Editor of censored Rwandan newspaper is slain
In response to international media reports that Jean-Léonard Rugambage, the deputy editor of the suspended independent newspaper Umuvugizi, was shot dead late Thursday in the Rwandan capital of Kigali, the Committee to Protect Journalists released the following statement:
Kyrgyzstan detains journalists as violence continues
New York, June 23, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Kyrgyz authorities to immediately release independent journalists Ulugbek Abdusalomov and Azimjon Askarov, and to ensure the safety of other journalists working in southern Kyrgyzstan, which has been engulfed by interethnic violence since early June.
Egyptian journalists on trial over criticism of tax law
New York, June 23, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the Egyptian Minister of Finance, Youssef Boutros-Ghali, to drop charges against Wael al-Abrashy, the editor-in-chief of the weekly Sawt al-Umma, and Samar al-Dawi, a reporter for the weekly.
Burma campaign hits Grand Central
New York’s Grand Central Station is a gathering point today for people who are coming into town from a little farther away than usual: Burmese dissidents, writers, monks, and musicians are convening to protest the military junta of Senior General Than Shwe. Human Rights Watch has organized a petition and an art and photo installation in Vanderbilt…
Peruvian Supreme Court frees editor jailed for defamation
New York, June 21, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes Friday’s decision by the Peruvian Supreme Court to release Alejandro Carrascal Carrasco, editor of the weekly newspaper Nor Oriente, who was sentenced on January 12 to one year in prison on defamation charges.
In Pakistan, a censor’s hand in Facebook, Twitter woes?
Last week, users of Facebook and Twitter in Pakistan began reporting a strange security problem. When they visited those sites, they found they were logged in–but with the accounts and privileges of complete strangers. Private Facebook information and Twitter direct messages belonging to other users were viewable, and the surprised Pakistani users had complete control…
Denied access, CPJ manages to interview Kazakh prisoner
On June 3, I took a six-hour-long drive from Almaty to Taraz with local press freedom advocate Rozlana Taukina and two family members of imprisoned editor Ramazan Yesergepov to visit him. Yesergepov has been a long-term case for CPJ. In November 2008, he published two internal Kazakh security service (KNB) memos in his now-defunct newspaper, Alma-Ata Info, which…
Third Philippine journalist killed in one week
New York, June 21, 2010—Newspaper reporter Nestor Bedolido was shot and killed by an unidentified gunman on Saturday evening in Digos City, Davao del Sur province, in the southern Philippines, according to local and international news reports. He is the third journalist to be murdered over the past week in the Philippines.
Freed Sri Lankan journalist Tissainayagam arrives in U.S.
New York, June 19, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalist welcomes the arrival in the United States of Sri Lankan journalist J.S. Tissainayagam, who arrived at Washington’s Dulles International Airport on Saturday morning. He was met there by friends. According to CPJ representative Kamel Labidi, who was on hand to meet Tissa, “He was all smiles,…