Nepal PM criticizes arrests in Thapa murder
New York, January 8, 2013–Nepalese Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai today publicly criticized the arrest of five of his party members who stand accused of the 2004 murder of radio journalist Dekendra Raj Thapa, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the arrests and calls on the prime minister to allow due process…
Kazakh reporter says he staged his own abduction
A journalist in Astana, the capital, said in a press conference on January 4, 2013, that he had staged his own disappearance in December to attract government attention to ongoing abuses in the country, according to news reports. Local journalists and press freedom organizations condemned the act, which they said caused “great damage” to the…
Amid rape furor, journalist still in jail for exposing assault
Even though members of the Karnataka state government have provided broad assurances that they will drop charges against Naveen Soorinje, the young journalist remains imprisoned two months after he was arrested for exposing an assault on women by Hindu extremists. Welcome to Incredible India, where a journalist can be locked up for documenting a crime…
In China, rebellion grows over Southern Weekly
In the past few days, Chinese journalists and their supporters have launched startlingly direct opposition to Communist Party rule, protesting a heavy-handed move by Guangdong’s provincial propaganda department to unilaterally replace a Southern Weekly editorial on constitutionalism with pro-Party bromides. Defying censors’ directives, media organizations around the country continue to post messages of support of…
U.S. daily harassed after publishing map of gun owners
New York, January 7, 2013–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns continued harassment and threats against staff of The Journal News after the New York state-based daily published an interactive map that identified local gun permit holders. CPJ calls on authorities to investigate the matter thoroughly and take all appropriate law enforcement action.
Mexico’s freedom of expression crisis
According to CPJ research, reporting has become a deadly profession for journalists in Mexico. In an editorial for The Miami Herald, CPJ Senior Americas Program Coordinator, Carlos Lauria, evaluates the ongoing press freedom crisis in Mexico and calls on the country’s new president, Enrique Pena Nieto, to combat the issue. Click here for the full story