 5, 2004—Gunmen ambushed and killed a Filipino newspaper and radio correspondent this morning shortly after he dropped his children off at school, according to international news reports and local journalists. Arnel Manalo, 42, a correspondent for the Manila tabloid Bulgar and radio station DZRH, was the second journalist killed in less than…
Court overturns Costa Rican defamation sentence; CPJ welcomes decision
New York, August 4, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) welcomes a decision by the Inter American Court of Human Rights to annul a sentence against Costa Rican journalist Mauricio Herrera Ulloa, a reporter for the San José-based daily La Nación who was convicted of criminal defamation in 1999. The court, based in San José,…
Environmental journalist Grigory Pasko receives international passport
New York, August 4, 2004—After weeks of delays, Russian officials have approved a passport for environmental journalist Grigory Pasko, whose prior reporting on the dumping of nuclear waste had drawn the ire of authorities. “I am happy with this development even though authorities had no right to keep my application in limbo for that long,”…
A journalist released, but struggling
New York, August 4, 2004—Uzbek authorities have released Madzid Abduraimov, a journalist with the national weekly Yangi Asr, who was imprisoned for three years after criticizing authorities in the southern Surkhandarya region. Abduraimov said he is struggling now to reclaim his home and other personal belongings that were confiscated by authorities. “Being in prison was…