A year after Politkovskaya slaying, signals are not encouraging
Your Excellency, One year after the assassination of Novaya Gazeta investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya, the response by your nation’s law enforcement, judicial, and political institutions remains under intense international scrutiny. In Russia and across the world, leaders and citizens expect an investigation that is diligent, transparent, and free of political influence. Thus far, the signals have not been encouraging.
Committee will oversee Haitian investigations of journalist murders
New York, August 13, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the creation of an independent committee of Haitian journalists that will review the progress of official investigations into the unsolved murders of journalists in Haiti from 2000 to 2007. Haitian President René Préval announced Friday the creation of the committee, which will be composed of…
China: Wave of legal action leaves writers and activists behind bars
New York, October 17, 2006—A court in northern China’s Hebei province today sentenced Guo Qizhen to four years in prison on charges of “inciting subversion” for writing essays on U.S.-based Web sites that criticized the Communist Party leadership. Guo is one of a number of critics and human rights activists to be jailed recently. “More…
Death threats against journalist after drug trafficking report
New York, July 18, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists urges authorities in Paraguay to investigate death threats against a journalist covering drug trafficking in an area where another journalist disappeared more than five months ago. Luis Alcides Ruiz Díaz of the weekly Hechos received an anonymous text message Saturday warning him about his reporting, the…
CPJ writes to Bush and Musharraf for word of abducted Pakistani journalist
Dear President Bush: We are greatly concerned about the disappearance of our colleague Hayatullah Khan, who has been missing since he was abducted by unknown gunmen in North Waziristan along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan on December 5. Members of his family and his colleagues have repeatedly asked the Committee to Protect Journalists to find out where he is being held and seek his release. With that in mind, we are writing to you and to Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.
CPJ urges Putin to revive probe into disappearance of journalist Maksim Maksimov
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by the lack of progress in the investigation into the June 2004 disappearance of journalist Maksim Maksimov in St. Petersburg. Maksimov, 41, an investigative reporter for the St. Petersburg weekly magazine Gorod, was last seen on June 29, 2004, when he went to meet with a source in the city’s downtown district, the business daily Kommersant reported.
CPJ protests criminal prosecution of local reporter
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists wishes to express its grave concern about the criminal prosecution of Ayad Mahmoud al-Tamimi and Ahmed Mutair Abbas, editor-in-chief and managing editor respectively of the now-defunct Iraqi daily Sada Wasit, a local newspaper in the southern city of Kut. Both men face more than 10 years in prison or heavy fines if convicted of four separate defamation charges brought by local government officials in Wasit Province in response to critical articles that they published in 2005.
One year later, murderers of leading editor still free
New York, December 15, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned that the murderers of leading Gambian editor and press freedom activist Deyda Hydara have not been brought to justice a year after his death. As local and international press freedom groups mark the anniversary on Friday, CPJ renews its call to the Gambian…
Preliminary hearing held in Klebnikov murder trial
New York, December 6, 2005—The Moscow City Court today held a preliminary hearing behind closed doors for three men accused in the July 2004 murder of Forbes Russia editor-in-chief Paul Klebnikov. The court ordered a jury trial to begin December 29, Moscow radio station Ekho Moskvy reported. The Committee to Protect Journalists has urged prosecutors…