Syrian cartoonist, attacked in August, returns to drawing
Syrian cartoonist Ali Ferzat is wielding his pen once more. According to news reports, the famous cartoonist, who suffered a severe beating in August, has regained 90 percent of the movement in his hands, which were deliberately targeted by his attackers before they dumped him on the side of a road.
Chinese journalist, a Bo Xilai critic, reportedly jailed
New York, March 30, 2012–Authorities in Chongqing must clarify the status of a journalist who reports say was secretly sentenced to prison in 2010 for criticizing a government official in a personal blog, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. CPJ has not been able to independently confirm the journalist’s jail sentence or his whereabouts.
In Burma, press freedom remains an illusion
Just ahead of this weekend’s highly anticipated Burma by-elections, opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi today denounced the vote as not “free and fair.” Indeed, Thein Sein government’s harassment of opposition media in the run-up to the polls raises disturbing questions about the country’s reputed new democratic direction after decades of repressive military rule.
Video: Bocar Dieng on reporting Senegal’s elections
Political violence in Senegal from Committee to Protect Journalists on Vimeo.Last week’s unexpected coup d’etat in Mali somewhat overshadowed, in the international news cycle, a relatively peaceful transition of power in the neighboring democracy of Senegal. In a second-round vote, opposition leader Macky Sall on Sunday defeated his former mentor, 85-year-old incumbent President Abdoulaye Wade;…
Three Ugandan journalists attacked by police
New York, March 29, 2012–Ugandan police officers attacked three journalists as they covered the release on bail of jailed opposition leader Kizza Besigye on Wednesday, according to news reports. The journalists are seeking medical treatment for their injuries.
Mumbai police, media have failed Jyotirmoy Dey
New Delhi-based Tehelka weekly news magazine has published a scathing indictment of the police investigation into the 2011 killing of Mumbai crime reporter Jyotirmoy Dey–and of the Indian media’s coverage of it. Beneath the allegations and the rumors, we still don’t know exactly why he was killed, while the self-confessed mastermind is a fugitive from…
Two British journalists, Syrian photographer reportedly killed
On the first anniversary of Syria’s uprising, CPJ issued a report showing the Syrian government had directly targeted two local journalists. This week, CPJ found Syrian security forces have killed two British freelance reporters. The Los Angeles Times uses CPJ’s research in its coverage of the story. Click here for the full story
Iran continues its campaign against the press
New York, March 29, 2012–Iranian authorities have imprisoned two additional journalists as part of their three-year-long crackdown on the press, according to news reports. In addition, the BBC reported that its Web services had been targeted by a distributed denial-of-service attack, which the broadcaster believed originated from the Iranian regime.