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Freedom of expression is on trial in the young democracy of Thailand, where state agencies, politicians and politically connected businesses have targeted the news media with an alarming string of criminal and civil court actions that seek prison terms and exorbitant monetary damages.

New York, October 3, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the shuttering of the Beijing-based Yannan bulletin board system. Radio Free Asia reported today that the popular Web forum was closed after providing coverage and debate on a turbulent recall campaign in a village in Guangdong province. Yannan posted a September 30 announcement stating that…

New York, September 27, 2005— The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the suspension of a Chinese daily for reporting in August on the cover-up of a coal mining accident in the central city of Ruzhou. Henan Shang Bao (Henan Business News) was suspended for a month from September 17 for “inaccurate reporting” on orders…

SEPTEMBER 17, 2005 Posted October 11, 2005 Henan Shang Bao CENSORED Henan Shang Bao (Henan Business News) was suspended for a month from September 17 for “inaccurate reporting” on orders of the General Administration of Press and Publications and the Central Propaganda Department, according to the Singapore-based Chinese-language daily Lianhe Zaobao. A reporter and an…

New York, September 7, 2005 ­ The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by news that information provided by Internet giant Yahoo Inc. to the Chinese authorities was used to help convict and jail journalist Shi Tao who wrote an e-mail about media restrictions. Shi was sentenced in April to 10 years in prison for…

More than three years have passed since journalist Edgar Damalerio was fatally shot on a crowded street in the port city of Pagadian on the southern island of Mindanao.

New York, August 19, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about a delay in the testimony of three international expert witnesses who were scheduled to appear in court in Bangkok this week in defense of media activist Supinya Klangnarong, who is on trial with the Thai-language daily Thai Post on criminal defamation charges. Shin…

The pivotal role of the Philippine press in the nation’s history is a point of pride among journalists. The newspaper La Solidaridad, published in Spain and distributed to intellectual reformers in the Philippines, was a mouthpiece for revolutionary sentiment against the Spanish at the end of the 19th century. One of its principal contributors, the author and national hero José Rizal, was executed by the Spanish in 1896 for being the intellectual inspiration for the independence movement.

Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the charge of espionage leveled on Friday against Straits Times reporter Ching Cheong, who has been detained since April without access to legal representation or his family. As an independent organization of journalists dedicated to defending our colleagues worldwide, we are gravely concerned that a pattern of using national security charges against journalists is seriously inhibiting the ability of the press to cover important events in China.

New York, June 30, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists deplores the Hunan Supreme People’s Court decision to uphold the conviction of journalist Shi Tao on charges of “illegally leaking state secrets abroad.” The ruling makes it more likely that Shi will serve out the bulk of a 10-year prison sentence for e-mailing to the editor…