Police beat journalists
New York, May 11, 2004—Police officers beat and detained journalists who were covering a student-organized mock political referendum on May 7 in Butwal, a town about 174 miles (280 kilometers) southwest of the capital, Kathmandu. The demonstration was held as part of ongoing protests against King Gyanendra’s assumption of executive powers, which occurred after the…
REUTERS JOURNALIST KILLED IN CHECHNYA BOMBING
New York, May 10, 2004—Adlan Khasanov, a cameraman working for the British news agency Reuters, was killed by a bomb yesterday morning in Russia’s southern republic of Chechnya, according to local and international press reports. The powerful bomb exploded at approximately 10:35 a.m. in the Dynamo Stadium in the Chechen capital of Grozny, where Khasanov…
Imprisoned journalist on hunger strike
New York, May 7, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned about the health of imprisoned Cuban journalist Manuel Vázquez Portal, who has been on a hunger strike since April 30 to protest prison conditions. Vázquez Portal, who received one of CPJ’s International Press Freedom Awards in November 2003, is one of 29…
TWO JOURNALISTS KILLED
New York, May 7, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) mourns the death of two Polish journalists who were killed this morning in a drive-by shooting in Latifiya, Iraq, about 19 miles (30 kilometers) south of the capital, Baghdad. According to press reports, Waldemar Milewicz, one of Poland’s most experienced war correspondents, and his producer,…
Imprisoned journalist on hunger strike
New York, May 6, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is gravely concerned about jailed Vietnamese journalist Nguyen Vu Binh, who is currently on a hunger strike. On May 5, the Supreme People’s Court in the capital, Hanoi, rejected Binh’s appeal and upheld his seven-year sentence on charges of espionage. Following the announcement of the…
Authorities censor French weekly
New York, May 5, 2004—Authorities in Guinea have blocked distribution of this week’s edition of the France-based news weekly Jeune Afrique L’Intelligent, which carries an exclusive interview with François Lonsény Fall, who just resigned as Guinea’s prime minister. The magazine’s May 2-8 edition was expected on the streets of the capital, Conakry, on Monday but…
Journalists beaten at opposition rally
New York, May 4, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the Friday, April 30, attack on journalists covering an opposition rally in the city of Batumi, in the autonomous republic of Ajaria in southern Georgia. According to Alexi Tvaradze, a cameraman with the independent television station Rustavi-2, several police officers beat him with clubs…
Police raid home of journalist
New York, May 4, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned by yesterday’s police raid on the home of Dharmeratnam Sivaram, a veteran journalist and columnist, in Colombo, Sri Lanka’s capital. Sivaram edits Tamilnet (www.tamilnet.com), an online news service that covers Sri Lankan affairs with special emphasis on news of interest to the…
Jailed journalist granted provisional release
New York, May 3, 2004—Jean-Baptiste Hounkonnou, publication director of the Beninese independent daily Le Nouvel Essor, was granted a provisional release after spending six weeks in jail on criminal defamation charges. On April 27, Benin’s Court of Appeal granted Hounkonnou’s request for provisional release, and he was freed the same day, according to CPJ sources.…
Journalists appeal to be heard on May 5
May 3, 2004, New York—On Wednesday, May 5, the Supreme People’s Court in Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi, will hear the appeal of journalist Nguyen Vu Binh, who is currently serving a seven-year sentence on charges of espionage. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) calls for his immediate release and for all charges against him to be…