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We issued the following statement in response to the murder of Mexican reporter Armando Rodríguez, who covered crime for the Ciudad Juárez-based daily El Diario in the state of Chihuahua. Rodriquez was shot to death this morning by an unidentified gunman, according to local press reports…

CPJ is pleased to welcome three leading journalists to its board of directors: Kathleen Carroll of The Associated Press, Lara Logan of CBS News, and David A. Schlesinger of Reuters.

New York, November 12, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the Afghan government to release Shokoor Feroz and his brother Quaim Feroz, the translator and driver of kidnapped CBC reporter Mellissa Fung, who was freed on November 8. 

Mexico’s special prosecutor for crimes against journalists has responded to CPJ’s October 24 letter expressing concerns about the investigation into the murder of U.S. filmmaker Bradley Will. The prosecutor’s response leaves much unresolved.

Alexis Sinduhije, a 2004 International Press Freedom Award recipient, has been charged with “contempt for the president” in his home country of Burundi. Sinduhije has given up journalism to pursue a career in politics. The Boston Globe has coverage of the arrest today.

November 2008News from the Committee to Protect Journalists

New York, November 11, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the long prison sentence handed down by a Burmese court to blogger Nay Phone Latt, who has been held in detention since his arrest on January 29.

Dear Minister Jamil, The Committee to Protect Journalists brings your attention to a one-month prison sentence handed down last week by the criminal court in Sulaymaniyah in contravention of the region’s new press law.

Alexis Sinduhije founded Radio Publique Africaine (RPA) in 2001 to bridge Burundi’s ethnic divide. Divisions between the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups have sparked widespread and lingering violence throughout the country. 

New York, November 10, 2008–Two days after the release of CBC journalist Mellissa Fung, contradictory details have begun to emerge about her captivity, according to the Toronto Globe and Mail. Fung was kidnapped 28 days ago while conducting interviews in a Kabul refugee camp. She was apparently held, chained and blindfolded, in Wardak, the province…