New York, September 12, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by a Senegalese judge’s decision today to sentence a newspaper editor to three years in prison on criminal charges in connection with an editorial about President Abdoulaye Wade and his son. Today’s ruling came on the heels of Thursday’s sentencing of 12 individuals to…
New York, September 12, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemns the arrests today of Raja Petra Kamarudin, founder and editor of the influential Malaysia Today Web site and blog, and Sin Chew Daily reporter Tan Hoon Cheng. Three newspapers, including Sin Chew Daily, have also been officially threatened with suspension today, according to news…
Your Majesty, The Committee to Protect Journalists is writing to bring to your attention the decision of a Moroccan court to jail and fine blogger and journalist Mohamed Erraji for “failing to respect the king.” We call on you to use all your influence to ensure the overturning of Erraji’s conviction.
The BBC reported this week that a minister in the Democratic Republic of Congo has ordered a jail in the capital, Kinshasa, to release a dozen goats, saying the animals were being held there illegally. According to the story: “The minister said many police had serious gaps in their knowledge and they would be sent…
We are deeply concerned about the welfare of translator Samuel George who has been under interrogation by State Security Services in Port Harcourt since August 31. He was arrested with American documentary filmmaker Andrew Berends while they were filming at the Nembe waterside in Port Harcourt. Joe Bussio, who provided accommodation for Berends in Port Harcourt during the filming, was also arrested. No official charges have been brought against any of them. Berends was finally allowed to leave the country on Tuesday.
New York, September 11, 2008— The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the shooting of Sri Lankan journalist Radhika Devakumar on Monday evening. A gunman or gunmen fired on Devakumar, an ethnic Tamil, at her home in Batticaloa, eastern Sri Lanka, according to local news reports. She was in critical condition today after being…
New York, September 11, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemns a Vietnamese court decision on Wednesday to imprison blogger Nguyen Van Hai, better known by his penname Dieu Cay, on charges of tax evasion. The court in Ho Chi Minh City, in southern Vietnam, convicted Hai, 55, in a closed-door trial, sentencing him to…
Bloggers across the Web are showing their solidarity with Mohamed Erraji, a Moroccan blogger who was sentenced to two years in prison last week for “failing to show respect for the king.” A Moroccan court convicted Erraji, 29, a contributor to HesPress, a Moroccan daily news Web site, on Monday in a closed, 10-minute trial.…
EDITOR’S NOTE: The original version of this alert has been modified to correct the age of the blogger. New York, September 10, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a Moroccan court’s decision to jail and fine blogger and journalist Mohamed Erraji for “failing to respect the king.” The court in Agadir, in southwest Morocco, convicted Erraji…
The Web site OneWorld has continued coverage of the release of filmmaker Andrew Berends, who is back in the United States after being detained in Nigeria since August 31. Berends is safely at home after a week of questioning by the Nigerian military; however his translator Samuel George is still under scrutiny from the authorities.…