Pakistan

New York, November 20, 2001—CPJ welcomes the release of Japanese free-lance journalist Daigen Yanagida, who was imprisoned for nearly a month by Taliban authorities in Jalalabad. Yanagida was detained on October 22 in Asadabad after entering Afghanistan without a visa. He was later brought to Jalalabad for questioning. On November 16, the Taliban released Yanagida…

New York, July 11, 2001 — CPJ is dismayed that local authorities in Abbottabad have not dropped blasphemy charges brought against journalists from the Urdu-language daily Mohasib, even though officials at both the provincial and federal levels have issued statements noting that these charges are groundless. On May 29, Mohasib published an article entitled “The…

November 1, 2001 ­ The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is very concerned by the detention of Japanese journalist Daigen Yanagida in Taliban-controlled territory. Yanagida was arrested on October 22 in Asadabad, near the border with Pakistan, and is currently being held in Jalalabad for questioning, according to Japanese and international news sources. Yanagida was…

Tuesday, October 30, 2001—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned that the Pakistani government is delaying the visa applications of Indian journalists, as well as journalists of Indian origin holding citizenship from Western countries. Some of these journalists have told CPJ that visa applications submitted in mid-September are still awaiting approval. Officials at Pakistan’s…

Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is extremely concerned by your government’s apparent refusal to process visa applications from journalists of Indian descent. Indian journalists, as well as journalists of Indian origin holding citizenship from Western countries, have told CPJ that visa applications submitted in mid-September are still awaiting approval. Officials at Pakistan’s High Commission in London have informed journalists of Indian origin that the Information Ministry office in Islamabad must clear their applications before they can be approved. Meanwhile, non-Indian journalists typically receive visas within days, if not hours, of submitting their applications.

New York City, October 17, 2001–Two weeks after the September 11 attacks, the number of foreign journalists in Pakistan swelled to an estimated 700. The country’s location alongside Afghanistan, the first target of Washington’s “new war,” made Pakistan a natural destination for journalists. Pakistan An initially lax visa policy–allowing citizens of most Western countries and…

New York, October 16, 2001—CPJ welcomes the release of Aziz Zemouri, French reporter for the weekly Figaro Magazine, whom Taliban officials detained and subsequently handed over to Pakistani authorities after he crossed into Afghanistan last week. Zemouri was turned over to Pakistan’s border security forces at Ghulam Khan by Taliban authorities in North Waziristan Agency…

New York, October 12, 2001—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned about the detention of Aziz Zemouri, a reporter for the French weekly Figaro Magazine. On October 11, Pakistan’s border security forces arrested Zemouri at Ghulam Khan in North Waziristan Agency, according to Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper. A French Foreign Ministry spokesperson told CPJ…

Dear Governor Shah: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) respectfully asks you to order the immediate release of Rifatullah Orakzai, a reporter for the Peshawar-based English-language newspaper Khyber Mail; Muhammad Iqbal Afridi, a district correspondent based in Bara, Khyber Agency, who contributes to the national Urdu-language daily Al-Akhbar; and Syed Karim, a stringer for the national Urdu-language daily Khabrain.