Imprisoned

New York, December 23, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the decision by an Algerian court to sentence an editor-in-chief and a journalist at the Algiers-based independent daily El Watan to a three-month jail term each for defamation on Monday.

New York, December 16, 2008–Police should observe Chinese law and proceed transparently in the investigation of two journalists arrested on bribery charges in northern Shanxi province, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. 

New York, December 12, 2008–A Port-au-Prince court sentenced journalist and press freedom advocate Guyler Delva to one month in prison on Wednesday for defaming a former senator. Delva said he has received death threats he believes are linked to the case. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the court’s decision today, and urged Haitian authorities…

New York, December 11, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists today expressed concern for the welfare of prominent activist and writer Liu Xiaobo, who has not been heard from since authorities detained him in Beijing on Monday, according to his wife and lawyer. 

Dear President Correa: We are writing to express alarm at the imprisonment of two Ecuadoran journalists and to call for their immediate and unconditional release. Furthermore, we urge you to use the authority of your office to reform Ecuador’s archaic defamation laws, which are incompatible with international standards of freedom of expression and rulings by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

The Lebanon-based Web site Menassat has an article today about the continued detainment of Reuters cameraman Ibrahim Jassam, currently the only known journalist being held by the US military. A local Iraqi court has urged the military to release Jassam, who was arrested on September 2, as there is no evidence against him. 

CPJ’s Deputy Director Robert Mahoney has a posting on The Guardian’s London-based “Comment is free” blog today about CPJ’s finding that online journalists now make up the majority of journalists jailed for their work. Read our full report on imprisoned journalists here.

New York, December 9, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes a presidential pardon for a journalist in Iraqi Kurdistan who had been sentenced to six months in prison, in direct violation of the region’s press law. 

We released this statement after learning that formerly jailed journalist Liu Xiaobo was detained after signing a letter to the government today calling for greater freedoms ahead of the 60th anniversary Wednesday of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The letter was signed by 300 lawyers, writers, scholars, and artists…