Investigative reporting and Kyrgyzstan’s selective justice
At a Bishkek roundtable Tuesday called “The Fourth Estate: Rule of the Game,” Almambet Shykmamatov, Kyrgyzstan’s justice minister, encouraged local reporters to expose government corruption, local press reported. The minister said authorities would follow up on such reports, grant security to investigative journalists, and might even pay them up to 20 percent of the funds…
In Belarus, journalist arrested, charged with libel
New York, June 21, 2012–Authorities in Belarus must drop the charges against a prominent journalist arrested today for libel against the president, and immediately release him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Andrzej Poczobut has been targeted in the past for his critical writing, CPJ research shows.
Three journalists detained in Sudan over three days
Cairo, June 21, 2012–At least three journalists have been briefly detained and interrogated by Sudanese authorities since Tuesday, according to news reports. The journalists were covering recent protests against rising fuel prices in Khartoum, the reports said.
Don’t punish Chinese restrictions with more restrictions
The Committee to Protect Journalists is watching with concern the progress of H.R. 2899, the Chinese Media Reciprocity Act of 2011, which is under discussion Wednesday in front of the Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement. The bill seeks to reduce the number of visas available to journalists (and their families) working in the United…
Burundi reporter sentenced to life imprisonment
Nairobi, June 20, 2012–A Burundian appeals court must reverse the ruling against a journalist sentenced to life in prison on vague terrorism charges, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. A High Court in the eastern town of Cankuzo today found Hassan Ruvakuki, a reporter for local radio station Bonesha FM and French government-funded broadcaster…
Chinese writers sentenced for ‘essays of inciting nature’
Chinese activists Lü Jiaping, his wife Yu Junyi, and an associate, Jin Andi, were imprisoned in 2010 without their families being informed. The full details of their 2011 trial and sentences were not made public until 2012, according to the English-language Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post.
Journalists attacked while covering clashes in Lebanon
Cairo, June 19, 2012–The Committee to Protect Journalists is disturbed by what it sees as a trend in the attack of Lebanese journalists covering clashes between supporters and opponents of the Syrian regime. In the past month, at least nine journalists have been attacked in four separate incidents.
In Benin, newspapers sanctioned for coverage of officials
Throughout December 2011, HAAC, Benin’s state-run media regulatory agency, summoned more than a dozen newspapers to public hearings and handed them sanctions ranging from a public apology to indefinite suspension, according to news reports. HAAC’s president is appointed by Benin’s head of state, and two-thirds of the agency’s members are appointed by the government, CPJ…
Al-Arabiya news team missing in the Philippines
CPJ is monitoring with concern the news coverage of Baker Abdulla Atyani, a Pakistan-based Jordanian Al-Arabiya TV journalist, and his two Philippine crew members, Rolando Letrero and Ramelito Vela, who have been unaccounted for since June 12. Atyani, Letrero, and Vela left their hotel in Jolo, in the southern Philippines, to interview a commander for…