UAE intent on punishing online dissent
New York, June 14, 2011– Today’s trial of prominent political blogger Ahmad Mansoor and four others for alleged insult of authorities, criticism and undermining of the government in relation to the their online writings and activism represents a further setback for press freedom in the United Arab Emirates, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Politicized prison sentence for Moroccan editor
New York, June 9, 2011– Today’s one-year prison sentence against Rachid Nini, executive editor of the Moroccan daily Al-Massae and owner of Al-Massae Media Group, is the latest instance of the Moroccan government settling scores with critical journalists through a judiciary that is subservient to the executive branch, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
CPJ voices concern as journalists are released
New York, May 18, 2011–The release of foreign journalists held in Iran and Libya today is a very positive development in a region where the press has been under attack since social upheaval began in Tunisia early this year, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Iran must release Dorothy Parvaz
New York, May 11, 2011–Al-Jazeera reported today that Syria has deported Dorothy Parvaz, a journalist working for the channel’s English-language service, to Iran. The Committee to Protect Journalists is calling for her immediate release.”Syria’s apparent deportation of Dorothy Parvaz to Iran when she is also a citizen of the U.S. and Canada, is an irresponsible…
CPJ condemns attack on Kommersant reporter
New York, November 6, 2010–The Russian government must act immediately to arrest the assailants responsible for a brutal attack today on a reporter for the Moscow daily Kommersant. The brazen assault, which left Oleg Kashin, left, so badly injured he was placed in an induced coma, is a product in part of the government’s failure to…
Editor of censored Rwandan newspaper is slain
In response to international media reports that Jean-Léonard Rugambage, the deputy editor of the suspended independent newspaper Umuvugizi, was shot dead late Thursday in the Rwandan capital of Kigali, the Committee to Protect Journalists released the following statement:
Andijan police release independent journalist
New York, June 18, 2010—We issued the following statement after police in the eastern Uzbek city of Andijan released independent Uzbek reporter Aleksei Volosevich after holding him without charge for three days; Volosevich was filming refugees from the unrest in Kyrgyzstan. Police confiscated his phone, footage, and audio recorder, Volosevich told CPJ.
Andijan police continue to hold independent journalist
New York, June 15, 2010—We issued the following statement after confirming that police in the eastern Uzbek city of Andijan continue to hold independent Uzbek reporter Aleksei Volosevich for a third consecutive day. Volosevich had travelled to the border with Kyrgyzstan to report on the conditions for refugees, fleeing the bloody ethnic clashes between ethnic…