New York, February 14, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the violent attacks against Bolivian journalists that occurred while they were covering two days of deadly street protests in the capital, La Paz. The violence erupted when a crowd of civilians, angry over an attempt by President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada to introduce a…
New York, February 14, 2003—Cuban authorities detained Argentine journalism professor Fernando Ruiz Parra, who was researching a book about Cuba’s independent journalism movement, on February 11 and held him incommunicado. He was released on February 12 and was deported the following day. Ruiz Parra, who arrived in Cuba on February 3 on a tourist visa,…
New York, February 14, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) today sent a letter of inquiry to Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra urging his government to ensure a thorough investigation into the murder of reporter Surapong Ritthi, who was killed on February 11 in southern Phuket Province. Several of the journalist’s colleagues in Phuket believe…
New York, February 13, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) sent separate letters today to Peru’s minister of justice, Fausto Alvarado Dodero, requesting information about the status of journalist Juan de Mata Jara Berrospi, who was sentenced in 1994 to 20 years in prison on charges of collaborating with terrorists.…
New York, February 13, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is disturbed that the Saudi Arabian government refused to allow the Qatar-based Arabic language satellite station Al-Jazeera to cover the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, known as the hajj. According to a source at the station, the nine-member crew slated to cover the pilgrimage had…
New York, February 10, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) deplores last week’s decision sentencing of two journalists to prison. On Thursday, February 6, a court in the capital, N’Djamena, convicted Nadjikimo Bénoudjita, the publisher of the private weekly Notre Temps, and Mbainaye Bétoubam, an editor at the paper, of criminal defamation and sentenced each…
New York, February 10, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists’ (CPJ) honorary co-chairman Terry Anderson sent a letter today to Tunisian president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali calling for the release of Tunisian Internet journalist Zouhair Yahyaoui, jailed since June 2002, and renewing calls for the release of Hamadi Jebali, the editor of Al-Fajr, the weekly newspaper…
February 6, 2003, New York – The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) today sent a letter of inquiry to Prime Minister Hun Sen requesting information about the arrest of Mam Sonando, owner and manager of Beehive (Sombok Khmum) radio station, and In Chan Sivutha, editor of the Light of Angkor (Rasmei Angkor) newspaper. Both men…
New York, February 6, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is alarmed that Venezuela’s Infrastructure Ministry has opened an investigation into the private, Caracas-based television stations Televén and Venevisión to determine if they have violated media broadcast regulations. The ministry could fine the stations or suspend or even revoke their licenses. On January 30 and…
New York, February 5, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply disturbed by a Chilean judge’s decision to impose a two-months suspended prison sentence on television commentator Eduardo Yáñez. On Friday January 31, Judge Juan Manuel Muñoz convicted Yáñez, a panelist on Chilevisión’s debate show “El Termómetro,” of “disrespect” under Article 263 of the…