Online journalist beaten in southern Siberia
New York, September 9, 2009—Regional authorities must launch a thorough probe into a brazen attack on Mikhail Afanasyev, editor of the online magazine Novy Fokus, and examine whether his journalism was the motive, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
CPJ saddened by death of kidnapped translator
We issued the following statement after Afghan journalist Sultan Mohammed Munadi was killed during a raid to free him and his colleague, New York Times reporter Stephen Farrell. The two journalists had been kidnapped in the northern Afghan province of Kunduz on Saturday…
In Tunisia, court orders transfer of syndicate board
New York, September 8, 2009—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a Tunisian court’s decision to recognize a pro-government board of the National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists (NSTJ). Police today physically evicted members of the previous independent board from the syndicate’s offices, according to local journalists.
Amid woes, Kambakhsh release a moment to celebrate
We received great news that Parwez Kambakhsh, a 24-year-old Afghan journalist and student who was unjustly convicted of blasphemy and serving a 20-year term, was released from prison. But happiness over his release—the product of intensive advocacy by CPJ and others—is tempered by deteriorating press conditions overall in Afghanistan.
CPJ pleased by release of Parwez Kambakhsh
We released this statement today after receiving confirmation from Yaqub Ibrahimi that his brother, Afghan journalism student Parwez Kambakhsh, who was convicted of blasphemy and originally sentenced to death, has been released from a 20-year prison sentence…
Newly freed, Gambian columnist describes jail
On an ordinary Friday, Sarata Jabbi-Dibba, a reporter in the West African nation of Gambia, publishes her weekly column on women’s issues, “She She She,” in the only independent daily newspaper here, The Point. Last Friday however, Dibba was herself a newsmaker—after recovering her freedom.
Journalists interrogated over article on Moroccan king
New York, September 4, 2009–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Moroccan authorities to end an investigation of two journalists who have already been interrogated for 40 hours over an article about the health of the king. Authorities have repeatedly pressed them to reveal their sources, according to their lawyer.