Anti-press attacks rise as tensions escalate in Ukraine
New York, April 14, 2014–Local and international journalists covering the volatile situation in eastern Ukraine have been harassed, attacked, detained, and had their equipment seized, according to news reports and regional press freedom groups.
Confronting the suffering in Vietnam’s prisons
Dinh Dang Dinh, a former Vietnamese schoolteacher and blogger, died on April 3 from cancer of the stomach. Near death, he had been released from his six-year prison sentence on March 21, and allowed to return home to die in Dak Nong province in Vietnam’s Central Highlands. His crime, to which he had pled not…
Amid rising repression, Burmese journalist given jail term
Bangkok, April 7, 2014–A Burmese journalist was sentenced to one year in prison today on charges of “trespassing” and “disturbing an on-duty civil servant” while reporting a news story, according to local reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for the verdict to be overturned on appeal.
20 years after genocide, Rwanda safe, clean, undemocratic
“Do not forget the genocide,” said the voice of a state broadcast announcer in Kigali crackling through a cheap car radio, referring to the organized slaughter 20 years ago of more than 10 percent of the population. “We are all one now,” he said, speaking in Rwanda’s common language of Kinyarwanda, and meaning that Rwandans…
CPJ condemns attacks, harassment of Mexican daily
New York, April 3, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns an attack early today on Adrián López Ortiz, general director of the Grupo Noroeste, a media group that owns the daily Noroeste, in the state of Sinaloa. CPJ is also alarmed by a series of threats and harassment against the paper in recent weeks and…
Blacklisted in Baluchistan
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif made a series of commitments to safeguard press freedom during a meeting with a CPJ delegation last week. Among them was a pledge to speak out in support of media freedom and against attacks on journalists, particularly in high-conflict areas like Baluchistan.
Twitter war shines light on how Rwanda intimidates press
“@RFI speak straight up English, frenchie!! U crying? U started not to make sense,” was one taunting tweet from a certain prolific Twitter account belonging to “Richard Goldston.” The account, since deleted, belonging to a self-proclaimed “anti-imperialist,” repeatedly antagonized Radio France Internationale journalist Sonia Rolley for her critical coverage of the deaths of Rwandan government…