Press freedom in the news 9/24/08
CPJ’s letter to Spanish President Zapatero urging him to pressure Cuba on jailed journalists received significant coverage in the Spanish language press. Radio Marti ran a piece on the letter and the Spanish Web site PR Noticas has a story online. Cubaencuentro also has news coverage of the letter.Also today, the Web site of MarketWatch has…
Web site editor beaten with hammers in Sofia
New York, September 23, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Monday’s brutal attack on Ognian Stefanov, editor of the investigative news Web site Frognews, in Bulgaria. The editor and his family had recently received anonymous phone calls warning Stefanov to stop his journalism or face consequences, Stefanov’s deputy, Aleksandar Ivanov, told CPJ. The site publishes…
CPJ alerts Rice to threats in Tunisia
Dear Secretary Rice: The Committee to Protect Journalists is writing to express its deep concern about the safety of Slim Boukhdhir, a Tunisian Internet journalist who has faced increasing harassment since he echoed your recent call to President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to take further steps toward media and Internet reform.
Malaysian blogger jailed for two years under security act
New York, September 23, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the two-year jail term handed down to Malaysian blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin by the country’s home minister today. Police arrested Raja Petra, who founded and edits the Malaysia Today Web site, on September 12 under the strict Internal Security Act, which allows for prolonged detention…
U Win Tin, Burma’s longest held journalist, released
New York, September 23, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of U Win Tin, the longest serving political prisoner in Burma, and one of the world’s longest-jailed journalists. The 79-year-old former editor had at least two heart attacks and suffered from high blood pressure, a degenerative spine condition, and diabetes since his 1989…
Q & A: Andrew Berends and Aaron Soffin
CPJ interviewed documentary filmmaker Andrew Berends and producer Aaron Soffin at CPJ’s headquarters in New York. Berends spent 10 days in the custody of Nigeria’s State Security Services in Port Harcourt, from August 31 to September 9. He had been in the country for six months working on his film “Delta Boys.” Soffin worked to get…
Zapatero should press Cuba on jailed writers
The Committee to Protect Journalists urges you to make your government’s commitment to obtain the release of all imprisoned Cuban journalists a priority of Spain’s foreign policy. Since you first took office in April 2004, your government has played a decisive role in helping to secure the release of several dissidents, including nine independent journalists. In February, shortly after Spain announced the resumption of cooperation programs with Cuba, the government of President Raúl Castro released four prisoners, including independent journalists José Gabriel Ramón Castillo and Alejandro González Raga, who are now living in exile in Spain.
Press freedom in the news 9/23/08
Reuters is reporting that Iraqi Kurdistan’s Parliament has passed a revised media law that protects the rights of journalists in the region and abolishes criminal defamation. CPJ travelled to the region in May to protest a much harsher version of the media law, and presented recommendations to Kurdish President Masoud Barzani. Also making news this…
U.S. military frees Afghan journalist from Bagram
New York, September 22, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the U.S. military’s release of imprisoned journalist Jawed Ahmad from Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan on Sunday, 11 months after he was first detained. But CPJ calls again on the U.S. military to end its practice of holding journalists without charge on an open-ended basis.…
Cleric issues fatwa against journalists and writers
New York, September 22, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned about an edict issued Saturday by a top Saudi Muslim cleric, who said that writers who challenge or criticize religious sheikhs should be fired from their jobs, flogged, and jailed. Sheikh Abdallah Ben Jabreen, a former member of the Saudi Arabia’s Establishment of…