Chinese journalist Gao Yu is missing
On April 15, 1989, Hu Yaobang died. Hu had been general secretary of the Communist Party from 1982 to 1987, and recognized for his leanings toward economic reform in China. His death led to demonstrations around China, some of them in Tiananmen Square. On June 4, 1989, Tiananmen became the focus of the government’s wrath, and…
Ethiopia jails nine journalists, renews press crackdown
Nairobi, April 28, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the Ethiopian government’s arrests of nine journalists in one of the worst crackdowns against free expression in the country.”With the latest arrests, Ethiopian authorities are turning the peaceful exercise of free expression into a crime,” said CPJ East Africa Representative Tom Rhodes.On Sunday, a…
CPJ condemns jailing of Cuban citizen journalist
New York, April 22, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the imprisonment of Juliet Michelena Díaz, a member of a network of citizen journalists, and calls on Cuban authorities to release her immediately. Michelena was detained on April 7 days after photographing a police operation in Havana, according to news reports and local human rights…
Azerbaijan jails reporter on espionage charges
New York, April 21, 2014–A court in Baku today ordered journalist Rauf Mirkadyrov, Turkey correspondent for the independent Azerbaijani newspaper Zerkalo, to jail for three months pending trial on espionage charges after he was deported from Turkey, news reports said.
Seven journalists among those beaten in Iran’s Evin Prison
New York, April 18, 2014–At least seven journalists were among those attacked when Iranian guards and intelligence officials raided a section of Tehran’s Evin Prison holding political prisoners on Thursday, according to news websites and human rights groups.The unprecedented violent attack left dozens of prisoners injured, some hospitalized, and others transferred to solitary confinement, according to news reports.
Cameroonian newspaper editor jailed for defamation
New York, April 15, 2014–Authorities in Cameroon should release a newspaper editor who has been imprisoned since March 29 after being convicted of criminal defamation, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On Friday, a judge postponed indefinitely a bail hearing for Amungwa Tanyi Nicodemus, according to news reports.
Egypt detains more journalists as elections approach
New York, April 10, 2014–Two journalists were arrested in Egypt on Wednesday and new charges filed against three others, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Egyptian government’s renewed crackdown on the press as presidential elections approach in May.
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…
Alabama blogger released after five months in jail
Roger Shuler, whose blog, Legal Schnauzer, specializes in allegations of corruption and scandal in Republican circles in Alabama, was released from jail on March 26, 2014, after spending more than five months in prison on contempt of court charges. Shuler was arrested on October 1, 2013, for failing to comply with a preliminary injunction prohibiting him from…