Journalist missing in Libya; 1 killed in Iraq
New York, April 8, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the fate of American freelance journalist Matthew VanDyke, who has been missing in Libya since mid-March, according to his family and news reports. He is among 15 reporters either missing or in government custody in Libya.
Cameroonian editor charged with criminal libel
New York, March 22, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the prosecution of a journalist in Cameroon over coverage of a labor dispute at a transportation company. A public prosecutor in the commercial city of Douala charged Editor Jean-Marie Tchatchouang of the weekly Paroles with criminal defamation on February 4, the journalist told CPJ.
Attacks on the Press 2010: Angola
Top Developments • Legislation criminalizes coverage that insults president, state institutions. • Three top papers purchased by mysterious corporation. Coverage grows timid. Key Statistic 2: Journalists killed in 2010, one a Togolese sports reporter, killed in soccer team ambush. President José Eduardo dos Santos led one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, but he faced criticism…
Attacks on the Press 2010: Armenia
Top Developments • New broadcast law gives regulators broad powers to revoke TV licenses. • Gala TV, a rare critical broadcaster, faces array of government pressures. Key Statistic 1: Number of digital television licenses the government will grant per region. The plan will cut diversity. As his government strengthened ties with Russia, President Serzh Sargsyan…
Attacks on the Press 2010: Azerbaijan
Top Developments • European Court orders release of Eynulla Fatullayev; government still jails editor. • News sites report periodic blocking, typically when sensitive stories are posted. Key Statistic 4: Journalists interrogated by security agents after running a statement from the jailed Fatullayev The authoritarian government of President Ilham Aliyev relied on imprisonments and an atmosphere…
Attacks on the Press 2010: Cuba
Top Developments • Cuba relents on political detainees, frees 17 journalists. Four still held. • In exile, freed journalists face economic, professional difficulties. Key Statistic 45: Poems that journalist and former detainee Ricardo González Alfonso smuggled from prison. After years of intensive advocacy and international diplomacy, 17 independent journalists swept up in the government’s 2003…
Attacks on the Press 2010: Nepal
Top Developments • Three media owners slain. Kantipur group faces threats, obstruction. • Maoist cadres burn copies of two Kathmandu newspapers. Key Statistic 7th: Ranking on CPJ’s Impunity Index, reflecting one of the world’s worst records in solving press murders. The repeated failure to elect a leader cast doubt on the success of Nepal’s transition…
Attacks on the Press 2010: Nigeria
Top Developments • Two journalists murdered, another assaulted in ethnic violence. • Secrecy surrounds death of President Yar’Adua. Key Statistic 7: Journalists kidnapped in restive southern region. All are freed. Official secrecy surrounded the heart ailment that eventually claimed the life of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, sparking a debate over what constituted public information. Nigeria…
Attacks on the Press 2010: Russia
Top Developments • Some progress in journalist murder probes, but attacks continue with impunity. • FSB given broad detention powers in measure that targets critical media. Key Statistic 5: Unsolved journalist murder cases that Russia’s top investigators pledged to reopen. The nation’s top investigative agency reopened a series of unsolved journalist murders and reported progress…
Attacks on the Press 2010: South Africa
Top Developments • ANC pushes proposal to create state media tribunal to monitor, sanction press. • Anti-media rhetoric heats up, tarnishing nation’s image as press freedom leader. Key Statistic 25: Years of imprisonment for disclosing classified information, as proposed in the Protection of Information Bill. On the defensive about high crime rates and reports of…