Taliban-held journalist killed in army strike
New York, September 2, 2008–A journalist who had been kidnapped by a local Taliban group was killed when a Pakistani airstrike hit the private jail where he was being held in the Swat Valley in Pakistan’s tumultuous North West Frontier Province on Friday, according to local news reports citing a Taliban spokesman. Militants abducted Abdul…
Journalist and media worker detained in Port Harcourt
New York, September 2, 2008–Freelance American filmmaker and journalist Andrew Berends and his translator, Nigerian Samuel George, remain in the custody of Nigerian state security services in Port Harcourt today. The Nigerian military arrested Berends and George on the afternoon of August 31 and transferred them to the State Security Services, local journalists told CPJ.
Four arrested covering protest at GOP convention
New York, September 2, 2008—A camera crew, broadcast host, and photographer were arrested Monday while covering protests at the Republican National Convention in St Paul, Minn. Police in downtown St. Paul swept up the journalists while arresting more than 250 other people during an unruly end to an otherwise peaceful anti-war protest, according to news…
Egyptian journalists face the trials of September
Many in Egypt still dread the month of September. Twenty-seven years ago, the government arbitrarily jailed hundreds of civil society activists of different political and religious leanings, including journalists. The capricious crackdown, which occurred only a few weeks before President Anwar Sadat’s assassination on October 6, 1981, by a radical Islamist was spurred by unsubstantiated…
Democracy Now! producers arrested at RNC
Producers Amy Goodman, Sharif Abdel Kouddous, and Nicole Salazar from Democracy Now! were arrested while reporting on street demonstrations at the Republican National Convention. All three journalists were released today. Also arrested was Associated Press photographer Matt Rourke.This video shows Amy Goodman being placed under arrest: Nicole Salazar shot this footage of her own arrest:
Press freedom in the news 9/2/08
Both the BBC and The International Herald Tribune have coverage of protests at the funeral of slain Russian journalist Magomed Yevloyev. We released a statement yesterday about the death of Yevloyev, the owner of Ingushetiya Web site, who was found dead after being taken into police custody. Roza Malsagova, the editor of the site, fled…
Moscow must investigate killing in Ingushetia
We released the following statement today after journalist Mogamed Yevloyev died in police custody. Yevloyev was detained by police as he arrived at Ingushetia’s airport and was later found dead from a gunshot wound to the head. “We mourn the death of our colleague Magomed Yevloyev and send our sympathies to his family, colleagues, and…
Media shut down in Kashmir; one journalist dead
New York, August 29, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Indian authorities to protect journalists and lift restrictions on media workers in the curfew-bound northern Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, after a cameraman was reportedly killed and a near-total news blackout hit the main city of Srinagar. Srinagar newspapers did not reach…
Government blocks popular news site
New York, August 29, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Malaysian government’s censorship of the popular news Web site and blog Malaysia Today. The blocking represents the first time officials have violated the government’s 1996 policy pledge not to censor the Internet. The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), the state agency charged with…