Ethiopia jails editor whose paper challenged Zenawi
New York, February 1, 2010—An Ethiopian judge sentenced a journalist to prison on Friday in connection with a January 2008 column that criticized Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s statements about religious affairs in Ethiopia, according to local journalists.
In Tunisia, critical journalist’s appeal rejected
New York, February 1, 2010—A Tunisian appeals court on Saturday upheld a six-month prison sentence against journalist Taoufik Ben Brik, one of President Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali’s toughest critics, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists denounced the decision, the latest development in the politically motivated effort to silence Ben Brik.
Saleh uses security as cover to quash press freedom
Ministers and officials representing some 20 Western and Arab governments and international financial institutions declared themselves “friends of Yemen” during last week’s closed-door meeting in London to address threats posed by Al-Qaeda in Yemen, according to news reports. Participants, including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, offered assurances that the international community, in addition…
Burmese government jails another DVB journalist
New York, February 1, 2010—The Burmese government should cease its campaign of intimidation and harassment against the Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), an exile-run television news provider, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
In Russia, Novaya Gazeta server disabled
We issued the following statement today in response to sustained distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks on the server hosting the Web version of the independent Moscow-based newspaper Novaya Gazeta; the Web site has been disabled since January 26 according to newspaper staff who spoke with CPJ…
Media must not be left behind as Haiti rebuilds
The earthquake that rocked Haiti didn’t spare anyone, including the media. Like every institution in the troubled country, the media has had its share of challenges. They cannot pay decent salaries to reporters and the reporting most often doesn’t go beyond the headlines. International organizations have developed training programs for Haitian journalists, but those journalists…
Morocco’s most critical publication faces closure
New York, January 29, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the latest development in Moroccan authorities’ efforts to silence the independent newsmagazine Le Journal Hebdomadaire. Liquidators took control of the country’s most critical publication this week after a Casablanca commercial appeals court declared on Monday that Le Journal Hebdomadaire’s former publishing group, Media Trust, and…
Conviction welcomed in 2005 murder case
We issued the following statement today after a Philippine court sentenced Muhammad Maulana to life in prison for the murder of journalist Edgar Amoro. Amoro witnessed the killing of his fellow Pagadian City-based broadcaster, Edgar Damalerio, in May 2002. In December 2005, a police officer, Guillermo Wapile, was sentenced to life in prison for gunning…