Attacks on the Press 2001: Trinidad and Tobago
This oil- and gas-rich island nation, whose population is equally divided between people of African and Indian descent, moved from crisis to crisis after elections in December 2000. Former prime minister Basdeo Panday’s United National Congress (UNC), supported mainly by Indo-Trinidadians, narrowly defeated the People’s National Movement (PNM), generally supported by Afro-Trinidadians, in elections that…
Attacks on the Press 2001: Journalists in Prison
There were 118 journalists in prison around the world at the end of 2001 who were jailed for practicing their profession. The number is up significantly from the previous year, when 81 journalists were in jail, and represents a return to the level of 1998, when 118 were also imprisoned.
Editor arrested
New York, March 19, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned about the recent detention of Shyam Shrestha, editor of the leftist monthly Mulyankan. On March 16, authorities detained Shrestha at the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu. Shrestha was on his way to New Delhi, India, to take part in a conference on…
Bangladesh: CPJ condemns murder of journalist
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is writing to condemn the recent murder of journalist Harunur Rashid. We urge you to ensure that the murder investigation is conducted in a thorough and impartial manner. On the evening of March 2, Rashid, a reporter for the daily newspaper Dainik Purbanchal, was ambushed by gunmen while he was riding his motorcycle to work in the southwestern city of Khulna, according to Bangladeshi and international news reports. Three unidentified young men brought Rashid to a hospital, told doctors he had been injured in a car accident, and then disappeared. A doctor at the hospital told The Independent (a Dhaka-based newspaper) that Rashid suffered a fatal bullet wound to his chest.
Influential editor resigns under pressure
CPJ is alarmed by the resignation of Shaheen Sehbai, the influential editor of The News, one of Pakistan’s leading English-language newspapers. Sehbai said today in a resignation letter addressed to his boss but circulated among colleagues and friends that he was leaving his post under pressure from the government, warning that Pakistani officials were sending…
Updated news from the South Asian Journalists Association
New York, February 14, 2002—CPJ remains hopeful that kidnapped Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl is alive, despite today’s statement by a key suspect in the abduction that he thinks the reporter has been killed. Ahmad Omar Saeed Sheikh, the man investigators say is responsible for Pearl’s kidnapping, told an anti-terrorism court in Karachi today…
Journalist targeted in bomb attack
New York, February 7, 2002—On February 5, explosions from several homemade bombs rocked the area surrounding the Chittagong Press Club, where journalist Shahriar Kabir was attending a reception to celebrate his release on bail. One bystander was killed in the attack, and several others were injured. Kabir was not harmed. Kabir, a documentary filmmaker, regular…
CPJ urges kidnappers to release Daniel Pearl
New York, January 28, 2002—CPJ is deeply concerned about Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, who has been missing in Pakistan since January 23. A previously unknown group stated in an e-mail to news organizations that they had abducted Pearl and accused him of working for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. “Daniel Pearl is a…
37 journalists killed for their work in 2001
New York, January 3, 2002–A total of 37 journalists were killed worldwide as a direct result of their work in 2001, a sharp increase from 2000 when 24 were killed, according to CPJ research. At least 25 were murdered, almost all with impunity. The dramatic rise is mainly due to the war in Afghanistan, where…