JAKARTA – May 14,1999 — Indonesian President Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie reaffirmed his government’s commitment to press freedom today during a wide-ranging discussion with a delegation from the International Press Institute. The President also agreed to drop a long-standing requirement that foreign journalists visiting Indonesia obtain special journalists’ visas as a requirement of entry into the…
May 3, 1999 Bogotá, Colombia — In 1986 when El Espectador editor Guillermo Cano was gunned down at a traffic light in downtown Bogotá, everyone in Colombia knew who was behind the hit. Medellín cartel leader Pablo Escobar reportedly held several lavish victory parties to celebrate the murder. There were no parties on May 19, 1998,…
Bogotá, Colombia 3 de mayo de 1999 — En 1986, cuando el director de El Espectador Guillermo Cano fue asesinado en un semáforo de Bogotá, todos en Colombia sabían quién ordenó el ataque. Pablo Escobar, cabecilla del cartel de Medellín, supuestamente ofreció varias fiestas extravagantes para celebrar la muerte de Cano. Pero no hubo ninguna fiesta…
New York, N.Y., March 10, 1999 — The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) today issued a strongly worded condemnation of the Zambian government’s crackdown on The Post, now in the second day of a full-scale assault stemming from the Lusaka-based independent daily’s publication on Tuesday of an article questioning the country’s military preparedness. Zambian…
March 4, 1999 His Excellency Ernesto Pérez Balladares President of Panama Presidential Palace Panama City, Panama Your Excellency, Prompted by a sharp increase in prosecutions of Panamanian journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is writing to strongly condemn Panama’s “gag laws” as a threat to press freedom, a violation of international law, and a…
New York, Feb. 24, 1999 — With Nigeria on the threshold of a national presidential election and a possible return to democratic rule, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) released a special report today depicting the horrors Nigerian journalists have endured under oppressive military rule. Despite his promises of a democratic election and a transition…
New York, N.Y., Feb. 16, 1999 — The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) welcomed the release of Chinese journalist Gao Yu on Monday after five years’ imprisonment in Beijing, while cautioning that China’s press freedom climate has worsened in recent months. At least 11 people remain in prison there on journalism-related charges. CPJ called on…
Washington, April 2, 1999 — A high-level delegation from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) met today with Kuwait’s Ambassador Dr. Muhammad al-Sabah to urge the release of imprisoned journalists Fawwaz Muhammad al-Awadi Bessisso and Ibtisam Berto Sulaiman al-Dakhil, who have been held since 1991. They are the last remaining journalists in prison in Kuwait,…
April 2,1999 — The Committee to Protect Journalists, a non-partisan organizations dedicated to protecting its colleagues throughout the world, has documented several alarming new developments in Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic’s assault on independent journalists. On April 2, at 9:00 a.m. (Belgrade time), police officers arrived at Radio B92’s office and ordered the staff to immediately…
February 10,1999 His Excellency Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar Chairman of the Provisional Ruling Council and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces State House, Abuja Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria VIA FAX: 011-234-95232 Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is greatly disturbed by news of the police raid on the Satellite Press in Ogba, Lagos,…