A legal attack accompanies assault on Pakistani journalists
Concerned that so many Pakistani journalists have been threatened, abducted, killed, or beaten recently? So are they. When I was in Karachi and Islamabad in late April and early May, I found that they are starting to take steps to protect themselves with increased safety training and protective gear at the larger media houses that…
Journalist murdered in Democratic Republic of Congo
New York, June 22, 2011–Authorities in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo town of Kirumba must thoroughly investigate the murder of radio journalist Witness-Patchelly Kambale Musonia, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The reporter’s bullet-ridden body was discovered early this morning in Congo’s North Kivu province.
Recalling J Dey, Mumbai’s heralded crime reporter
In the comfort of my London home, far from the dangers of crime reporting in Mumbai, the news flash on television seemed unreal. Senior journalist Jyotirmoy Dey had been killed, pumped full of five bullets in broad daylight. I thought things like this only happened in Bollywood flicks, and that crime reporters in Mumbai never…
Prominent Mexican columnist, wife, son shot to death
New York, June 20, 2011–A prominent Mexican newspaper columnist, his wife, and a son were shot to death in their home in Veracruz, according to state investigators, a shocking assault that underscores the country’s ongoing crisis. The administration of President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa must take decisive action to end to the cycle of violence undermining…
Wounded Pakistani journalist succumbs to burn injuries
New York, June 17, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists joins with our colleagues in Pakistan in mourning the death of of reporter Shafiullah Khan, who died Friday of injuries he had sustained in a June 11 suicide bombing in Peshawar, the administrative center for Pakistan’s strife-torn Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) along the border with…
Sierra Leone journalist murdered; suspects in custody
New York, June 15, 2011–Police in Sierra Leone have arrested three suspects, including a police officer, for the killing of a reporter this Sunday during violent clashes over a land dispute on the outskirts of the capital, Freetown, according to local journalists. Ibrahim Foday, 38, a reporter at the private daily newspaper The Exclusive, was beaten and…
Acquitted: A Kenyan journalist struggles to report freely
A court in Kisumu, western Kenya, recently acquitted journalist Bernard Okebe, at left, of graft charges after a two and a half year case against him. While the case is finally over, Okebe is still dealing with the fallout of being accused of blackmail.In December 2008, the police chief of Nyamira, a town in western…
Second Philippine journalist killed from same radio station
New York, June 13, 2011 — Romeo Olea, a provincial radio commentator in the Philippines, was shot dead on his way to work Monday morning. Local and international media reports, quoting police sources, say Olea was shot twice in the back while riding his motorcycle to work in Iriga City in Camarines Sur province, about…