Azerbaijani reporter jailed on mass disorder charges
New York, February 6, 2013–Azerbaijani authorities should drop charges of organizing mass disorder against Tofiq Yaqublu, a columnist for leading opposition daily Yeni Musavat, and immediately release him from jail, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Peruvian journalist shot after reporting on corruption
Bogota, Colombia, February 6, 2013–A provincial radio journalist in southern Peru who has reported on local government corruption was shot in the leg while riding his motorcycle to work today, according to local press reports and the regional press group Instituto Prensa y Sociedad (IPYS).
In Syria, the quandary of freelance news coverage
Forces on all sides of the Syrian conflict that have tried to censor news coverage through violence have won a round. By sharply increasing the risk for reporters covering the civil war they have forced news organizations to think twice before sending their staff to the battlefields. In a worrying development they even have led…
Lebanon must release journalist accused of arms trafficking
New York, February 5, 2013–Authorities in Beirut should drop criminal charges against Rami Aysha, a Lebanese-Palestinian freelance journalist who was arrested by Hezbollah forces last August as he was investigating arms trafficking, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Somali court hands journalist one-year jail term
Nairobi, February 5, 2013–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the conviction and prison sentence handed down today against a Somali freelance journalist charged with insulting the government by interviewing a woman who said she was raped by government forces. CPJ calls for the sentence to be overturned and for reporter Abdiaziz Abdinuur to be released…
Video: Free imprisoned Iranian journalists
In late January, Iranian authorities waged the largest crackdown on the press since 2009, detaining a wave of journalists and issuing arrest warrants for numerous others. The Ministry of Intelligence accused the journalists of conspiring with foreign media to repeat the alleged “sedition” of 2009, referring to electoral fraud exposed by the media and the…
CPJ to launch global press freedom assessment
New York, February 5, 2013– The Committee to Protect Journalists will release Attacks on the Press: Journalism on the World’s Front Lines, a yearly assessment of the state of press freedom worldwide, at a press conference on February 14 at the United Nations.
In Correa’s Ecuador, a bulletin on breakfast is routine
On September 11, 2012, the Ecuadoran government interrupted a morning newscast on the Teleamazonas TV station for an official bulletin. What could be so urgent? A coup d’etat? An earthquake? A cholera outbreak? It turned out the government sought to clarify what President Rafael Correa had for breakfast.
Alleged gang rape and suppression of press freedom in Somalia
CPJ reported on the detention of Somali journalist Abdiaziz Abdinuur for interviewing an internally displaced woman, who claimed she was raped by Somali soldiers while living in a camp last year. Ahead of UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s meeting with Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, CPJ asked Cameron to urge Mohamud to follow through on his commitment to press…