New York, February 28, 2003—Offended by allegations of corruption, a Panamanian judge has ordered investigative journalist Carlos Zavala to serve six days in jail. Zavala, who hosts the weekly talk show “Cuentas Claras” (Clear Accounts) on RCM Televisión in Panama City, told the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) that the order stems from his criticisms…
New York, February 28, 2003—Zamid Ayubov, a 40-year-old Chechen journalist for the local pro-Russian administration’s thrice-weekly Vozrozhdeniye Chechni, was beaten and detained by Interior Ministry forces in the Chechen capitol of Grozny on the evening of February 16. Ayubov was assaulted when he approached an Interior Ministry unit and identified himself as a journalist researching…
New York, February 26, 2003—The Inter-American Court of Human Rights said last week that it will hear the case of Costa Rican journalist Mauricio Herrera Ulloa, who was convicted of criminal defamation in 1999. A ruling could set a precedent to determine whether criminal defamation is permissible under international law. On February 3, the Washington,…
New York, February 26, 2003–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release from prison of Abdoulaye Tiémogo, an editor at the weekly Le Canard Déchaîné, which is based in Niger’s capital, Niamey. Tiémogo, who was freed on Tuesday, February 18, after completing his eight-month prison sentence, was arrested on June 18, 2002, for allegedly defaming…
New York, January 25, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is concerned about an appeals court ruling yesterday in Qatar’s capital, Doha, confirming a death sentence against Jordanian journalist Firas al-Majali on charges of espionage. Al-Majali, a news editor for Qatari state television, has been in detention since January 2002. He was originally sentenced to…
February 23, 2003—Euskaldunon Egunkaria, a Basque daily based in the northern Spanish town of Andaoin, was closed by government authorities on Thursday, February 20, because of alleged links to the armed separatist group ETA. The paper reappeared on newsstands the next day under the new name Egunkaria. Hundreds of Civil Guard police officers raided the…
February 20, 2003, New York—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) today submitted a memorandum to the Hong Kong Security Bureau detailing serious concerns about the proposed National Security (Legislative Provisions) Bill drafted by the government. In its current form, this bill poses a grave threat to freedom of expression in Hong Kong. “The Hong Kong…
Memorandum on the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government’s National Security (Legislative Provisions) Bill proposing legislation to implement Article 23 of the Basic Law Submitted to the Security Bureau by the Committee to Protect Journalists February 20, 2003 The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) issues this memorandum in response to the National Security (Legislative Provisions)…
New York, February 19, 2003—Vira Kytaihorodska, editor-in-chief of the twice-weekly newspaper Bukovynske Viche in the western city of Chernivtsi, said that a local government official has threatened to kill her for republishing an article on February 7 that accused Chernivtsi regional governor Teofil Bauer of corruption and violating customs regulations. The official, deputy head of…
New York, February 18, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is concerned both that the U.S. government expelled an Iraqi journalist, and that Iraqi authorities responded by ordering a U.S. television correspondent to leave the country. On February 13, New Yorkbased Iraqi News Agency correspondent Mohammed Alawi received a letter from the U.S. Mission to…