Azerbaijani court sentences editor to eight years in prison
New York, April 5, 2013–An Azerbaijani court has sentenced the editor of a religious news website to eight years in prison on charges related to his coverage of events involving the Muslim community. The Committee to Protect Journalists considers the charges to be fabricated and calls on the courts to overturn the conviction on appeal.
Cameroon bans five broadcast programs, suspends hosts
New York, April 3, 2013–In a wave of censorship, Cameroon has indefinitely banned two TV programs for what regulators considered violent content and another three radio programs on vague charges of ethics violations, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the move, which also includes the suspension of at least seven journalists.
CPJ alarmed by investigation of its consultant in Egypt
New York, April 2, 2013–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by news reports that its Middle East consultant, Shaimaa Abulkhair, would be investigated by national security prosecutors in Egypt for comments she made about the widely criticized criminal case against satirist Bassem Youssef.
UK urged to reconsider post-Leveson media proposals
Dear Prime Minister Cameron: You recently spoke out in defense of press freedom in Africa by raising the case of an imprisoned Somali journalist when you met with Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. The journalist was subsequently released. The moral authority of a British prime minister to mount such a defense stems in part from Britain’s history of nearly 300 years without government regulation of the press.
Uzbekistan should free editor to receive medical care
New York, April 2, 2013–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the ongoing imprisonment of independent Uzbek editor Muhammad Bekjanov, whose health has severely deteriorated in jail, and urges authorities to immediately release him so that he may receive medical care. Bekjanov and a colleague, both of whom were jailed in 1999, have been in prison…
Malian journalist Boukary Daou released on bail
New York, April 2, 2013–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes today’s decision by a judge in Mali to grant bail to a journalist who was jailed for 27 days in connection with his paper’s publication of a letter critical of a military leader. CPJ calls on the public prosecutor to drop the charges against Boukary…
In Egypt, crackdown against media reaches new lows
The government of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi continues to escalate its offensive against journalists. Details of the most recent case, in which an arrest warrant was issued for blogger Alaa Abdelfattah for inciting “aggression” against members of the Muslim Brotherhood, show how low the government is willing to go in order to silence its critics.