Prominent editor jailed and paper banned
New York, November 13, 2002-Paul Kamara, the founding editor of one of Sierra Leone’s leading newspaper, For Di People, was sentenced yesterday to six months in prison for defaming a local judge, said sources in the capital, Freetown. Kamara was taken to Freetown’s Pa Demba Road Prison on November 12 after the High Court convicted…
CPJ mourns death of award-winning journalist
New York, November 13, 2002-The board of directors and staff of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) are saddened by the death of Zimbabwean journalist Mark Chavunduka. Chavunduka, 37, died on November 11 at West End Hospital in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, according to his relatives. The cause of death is unknown, but friends and family…
Journalists released after 24 hours in detention
New York, November 11, 2002—Yasser Abu Hilala, a columnist for Al-Rai newspaper and a former correspondent for Al-Jazeera satellite channel, and his cousin, Samir Abu Hilala, who writes for the daily Al-Arab al-Youm, were released today by Jordanian authorities after being held for 24 hours. Yesterday, Jordanian police and intelligence agents detained Yasser Abu Hilala…
PRESIDENT’S SON TO BE INTERROGATED ABOUT JOURNALIST’S MURDER
New York, November 11, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) welcomes the recent decision by Mozambique’s judicial authorities to extend their investigation into the murder of journalist Carlos Cardoso to Nymphine Chissano, a son of President Joaquim Chissano. Cardoso, Mozambique’s leading investigative reporter, was gunned down, execution-style, on November 22, 2000. Six people were arrested…
Three journalists forced into military service
New York, November 8, 2002—Three journalists in Tajikistan have been conscripted into military service in retaliation for producing a talk show that criticized local military officials, according to local and international reports. The program, which aired on October 24 and 27, was produced by journalists from the local, independent television stations SM-1 and TRK-Asia in…
EAST TIMOR INDICTS TWO INDONESIAN MILITARY OFFICERS FOR MURDER OF DUTCH JOURNALIST
New York, November 7, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) welcomes yesterday’s indictment in East Timor of two suspected murderers of Dutch journalist Sander Thoenes, who was killed in Dili on September 21, 1999, while he was reporting for The Financial Times and The Christian Science Monitor. Arrest warrants for both men, who are Indonesian…
Jailed editor pardoned and released
New York, November 6, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) welcomes the release of prominent Iranian journalist and reform politician Abdullah Nouri. On Tuesday, November 5, Iranian authorities announced that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had commuted the remainder of Nouri’s five-year prison term. The pardon came while Nouri was furloughed from prison to attend…
CPJ welcomes release of five journalists
New York, November 5, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) welcomes today’s release of five journalists, four of whom have been imprisoned for nearly a year on suspicion of supporting Maoist rebels in Nepal. The journalists released today are Ishwarchandra Gyawali, executive editor of the monthly magazine Dishabodh; Manarishi Dhital, a reporter for Dishabodh; Deepak…
Journalist’s phone records stolen
New York, November 5, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is concerned that New York Post columnist and Red Herring magazine contributing editor Chris Byron’s phone records have been illegally obtained by individuals seeking access to his journalistic sources. In an October 19 article, the New York Post first reported that Byron’s phone records had…
Al-Jazeera bureau closed
New York, November 4, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns yesterday’s decision by Kuwaiti authorities to suspend Al-Jazeera’s Kuwait bureau. Saad al-Enezi, the Al-Jazeera bureau chief in Kuwait, told CPJ he received a telephone call from the Ministry of Information yesterday informing him of the Kuwaiti government’s decision. He said that no specific reason…