Iran

New York, May 11, 2009–The Committee to Protect Journalists has issued the following statement in response to reports that freelance journalist Roxana Saberi, who had been imprisoned in Iran, has been released this morning:

New York, May 9, 2009–The Committee to Protect Journalists is issuing a background paper today that describes the legal issues surrounding the appeal of journalist Roxana Saberi, who is imprisoned in Iran on espionage charges. The appeal is expected to be heard as early as Sunday.

“Information is power, which is precisely why many governments attempt to control the press to suppress opposition and preempt dissent,” said U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, the California Democrat who three years ago founded the Congressional Caucus for Freedom of the Press. “Far too often, the reporters and editors who demand reform, accountability, and transparency find…

New York, May 5, 2009–The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the well-being of convicted Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi, who has been treated at Evin Prison’s hospital during a hunger strike to protest her confinement, according to international news reports. A spokesman for the Iranian judiciary said today that a court of appeals will…

Sri Lanka got special mention in the statements of world leaders marking World Press Freedom Day, May 3. It’s not surprising. The government in Colombo has coupled an all-out effort to end its war with the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam with an assault on critics in the Sri Lankan media. U.S. President Barack…

The leading indicators of press freedom–journalists killed and journalists jailed for their work–have headed in the wrong direction for much of this decade, CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon said during a Capitol Hill conference on press security hosted by the National Endowment for Democracy, the Center for International Media Assistance, and the Congressional Press Freedom…

CPJ names the worst online oppressors. Booming online cultures in many Asian and Middle Eastern nations have led to aggressive government repression. Burma leads the dishonor roll.

New York, April 24, 2009–The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed concern today after North Korea announced that it would try American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee on unspecified criminal charges, according to international news reports.

Thirty-five members of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) join CPJ and Reporters Without Borders in a letter to the head of Iran’s judiciary calling for the release of imprisoned journalist Roxana Saberi, currently held in Iran’s Evin Prison.

Internationally acclaimed Kurdish Iranian filmmaker Bahman Ghobadi published a letter today on the Web site of the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran about his fiancee, jailed Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi.