Impunity

A new turn in the Anna Politkovskaya murder trial is making news today across the wires. It was initially going to be held behind closed doors, but had been opened to the public on Monday. However, stories from AP, Reuters, AFP, and RFE/RL all report that the court has repealed that ruling and will now close the trial to outside observers. Reports claim…

Three men charged in the 2007 murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya are on trial in Moscow beginning today.

Mexico’s special prosecutor for crimes against journalists has responded to CPJ’s October 24 letter expressing concerns about the investigation into the murder of U.S. filmmaker Bradley Will. The prosecutor’s response leaves much unresolved.

New York, November 4, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the decision by California authorities to undertake additional investigations into the August 2007 murder of U.S. editor Chauncey Bailey.

Monday, October 27, marks the second anniversary of the killing in Mexico of Bradley Roland Will, a U.S. documentary filmmaker. Will was shot while covering clashes between anti-government protesters and government supporters in the southern state of Oaxaca. The investigation into the killing has become a source of great concern.

Alisher Saipov, a 26-year-old independent editor, was brutally silenced on October 24, 2007. An unidentified killer fired at him three times, using a Makarov pistol, in his hometown of Osh, Kyrgyzstan. 

Responding to reports that a local court in the Philippines has ordered the arrest of Osmeña Montañer and Estrella Sabay, the alleged masterminds in the 2005 killing of investigative journalist Marlene Garcia-Esperat, a day after murder charges were filed against them, we issued the following statement…

The Maria Moors Cabot Prize is one of the greatest honors conferred on journalists covering Latin America. The black tie gala, which took place last Thursday at Columbia University’s majestic Low Library, is like an annual reunion for journalists like me who have worked in the region.

In response to reports that murder charges have been filed against the alleged masterminds in the 2005 killing of Philippine journalist Marlene Garcia-Esperat before a local court in Mindanao, we issued this statement today …

I met Anna Politkovskaya in person only once, in 2005. She was in New York to collect yet another journalism award, and stopped by CPJ one October afternoon. I remember her crossing the lobby with an even, determined step. She had an urgency about her–that rare focus that comes only with absolute clarity about one’s…