New York, July 1, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the Philippine government to fully investigate the shooting death of Robert “Bert” Sison today in Sariaya town, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) southeast of Manila. Sison reported for the weekly Regional Bulletin, which has published articles on crime and stories critical of local officials.
Dear Mr. President, Following the brutal beating of two Senegalese journalists by police after a soccer match on Saturday, we are writing to express our alarm at an increasing pattern of physical attacks and threats against independent journalists in the line of duty in recent weeks and months. Thorough, transparent police investigations or prosecutions of these abuses have seldom taken place. We are deeply concerned about an ongoing culture of impunity for crimes against journalists.
New York, June 26, 2008—Despite the arrest of a suspect in the murder of New Zealand photojournalist Trent Keegan, questions about the killing remain unanswered, CPJ said today. Kenyan police are holding a suspect in Keegan’s murder, a Kenyan police spokesman told CPJ. The police have not released details, but spokesman Eric Kiraithe told CPJ…
BURMA: New York, June 25, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by reports that Burmese authorities on Sunday deported South Korean freelance journalist Lee Yu Kyong and confiscated four compact discs containing photos she had taken of damage caused by Cyclone Nargis. Lee was met in the early morning of June 22 by five…
New York, June 25, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply troubled by a Baku court’s decision on Tuesday to convict the editor of a small, minority newspaper on a treason charge and to sentence him to 10 years in prison. Novruzali Mamedov, editor of now-defunct Talyshi Sado (Voice of the Talysh), was tried in…
TURKMENISTAN: New York, June 26, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the abduction, torture, and forcible psychiatric hospitalization of Sazak Durdymuradov, a contributing reporter for the Turkmen Service of the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), in the Western city of Bakhaden. According to RFE/RL, Durdymuradov was seized by agents of the secret police (MNB)…
Dear Mr. Michel: In light of the European Union’s recent decision to lift 2003 diplomatic sanctions on Cuba, the Committee to Protect Journalists is writing to ensure that President Raúl Castro’s government will effectively improve human rights conditions on the island by unconditionally releasing all imprisoned journalists and by granting freedom of information and expression to all Cubans.