Blogger released in mass amnesty in Burma
Bangkok, October 12, 2011 – The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes today’s release of Burmese blogger and comedian Maung Thura, but reiterates its call for the immediate and unconditional release of at least 13 other journalists on CPJ’s imprisoned list.
Gambian minister should disclose Manneh’s fate
New York, October 11, 2011 – An official of the Gambian government publicly indicated knowledge of the whereabouts of missing journalist Ebrima “Chief” Manneh, according to news reports. The government, which has repeatedly denied any involvement in Manneh’s 2006 disappearance, must immediately disclose the details of his status, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Reporter gets five years in Turkmenistan
New York, October 5, 2011 — The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the sentencing today of Dovletmurad Yazguliyev, a local correspondent for the Turkmen service of the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), to five years in prison on charges of inciting a relative’s suicide attempt.
In Vietnam, crackdown on journalists in past six months
New York, October 3, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the recent crackdown on freedom of expression in Vietnam and calls on the government to immediately and unconditionally release all of the journalists detained in the country.
Journalists face threats in covering Isaac imprisonment
New York, September 26, 2011–A Sweden-based journalist was publicly threatened Friday in connection with her reporting on the case of Dawit Isaac, a Swedish-Eritrean journalist who has been imprisoned in Eritrea for a decade without charge, according to news reports and CPJ interviews. A day earlier in New York, bodyguards for the Eritrean leader Isaias…
Eritrea: Let’s lift the shroud of 10 years of misery
Since Zaid Tewelde’s husband, an Eritrean freedom fighter turned playwright and journalist, was arrested in September 2001, she has spent each passing day coping with the burning questions of her two young sons, age 9 and 10, “Where is my dad? When are we going to see him?” And she is not alone. Like Zaid, the…
Iran frees hikers, many journalists remain imprisoned
New York, September 21, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the news that U.S. journalist Shane Bauer and his friend Josh Fattal were released today on US$1 million bail by the Iranian government after two years in Tehran’s Evin Prison, according to news reports.
Iran arrests six documentary filmmakers
New York, September 19, 2011–Iranian authorities have arrested six independent filmmakers on vague accusations that they engaged in a foreign conspiracy in connection with a critical new documentary about Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to news accounts. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the arrests and calls for the journalists’ immediate release.
When Eritrea shut down the independent press
It was September 18, 2001. As usual, I had to do my shift as a news reader on Eritrea’s national government-controlled radio station Dimtsi Hafash. It was just minutes before 6:30 a.m. I was almost ready with all of the Tigrinya news material given to me for broadcasting and was waiting for the on-air sign…