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Press freedom in the news 12/17/08

China has blocked access to BBC and VOA Chinese Web sites, according to reports released yesterday. The Associated Press is covering the story with two releases today that both quote CPJ’s Bob Dietz, who said in a statement: “It’s clear that China has no intention of fulfilling the hopes it raised when it was awarded the…

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Remembering Deyda Hydara, four years after his murder

I last saw Deyda Hydara alive on December 14, 2004, only two days before his death. To this day, the gunmen who shot dead the Gambia’s best-known journalist as he drove home from work are still at large. The crime remains unsolved.

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Two Chinese journalists face corruption charges in Shanxi

New York, December 16, 2008–Police should observe Chinese law and proceed transparently in the investigation of two journalists arrested on bribery charges in northern Shanxi province, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. 

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Iraqi journalist who threw shoes is detained

During a press conference in Baghdad on Sunday, Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi called President George Bush a dog as he hurled his shoes at him. Though he missed his target, al-Zaidi was immediately tackled to the ground and restrained by plainclothes security personnel.

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Kyrgyz officials issue ultimatum to RFE/RL

We issued the following statement after the state broadcaster in Kyrgyzstan said it would not carry programming by the popular Kyrgyz-language service of US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty unless all content was cleared in advance with the government…

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BBC and VOA Web sites banned in China

In response to reports today that the BBC’s Chinese language news site and Voice of America in Chinese have been banned in China, we issued this statement.

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Burkina Faso police question Zongo protesters

This morning, police in Burkina Faso summoned four leaders of a march over the weekend that called for a renewed investigation into the unsolved 1998 assassination of investigative journalist Norbert Zongo. Among those questioned was Jean-Claude Meda, the president of the Association of Journalists of Burkina Faso, who told me that he received a call…

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Press freedom in the news 12/15/08

Time.com’s “China Blog” has a post today titled “A Dark Time for Reporters in China” that outlines some recent cases of harassment and violence against journalists working in the country and quotes our statistics of journalists imprisoned for their work.

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Norbert Zongo’s murder: No justice after 10 years

Ten years ago on Saturday, the bullet-ridden bodies of investigative journalist Norbert Zongo and three friends were found in Zongo’s burned-out car outside the capital of Burkina Faso.

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Journalist sentenced to prison for defamation

New York, December 12, 2008–A Port-au-Prince court sentenced journalist and press freedom advocate Guyler Delva to one month in prison on Wednesday for defaming a former senator. Delva said he has received death threats he believes are linked to the case. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the court’s decision today, and urged Haitian authorities…

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