CPJ alarmed by press violations in Iraqi Kurdistan
Dear Prime Minister Barzani: The Committee to Protect Journalists would like to bring to your attention the deterioration of press freedom in Kurdistan. There has been an alarming wave of politically motivated criminal lawsuits filed against mostly independent journalists as well as blatant violations of the region’s new press law. The law has no provisions for jail terms for journalists, but journalists are still being imprisoned.
NABJ honors persecuted Zimbabwean journalist
On Thursday, the U.S.-based National Association of Black Journalists announced the winner of its 2009 Percy Qoboza Foreign Journalists Award: Zimbabwean journalist Anderson Shadreck Manyere. Half a world away, however, Manyere, left, lingered in a hospital in the capital, Harare, traumatized by nearly four months of imprisonment, according to his lawyer.
Life and liberty: Press freedom’s fight on two fronts
The leading indicators of press freedom–journalists killed and journalists jailed for their work–have headed in the wrong direction for much of this decade, CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon said during a Capitol Hill conference on press security hosted by the National Endowment for Democracy, the Center for International Media Assistance, and the Congressional Press Freedom…
Saberi remains on hunger strike in Iranian prison
Iranian-American freelance journalist Roxana Saberi, left, who was sentenced to eight years in prison by an Iranian Revolutionary Court on charges of spying for the United States, remains on a hunger strike that she started a week ago. Her father, Reza Saberi, told Agence France-Presse after visiting her in Tehran’s Evin Prison on her 32 birthday…
Documentary captures a fixer’s harsh reality
In New York, the Tribeca Film Festival showed a strong documentary, The Fixer: The Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi, on Sunday. After the screening, I moderated a panel that featured director Ian Olds and Naqeeb Sherzad, a close friend of Ajmal, shown at left. The panel also included U.S. journalists Christian Parenti, who helped produce the…
In Iran, Roxana Saberi sentenced to eight years in prison
New York, April 18, 2009–An Iranian court convicted journalist Roxana Saberi of espionage and sentenced her to eight years in prison today following a closed, one-day trial earlier this week, according to international news reports. Her lawyer said he will appeal. “Roxana Saberi’s trial lacked transparency and we are concerned that she may not have been…
Saberi appears in a closed Revolutionary Court trial
New York, April 14, 2009–Iranian authorities must ensure that journalist Roxana Saberi, who has been charged with espionage, is treated fairly and justly, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The Iranian-American freelancer, who was arrested in late January, appeared in court for the first time on Monday.
Two imprisoned journalists released in Azerbaijan
New York, April 9, 2009–Following today’s release of independent journalists Sakit Zakhidov and Asif Marzili in Azerbaijan, the Committee to Protect Journalists urged Azerbaijani authorities to free the remaining journalists serving jail terms on trumped-up criminal charges.
Azerbaijani court orders editor jailed on defamation charge
New York, April 8, 2009–A district court in Baku has sentenced Asif Marzili, editor-in-chief of the independent weekly Tezadlar, to one year in prison on charges of defaming managers and professors of Azerbaijan International University, the Azeri Press Agency reported. Ruling on Tuesday, the court also handed down a six-month suspended corrective labor sentence to…