In Sri Lanka, CPJ saddened by death of journalist
We issued this statement today after learning of the death of Rashmi Mohamed, a provincial correspondent for Sirasa TV. He was one of 27 people who died when a suspected rebel suicide bomber blew himself up today inside a crowded opposition party office in Anuradhapura in northern Sri Lanka. “We join with our Sri Lankan…
Nina Ognianova on silencing the press in Azerbaijan
CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova has a posting on The Guardian’s London-based “Comment is free” blog today about the continued repression of Azerbaijan’s independent press in the run-up to national elections. Read our special report about the dangerous situation for journalists in Azerbaijan, “Finding Elmar’s Killers,” here.Read Ognianova’s post at “Comment is free.”
Beyond the Bulgarian umbrella
“The current situation has made it necessary for the First Main Directorate (PGU) of [Russia’s] KGB to give the First Main Directorate of [Bulgaria’s] Ministry of Internal Affairs the following special means: devices for silent, mechanical ejection of special needles, containing swift poisons. …” The above is an excerpt from Addendum 13 of the “Perspective…
Putin and the tiger
This Monday, the fourth anniversary of the Beslan school hostage crisis, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin sedated a Siberian tiger to save–or so legend has it–a state television crew. As survivors of the Beslan tragedy gathered at the graveyard outside the North Ossetian town to mourn the more than 330 victims–mostly children–killed in the massacre,…
Moscow must investigate killing in Ingushetia
We released the following statement today after journalist Mogamed Yevloyev died in police custody. Yevloyev was detained by police as he arrived at Ingushetia’s airport and was later found dead from a gunshot wound to the head. “We mourn the death of our colleague Magomed Yevloyev and send our sympathies to his family, colleagues, and…
Israeli army decision endangers journalists in Gaza
In the Gaza Strip, anyone with a camera is fair game. That’s the inescapable conclusion from the Israeli army’s investigation into why one of its tank crews fired at least two shells at a Reuters television journalist openly filming them from a mile away. The cameraman, Fadel Shana, 24, filmed the muzzle flash of the…
Growing concern for the fate of journalists in Georgia
At least three reporters have been killed covering the conflict in Georgia, and two others are reported missing. We are investigating reports today that journalists may have targeted at a press center in the city of Gori, which has been flattened in the Russian bombing campaign.