Rouhani can take steps to improve Iran press freedom
After eight hellish years for Iran’s journalists under outgoing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the election of Hassan Rouhani was welcomed with hope for a better future. As soon as he takes office in August, he should act on his view and take steps to protect journalists in Iran.
In Somaliland, Hubaal journalists sentenced to jail
Nairobi, July 3, 2013–A court in the capital of the semi-autonomous republic of Somaliland today convicted the manager and editor of the independent daily Hubaal of defamation and sentenced them to prison. Hubaal’s editor, Hussein Hassan Abdullahi, received two years, while the paper’s manager, Mohamed Ahmed Jama, was sentenced to one year in jail on…
Vietnam intensifies crackdown on bloggers
New York, July 2, 2013–The Committee to Protect Journalists is gravely concerned by the ongoing investigation into a critical Vietnamese blogger. Dinh Nhat Uy was the third blogger arrested in a month, signaling that the country’s crackdown continues to intensify.
In Barroso-Aliyev talks, press freedom takes a back seat
“We in Europe are also not perfect,” José Manuel Barroso said last week while hosting a joint press conference in Brussels with Azerbaijan’s head of state, Ilham Aliyev. The president of the European Commission, who is supposed to defend the EU’s democratic values, seemed to prove his own point by deciding not to openly question…
Karimov should uphold media pledge by freeing journalists
New York, June 27, 2013–Uzbek President Islam Karimov should follow through on his public commitment today to support his country’s journalists by releasing the unjustly jailed reporter Salidzhon Abdurakhmanov immediately, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. News accounts have reported that the health of Abdurakhmanov, who has been imprisoned since 2008, has deteriorated in…
Exiled journalists in risky places need helping hand
It was well past mid-day in Eastleigh, a shanty district on the east side of Nairobi, Kenya. The billows of dust rising from the rock-scarred road showed a government that had long lost interest in the neighborhood. A young man, struggling with horribly dry conditions, was fighting with his patrons. “Welahi, today’s khat is so…
Chinese journalist held after publishing book on Tiananmen
New York, June 13, 2013–Chinese authorities must immediately release a journalist who has been detained since May 31 following the publication of his book on the Tiananmen massacre, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Du Bin’s detention, which was reported by his family members, came a few days before the 24th anniversary of the…