Appeals for release of ailing Chinese writer ignored
New York, September 25, 2007 —The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by reports that imprisoned writer Zhang Jianhong has been transferred to Qiaosi prison in the eastern province of Zhejiang, despite numerous appeals for his release on medical parole. Zhang has been diagnosed with a rare nerve disorder that could lead to permanent paralysis…
Two radio stations attacked
SEPTEMBER 24, 2007 Reported September 27, 2007 Milli Paygham (National Message) radio station Radio Istiqlal (Independence) radio station ATTACKED The two stations, both affiliates of Internews, a U.S.-based media training and advocacy group, were attacked at roughly the same time. Shortly after 12 a.m. September 24, a group of unknown gunmen attacked the Milli Paygham…
Iraqi producer murdered in Baghdad
New York, September 24, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the murder of an Al-Baghdadia satellite channel producer in Baghdad on Sunday. Several gunmen in a car shot Jawad al-Daami, 40, a line producer for the independent Cairo-based Al-Baghdadia, in the head in Baghdad’s southwestern neighborhood of Al-Qadissiya at around 4 p.m. on Sunday, a…
In Niger, veteran journalist imprisoned
New York, September 24, 2007—A veteran radio journalist for French broadcaster Radio France Internationale, distinguished for his exclusive coverage of a seventh-month-old armed rebellion in northern Niger, was sent to prison today after four days in police custody on accusations of aiding the rebels, according to local journalists.
CPJ dismayed by contempt of court ruling in India
New York, September 24, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is dismayed by the New Delhi High Court’s decision last week to sentence four journalists to four months in prison apiece on contempt of court charges stemming from a series of articles and a political cartoon accusing a former chief justice of official misconduct. The journalists…
COLOMBIA: Threatened journalist flees the country
UPDATE September 22, 2007 Original case: August 13, 2007 Juan Pablo Monsalve, RCN THREATENED Monsalve, a reporter for the nightly news program “La Noche” on national TV station RCN, was forced to flee Colombia in September after receiving death threats linked to his reporting on government corruption in Cantagallos, a small town in the northern…
CPJ urges Rice to seek probe in Turkmen journalist’s death
Dear Secretary Rice: In advance of your meeting in New York with Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov during the 62nd session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, the Committee to Protect Journalists draws your attention to the unexplained death of an independent journalist in Turkmenistan.
Press Freedom in Morocco
Press Freedom in Morocco A CPJ event co-hosted by the Congressional Caucus for Freedom of the Press Washington, September 21, 2007–U.S. congressmen emphasized the need for an open and free press in Morocco at an event hosted today by the Committee to Protect Journalists. Diplomats from the Moroccan, Tunisian, and Algerian embassies were part of…
Crime reporter shot and wounded
New York, September 20, 2007—Brazilian reporter Amaury Ribeiro Jr. was shot on Wednesday afternoon while investigating a story on organized crime in the outskirts of the capital city of Brasília. The journalist is in stable condition. Ribeiro, an investigative crime reporter for the Brasília-based daily Correio Braziliense, was waiting for a source at a bar…
Police fire on Somalia’s Radio Shabelle
New York, September 18, 2007—CPJ condemns the attack by Somali security forces on the Radio Shabelle compound this morning. Forces opened fire on the building with staff inside, forcing the station off the air.According to local journalists, police fired repeatedly from 10 a.m. to noon at the doors and windows at the compound while staff…