RFE/RL Turkmen correspondent freed from jail
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) correspondent Dovletmurad Yazguliyev has been released from prison in Turkmenistan after being sentenced to 5 years in jail earlier this month. RFE/RL reports that Yazguliyev was freed by presidential amnesty after his case drew worldwide condemnation lead by the CPJ and other rights groups. Click here for the full story.
Reporter goes inside Egypt’s Mukhabarat torture regime
When Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reporter Robert Tait was taken into custody by Egyptian authorities at a police checkpoint near central Cairo on February 4, he didn’t know he’d become witness to torture. But, cuffed and blindfolded for 28 hours, Tait heard and saw beatings and electrocutions. “My experience, while highly personal, wasn’t really about…
Egypt: New accreditation rules; military obstructs media
New York, February 7, 2011–Egyptian authorities have shifted their strategy for obstructing the press as protests enter their 14th day: The military has become the predominant force detaining journalists and confiscating their equipment rather than plainclothes police or government supporters, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Authorities have also put in place new bureaucratic…
Cairo attacks continue; reporter dies from earlier shooting
New York, February 4, 2011–Journalists in Cairo faced assaults, detentions, and threats again today as supporters of President Hosni Mubarak continued their efforts to obstruct news coverage of protests demanding the Egyptian leader’s ouster. While the extent of attacks lessened after a peak on Thursday, ongoing anti-press activities remain at an alarming level that must…
As dissidents move online, governments fight back
Social media and cyber dissidents have exerted a increasing influence on global politics over the last few years—Twitter, for instance, was widely utilized by protesters and journalists during Iran’s 2009 post-election Green Movement, and China has been locked in conflict with Google over allegations of censorship and hacking. “Ideas in Action” with Jim Glassman, a half-hour weekly show on…
Under pressure, Kyrgyz stations halt RFE/RL programming
New York, March 16, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists is disturbed by reports that the Kyrgyz government has pressured several radio and television stations to stop carrying programming from the Kyrgyz service of the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).