CPJ board protests secret seizure of AP phone records
Dear Attorney General Holder and Deputy Attorney General Cole: CPJ’s board of directors rarely has seen the need to raise its collective voice against U.S. government actions that threaten newsgathering. Today, however, we write to vigorously protest the secret seizing of phone records of The Associated Press. The overly broad scope of the subpoena and the lack of notification to the AP represent a damaging setback for press freedom in the United States and set a terrible example for the rest of the world.
Iraqi journalist threatened for reporting on corruption
New York, May 21, 2013–Iraqi authorities must launch an investigation into a May 14 episode in which a group of armed men raided the home of a journalist and briefly abducted his brother. The journalist, Azhar Shallal, had recently written about alleged corruption.
Journalists attacked at Kiev rally; police fail to intervene
New York, May 20, 2013–Several assailants beat two reporters covering an opposition protest outside Ukrainian Interior Ministry headquarters in Kiev on Saturday in view of police officers who failed to intervene, according to local and international press reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the beating and the inaction of police, and it calls on…
Kenyan press face hostile work environment, study finds
The working environment for journalists and media workers in Kenya is increasingly hostile, with at least 91 percent of journalists at local media outlets having faced security threats in the course of their work, a new study has revealed. The harassment of and attacks against journalists, with nearly 40 percent coming from politicians, indicates a…
Azerbaijan extends criminal defamation to Internet speech
New York, May 14, 2013–Azerbaijani parliament’s approval to extend criminal defamation laws to include Internet speech is a serious setback for press freedom in a country that severely curtails free expression already, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. CPJ calls on President Ilham Aliyev to veto the bill.
Small attack on Thai newspaper has large implications
To head off rising tensions between supporters of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and cartoonist Somchai Katanyutanan, who faces possible criminal defamation charges for critical comments he posted on his personal Facebook page, Thailand’s government has to make sure police fully investigate this weekend’s attack on Thai Rath, the country’s largest circulation daily newspaper. The government’s…
In Egypt, journalists face prosecution, attacks, detention
The editor-in-chief of the daily Al-Watan, Magdy el-Galad, and a reporter for the paper, Ahmed el-Khatib, were referred to a criminal court on May 8, 2013, for publishing a “false report that could disturb public peace,” according to news reports.
What’s risky? In Mexico’s twin cities, journalists don’t know
The Durango state governor was on his way to meet with reporters. Before he arrived, the reporters huddled to decide the question of the moment. It seemed obvious: Why had a former mayor been arrested the day before in what clearly seemed to be a political move? “That was the only question,” a reporter said…
Journalists caught in political turmoil in Bangladesh
New York, May 8, 2013–The safety of journalists covering political turmoil in Bangladesh must be respected by all parties, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today after at least 11 journalists were reported injured while covering demonstrations by Islamists earlier this week in Dhaka.