abducted

New York, April 15, 2004—Three Japanese civilians, including one photographer, abducted in Iraq last week were released today. However, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned about reports that armed gunmen abducted another Japanese journalist and an activist from Japan near Baghdad yesterday. The Qatar-based news channel Al-Jazeera reported today that Japanese journalist…

New York, April 14, 2004—A French journalist abducted on Sunday near Iraq’s capital, Baghdad, has been freed. The TV news agency Capa Television said that its reporter Alexandre Jordanov was released today, the Associated Press reported. No further details were available. Jordanov and his cameraman, Ivan Cerieix, were abducted on Sunday, April 11, while filming…

New York, April 13, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has learned that French journalist Alexandre Jordanov, with TV news agency Capa Television, was abducted on Sunday, April 11, near Iraq’s capital, Baghdad. Jordanov and his cameraman, Ivan Cerieix, were filming clashes between U.S. troops and Iraqi insurgents after an attack on U.S. convoy. Ceriex,…

New York, April 12, 2004—Amid a climate of increasing danger in Iraq, three Czech journalists have gone missing. A Japanese freelance journalist who was abducted on April 8, along with two other Japanese civilians, remains in captivity. Michal Kubal and his cameraman Petr Klima, both of the public network Czech Television, are feared kidnapped since…

New York, April 8, 2004—At least one journalist is believed to be among three Japanese civilians abducted today in Iraq by an unknown group calling itself the Mujahedeen Squadrons. The news comes amid escalating clashes between Coalition forces and Iraqis, as well as several incidents this week in which foreigners—including journalists—have been briefly held by…

New York, April 7, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned about several recent incidents in which journalists have been briefly held by insurgents in Iraq. These incidents come amid escalating clashes between Coalition forces and Iraqi insurgents. According to The Associated Press (AP), one of its photographers and his driver were detained…

There were 138 journalists in prison around the world at the end of 2003 who were jailed for practicing their profession. The number is the same as last year. An analysis of the reasons behind this is contained in the introduction on page 10. At the beginning of 2004, CPJ sent letters of inquiry to…

While integration into NATO and the European Union has had a positive effect on press freedom conditions in most of Central Europe and the Baltic states, the situation for journalists in Russia and the former Soviet republics has worsened steadily, with governments relying on authoritarian tactics to silence the media. Even reformist governments in the…

With Algerians preparing for the April 2004 presidential election , the government of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who has always had a contentious relationship with the media, took steps to restrict press freedom. Since 1990, when the first private newspapers were allowed in Algeria, the media and the government have engaged in a tug-of-war. In 2003,…

In 2003, Bangladesh was one of the most violent countries in the world for journalists, with almost daily cases of physical assaults and intimidation–particularly in rural areas. Local journalists say they are increasingly under threat for reporting on political violence, graft, and organized crime, but that the main cause of brutality against the press in…