Pakistan’s Abbas: Journalists hostage to ‘power of gun’
CPJ award winner Mazhar Abbas penned a strong Sunday op-ed piece, “Death is the only news–Challenges of working in conflict zones,” for The News. It’s about conditions for journalists working in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Baluchistan. As Abbas says, “The killing of one journalist is a message for another.” He goes on…
Accreditation disputes at center of US arrests
The issue of press accreditation continues to reverberate. In November, when the Occupy movement came into conflict with law enforcement across the country and at least 20 journalists covering the events were arrested, CPJ reported that disputes over press accreditation were at the center of many of those arrests. Last week, credentials played a role…
In Egypt, two journalists attacked, one detained
New York, February 6, 2012–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns official attacks on journalists covering political unrest in Egypt this weekend. At least two journalists were shot by security forces in the past three days, and a third journalist was assaulted in police custody, according to news reports.
Tunisian court should drop prison term given to journalist
New York, February 6, 2012–A Tunisian appeals court should throw out the prison sentence against journalist Abdel Aziz al-Jaridi at a February 10 hearing and authorities should use his case as an opportunity to break from the repressive practices of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s era, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Iran detains, harasses relatives of BBC Persian service staff
New York, February 3, 2012–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the detention and harassment in Iran of relatives of BBC Persian service staff who work outside the country, which is part of a sustained campaign to intimidate journalists into not reporting critically on Tehran’s activities.
Does the Internet boost freedom? We decide, book says
The Internet doesn’t bring freedom. Not automatically, anyway. That’s one of the main messages of Rebecca MacKinnon’s new book, Consent of the Networked, which had its New York launch at the offices of the New America Foundation last night. In a conversation with CNN managing editor Mark Whitaker, MacKinnon, a CPJ board member, said it’s…
Kazakh authorities interrogate editor, raid newsroom
New York, February 2, 2012–The Kazakh security service, or KNB, must immediately cease intimidating Oksana Makushina, deputy editor of Golos Respubliki, and return reporting equipment confiscated today from the independent weekly, the Committee to Protect Journalists said.
Ahead of Iran elections, crackdown on press continues
New York, February 2, 2012–At least 10 Iranian journalists were jailed in the month of January as the government continued its crackdown on dissent ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled in March, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Recent news reports identified three previously undisclosed arrests.
Paraguayan journalist targeted by criminal groups
New York, February 1, 2012–The Committee to Protect Journalists called today on Paraguayan and Brazilian authorities to conduct a thorough investigation into death threats against journalist Cándido Figueredo and to ensure his safety. Police officials confirmed last month that they had intercepted a phone call between two criminal figures who discussed killing the Paraguayan journalist,…
India’s challenge: Intolerance vs. intellectual freedom
Because of criticism from Hindu fundamentalists, the showing of a documentary by filmmaker Sanjay Kak at the Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce in Pune has been indefinitely postponed. The conservative student organization Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parisha protested Kak’s film, “Jashn-e-Azadi” (How we celebrate freedom), which is critical of the Indian army’s role in Kashmir.…