Imprisoned

Agence France-Presse has coverage of our letter sent to Cameroonian President Paul Biya on January 16. The letter protested the jailing of four Cameroonian journalists, which makes the country Africa’s second-leading jailer of journalists. The reporters have been held since September on charges of criminal defamation. AFP quotes CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon: “The journalists…

New York, January 16, 2009–The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the health of a Zimbabwean photojournalist who was denied bail today despite allegations that he was tortured while in police detention in the capital Harare. 

Dear President Triet: The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by new online content restrictions that appear to be part of a stepped-up official campaign to suppress and intimidate reporters, editors, and commentators.

Dear President Biya: We are writing to express our alarm that four newspaper editors have been jailed in Cameroon for their work since September–making your country the second-worst jailer of journalists in Africa, according to our research.

Dear President-elect Obama: I am writing as chairman of the Committee to Protect Journalists to seek your leadership in reaffirming America’s role as a staunch defender of press freedom throughout the world. Journalists in many countries who risk their lives and liberty upholding the values of free expression look to the United States for support.

New York, January 9, 2009–Zimbabwean photojournalist Anderson Shadreck Manyere, who was arrested on December 24, was remanded in custody today by a court in Harare despite allegations that he was tortured while in police detention, according to local journalists. Manyere is expected to return to court on January 23. 

New York, January 8, 2009–Detained Gabonese journalist Gaston Asseko, who is in need of medical attention, must be released immediately, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. 

New York, January 8, 2009–B.V. Seetaram and his wife, Rohini, who head the media group Chithra Publications in Karnataka state, southern India, have been in judicial custody since Sunday in connection with two-year old criminal charges relating to their newspapers, according to local news reports.

The Associated Press has coverage today of CPJ’s tally of journalists killed for their work in 2008. The final number rests at 41, with 22 cases still unconfirmed. We released a video remembering those who died in the past year, as well as an in-depth report on those killed in 2008.

Dear President Castro: The Committee to Protect Journalists is writing to you on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution to renew its call for the immediate and unconditional release of all journalists jailed in your country. With 21 reporters and editors unjustly incarcerated, Cuba is one of the leading jailers of journalists in the world, second only to China.