Al-Jazeera cameraman’s health said to deteriorate
New York, August 24, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by reports that an Al-Jazeera cameraman held at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for more than five years without charge is in failing health. Sami al-Haj, an assistant cameraman for Al-Jazeera who has been on hunger strike since January, has lost…
In Somalia, reporter killed in vehicle ambush
New York, August 24, 2007—A young reporter returning from a journalism training workshop in the Somali capital of Mogadishu was shot dead today in southwestern Somalia when clan militiamen ambushed his vehicle, according to the National Union of Somali Journalists. Abdulkadir Mahad Moallim Kaskey, a correspondent of the private, Mogadishu-based station Radio Banadir, was the…
Supreme Court upholds Azerbaijani editor’s prison sentence
New York, August 24, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists denounces the continued imprisonment of Eynulla Fatullayev, editor of the now-shuttered Russian-language weekly Realny Azerbaijan and the Azeri-language daily Gündalik Azarbaycan. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan upheld Fatullayev’s 30-month prison sentence on charges of defaming Azerbaijanis in an article. Fatullayev has been held in…
Radio journalist gunned down in southeastern Paraguay
New York, August 23, 2007—Radio reporter Tito Alberto Palma was shot to death Wednesday night at a friend’s house in Paraguay’s southeastern city of Mayor Otaño. The Committee to Protect Journalists called today on Paraguayan authorities to conduct a thorough investigation and bring all those responsible to justice. Palma, a reporter for the local radio…
In Kenya, president dismisses bill compelling disclosure of sources
New York, August 23, 2007— The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes President Mwai Kibaki’s rejection Wednesday of a bill that would have forced editors to name their sources if their stories led to court cases. Kibaki declined to sign Kenya’s Media Bill after calling an amendment within it “a great inhibition of press freedom” that…
Canadian journalist wounded by roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan
New York, August 23, 2007—A Canadian journalist traveling with a military convoy in southern Afghanistan was injured Wednesday when the armored vehicle in which he was riding hit a roadside bomb in Kandahar province, a Taliban stronghold. Two Canadian soldiers and an Afghan interpreter were killed by the explosion. Radio-Canada cameraman Charles Dubois sustained a…
CPJ concerned by restrictions on media coverage of Bangladesh crisis
New York, August 23, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is dismayed by reports of the assault, detention, and harassment of local journalists by security forces attempting to enforce the indefinite curfew imposed yesterday on the capital, Dhaka, and five other cities in response to growing unrest across the country. CPJ is also deeply concerned about…
Kuwaiti editors arrested after alleged insult is posted on Web forum
New York, August 22, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by the arrest of two Kuwaiti journalists by the state security services in Kuwait City on Saturday. State security officers arrested Bashar al-Sayegh, an editor for the daily newspaper Al-Jarida, by order of the general prosecutor’s office, said Hussein al-Abdallah, the journalist’s attorney.…
Cuban journalist released after 15 months in prison
New York, August 21, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes Monday’s release of independent Cuban journalist Armando Betancourt Reina, who had been imprisoned at the Cerámica Roja Prison in the central city of Camagüey since May 2006. Betancourt Reina, a reporter for the independent news agency Nueva Prensa Cubana, left prison Monday morning, reported the…