In Bangladesh, editor of outspoken daily arrested in military raid
New York, March 8, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is troubled by the arrest of Atiqullah Khan Masud, editor and publisher of the popular Bengali-language daily Janakantha, in a military raid on the Dhaka newspaper’s office Wednesday night. Bangladeshi police today accused Masud of corruption, criminal activities, and “tarnishing the country’s image abroad” through his…
Thai government seizes last independent broadcaster
New York, March 6, 2007 — The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by the Thai government’s decision today to take control of iTV, Thailand’s only privately owned and managed television news station. The takeover was expected after the government announced last week it would terminate iTV’s license on Tuesday – the deadline for paying…
Independent editor jailed in Russia
New York, February 22, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is gravely concerned about the fate of Vladimir Chugunov, founder and editor of the independent weekly Chugunka, who has been imprisoned since January 21, according to his family and the independent Moscow daily Novaya Gazeta. Chugunov was summoned to police headquarters in Solnechnogorsk, 40 miles (64…
Another paper raided over ‘pirated’ software
New York, February 8, 2008—For the second time in a week, Russian police have raided an independent newspaper and seized its computers, accusing it of using pirated Microsoft software. The latest incident was on Wednesday, when police in St. Petersburg raided the offices of the weekly Minuty Veka and its publishing house, seizing its computers.…
2006 prison census: 134 journalists jailed
ALGERIA: 2 Djamel Eddine Fahassi, Alger Chaîne III IMPRISONED: May 6, 1995 Fahassi, a reporter for the state-run radio station Alger Chaîne III and a contributor to several Algerian newspapers, including the now-banned weekly of the Islamic Salvation Front, Al-Forqane, was abducted near his home in the al-Harrache suburb of the capital, Algiers, by four…
Attacks on the Press in 2006: Preface
By Anderson CooperSilence. When a journalist is killed, more often than not, there is silence. In Russia, someone followed Anna Politkovskaya home and quietly shot her to death in her apartment building. The killer muffled the sound of the gun with a silencer. Her murder made headlines around the world in October, but from the…
Attacks on the Press 2006: Countries That Have Jailed Journalists
ALGERIA: 2 Djamel Eddine Fahassi, Alger Chaîne III IMPRISONED: May 6, 1995 Fahassi, a reporter for the state-run radio station Alger Chaîne III and a contributor to several Algerian newspapers, including the now-banned weekly of the Islamic Salvation Front, Al-Forqane, was abducted near his home in the al-Harrache suburb of the capital, Algiers, by four…
Attacks on the Press 2006: Belarus
BELARUS Determined to forestall the kind of democratic uprising that toppled the government in neighboring Ukraine, authoritarian leader Aleksandr Lukashenko and his government crushed dissent in the run-up to the March presidential election—and well beyond. Official results showed that Lukashenko collected 83 percent of the vote to gain a third term, but international observers said…
Attacks on the Press 2006: Democratic Republic of Congo
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO The murder of freelance journalist Bapuwa Mwamba in the weeks before historic national elections cast a deep chill over the media, whose members were already subject to frequent attacks and intimidation. Mwamba was the second journalist to be shot to death in his home in eight months. Attacks on the press…