Editor released from detention
New York, September 23, 2003—Abdoulie Sey, editor-in-chief of the private, biweekly Independent, was released from detention yesterday evening in Gambia, said sources in the capital, Banjul. On September 19, three men in an unmarked car abducted Sey in front of the newspaper’s offices in Banjul. Sey was subsequently held incommunicado at the headquarters of the…
Journalist released from detention amid further arrests
New York, September 19, 2003—Sitaram Baral, the assistant editor of the weekly Janaastha, was released from detention by Nepalese security forces on Wednesday, September 17, according to local journalists. Four days earlier, however, local sources told CPJ that security forces arrested another journalist, Premnath Joshi, editor of the monthly English-language magazine Shangrila Voice. Baral was…
CPJ condemns attacks on journalists by government forces and Maoists
New York, September 15, 2003— The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the recent wave of attacks on journalists by government security forces and by Maoist rebel forces in Nepal. Since rebels broke a cease-fire agreement on August 27, reports of journalists being kidnapped, arrested, threatened, and even murdered have risen dramatically. According to local…
Journalists who disappeared
CPJ research indicates that the following journalists have disappeared while doing their work. Although some of them are feared dead, no bodies have been found, and they are therefore not classified as “Killed.” If a journalist disappeared after being held in government custody, CPJ classifies him or her as “Imprisoned” as a way to hold…
Police close church-owned radio station
New York, June 25, 2003–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed that Ugandan authorities have closed the Catholic Churchowned Radio Kyoga Veritas FM, in the northeastern town of Soroti, for airing reports about fighting in the region between government forces and the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). On the afternoon of Sunday, June 22, police…
Police close church-owned radio station
New York, June 25, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed that Ugandan authorities have closed the Catholic Churchowned Radio Kyoga Veritas FM, in the northeastern town of Soroti, for airing reports about fighting in the region between government forces and the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). On the afternoon of Sunday, June 22, police…
Attacks on the Press 2002: Afghanistan
In many obvious ways, press conditions in Afghanistan in 2002 were far better than the year before, when virtually no local independent media outlets operated, and eight journalists were killed covering the U.S.-led military offensive that ended the repressive rule of the Taliban regime. During 2002, Afghan journalists produced some 150 publications in the capital,…
Attacks on the Press 2002: Chile
The administration of President Ricardo Lagos continued its efforts, begun in 2001, to repeal Chile’s harsh criminal statutes for press offenses. In September, the government introduced a bill to amend several articles of the Penal Code and the Code of Military Justice that impose criminal penalties for “insulting the honor or dignity” of government authorities,…