CPJ URGES ETHIOPIA TO REMOVE REMAINING PRESS RESTRICTIONS
New York, October 31, 2001—Following a recent fact-finding mission to Ethiopia, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) today sent a letter to Prime Minister Meles Zenawi listing a host of restrictions that still hamper the growth of a genuinely independent and professional press in the Horn of Africa nation.
CPJ condemns government raid on independent TV station
New York, October 31, 2001—The Committee to Protect Journalists today denounced a government raid on the independent Georgian television station Rustavi-2. On October 30, some 30 agents from Georgia’s National Security Ministry raided Rustavi-2’s headquarters in the capital, Tbilisi, in an effort to obtain the station’s financial records. Rustavi-2 is Georgia’s most influential and respected…
Government bars Indian journalists
Tuesday, October 30, 2001—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned that the Pakistani government is delaying the visa applications of Indian journalists, as well as journalists of Indian origin holding citizenship from Western countries. Some of these journalists have told CPJ that visa applications submitted in mid-September are still awaiting approval. Officials at Pakistan’s…
Israeli forces harass journalists, bar them from covering clashes
New York, October 25, 2001—The Committee to Protect journalists is deeply troubled that Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) harassed journalists and barred them from covering clashes in the Palestinian village of Beit Rima on October 24. Local sources told CPJ that IDF soldiers blocked all journalists from entering Beit Rima for the entire day. Journalists from…
Courses banned, journalists harassed
New York, October 24, 2001—State security agents banned an organization of independent local journalists from giving training courses and harassed some of its members, according to local CPJ sources. On the afternoon of October 12, two Department of State Security (DSE) officers came to the offices of an independent journalists’ association and warned its president…
CPJ denounces threat by prime minister to bankrupt independent weekly
New York, October 24, 2001–The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has denounced Prime Minister Milos Zeman for threatening to bankrupt the independent Prague-based weekly Respekt with a series of debilitating lawsuits in retaliation for its criticism of his government. Zeman announced on October 22 that his government was planning to file the suits against Respekt…
CPJ confirms attack on journalists covering anti-American protests
New York City, October 23, 2001—CPJ has confirmed that on Monday, October 15, police beat four journalists as they covered an anti-American demonstration in front of the House of Representatives in Jakarta. The Jakarta Post identified the journalists as Medo Malianza, a camerman for Metro TV, a private, national all-news channel; Agung Nugroho, a cameraman…
State regulatory commission investigates television station
New York, October 24, 2001—CPJ is alarmed that the Venezuelan National Telecommunications Commission (Conatel) is investigating Globovisión, a 24-hour news channel, to determine whether the station violated media broadcast regulations by reporting “false” news. Conatel could fine the station or suspend its license temporarily or permanently. On September 29, Globovisión reported that nine taxi drivers…
Journalist murdered in drive-by shooting
New York, October 22, 2001—An ethnic Albanian journalist in Kosovo was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting last Friday, according to local and international reports. Bekim Kastrati, a journalist for the Albanian-language daily Bota Sot, was shot on October 19 at around 8 p.m. in the village of Lausa, west of the provincial capital,…