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AP photographer is latest in long list of U.S. detainees

  New York, December 7, 2007—Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein, held by the U.S. military without charge for nearly 20 months, is scheduled to face unspecified charges in an Iraqi court on Sunday. Hussein is among a number of journalists who have been held by the U.S. military in Iraq for prolonged periods.  

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Policeman beats up photographer for taking his picture

DECEMBER 6, 2007  Posted December 28, 2007 Sarl George Baryamwisaki, The New Times ATTACKED   Baryamwisaki, a photographer for the pro-government daily The New Times, was beaten up by a policeman and was later detained for two hours at the Remera police station along with his colleague, reporter Ignatius Ssuuna. The policeman handcuffed Baryamwisaki and…

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Tenth Azerbaijani journalist imprisoned

New York, December 6, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the jailing today of yet another journalist in Azerbaijan, making him the tenth currently behind bars in the country. Ilgar Nasibov, correspondent for the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in the western exclave of Nakhchivan, was arrested; summarily tried without defense counsel; and sentenced…

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Tunisian writer sentenced to jail

New York, December 5, 2007— The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the one-year prison sentence handed down on Tuesday to a Tunisian freelance journalist known for his published criticism of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and members of the first family. A court in Sakiet Ezziet, in the suburbs of  Sfax, Tunisia’s second-largest city…

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Somaliland expels 24 journalists

New York, December 5, 2007–CPJ condemns the Somaliland authorities’ decision to expel 24 Somali journalists from Hargeisa, the capital of the northern breakaway republic. The group had recently fled there to escape ongoing persecution in Mogadishu, Somalia. Yesterday, Somaliland Police Chief General Mohammed Saqadhi Dubad and the head of the Criminal Investigations Department, General Ahmed…

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CPJ asks Rice to discuss Ethiopian press freedom

Dear Secretary Rice, In advance of your meeting with Ethiopian officials in Addis Ababa, the Committee to Protect Journalists would like to draw your attention to our concerns regarding press freedom conditions there. You may know that 15 Ethiopian journalists were recently released from prison, but this development belies the country’s sustained record of contempt for independent media, which manifests itself in a variety of legal and administrative restraints. The 15 jailed journalists were sentenced on trumped-up charges such as genocide in connection with the media’s coverage of Ethopia’s 2005 post-election unrest.

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CPJ condemns jailing of two journalists for criminal libel

TEMPLATE New York, December 4, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned at the jailing in Benin of two journalists convicted of criminal defamation. A court in the capital Cotonou sentenced editor Clément Adéchian and reporter Cécil Adjévi of the private daily L’Informateur to six months in prison on December 2. It also fined…

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Senegalese government official sends threatening note to journalist

New York, December 4, 2007—A Senegalese government official threatened a reporter with unspecified harm on Monday in response to a story implicating him in an alleged corruption scandal, according to news reports and local journalists. He was the third top official this year to threaten physical harm against journalists in response to critical coverage of…

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Pakistani journalists face warrantless arrests

New York, December 3, 2007 — The Committee to Protect Journalists is greatly concerned by the Pakistani government’s authorization of police to arrest without warrant members of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), the country’s largest media organization. The legal move also mentions members of the Rawalpindi/Islamabad Union of Journalists, Pakistan’s largest local journalist…

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Two journalists beaten by police

NOVEMBER 29, 2007 Posted January 14, 2007 Alexandre Neto, Radio Despertar Antonio Cascais, Deutche Welle Radio HARASSED Two journalists were detained and beaten by police in Angola’s capital city, Luanda, while reporting on forced evictions of residents from the Kilamba Kiaxi area of Luanda. Neto, the director of Radio Despertar, and Deutche Welle reporter Antonio…

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