Supreme Court convicts journalist in criminal defamation case
APRIL 18, 2007 Posted May 16, 2007 Gustavo Escanlar Patrone, Canal 10 LEGAL ACTION The Uruguayan Supreme Court of Justice ratified a three-month suspended prison sentence against Escanlar, host of the television program “Bendita TV,” in a criminal defamation suit.
Egyptian blogger ordered detained for 15 days
New York, April 18, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the arrest in Cairo of a blogger who has exposed torture in Egyptian police stations and prisons. Authorities detained Abdel Moneim Mahmoud on Sunday on charges that he belongs to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood and that he defamed the government with his reporting.
In Senegal, journalist sentenced to prison
New York, April 18, 2007—A court in the capital, Dakar, handed a prison sentence and heavy damages against a tabloid director on criminal defamation charges over a story trumpeting an alleged high-profile corruption scandal, according to local journalists and news reports. Ndiogou Wack Seck of the private, pro-government daily Il Est Midi was sentenced to…
NIGERIA: Intelligence agents raid private TV over political program
APRIL 17, 2007 Posted April 27, 2007 African Independent Television Ray Power FM HARASSED, CENSORED Agents of the presidential State Security Service (SSS), backed by police, raided the studios of the private African Independent Television (AIT) in the capital Abuja, pulled a paid political program off the air and seized tapes of all commercially sponsored…
Police raid TV station
APRIL 17, 2007 Posted April 24, 2007 Tolo TV HARASSED, ATTACKED The station’s chief, Saad Mohseni, said 50 police officers raided Tolo’s main office in Kabul at 7 p.m., seizing three staff members and bringing them to Attorney General Abdul Jabar Sabet’s office. Sabet had complained of a clip on Tolo’s 6 p.m. news broadcast,…
Journalist threatened
April 17, 2007 Posted April 25, 2007 Champika Liyanarachchi, Editor, Daily Mirror THREATENED Liyanarachchi said Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa called her to complain about Daily Mirror reporter Easwaran Rutnam’s coverage of sectarian fighting in Pottuvil in Ampara district. The article said that Tamil rebels belonging to the breakaway Karuna faction of the Liberation Tigers of…
MEXICO: Grenade explodes outside daily in northern Sonora state
APRIL 17, 2007 Posted April 27, 2007 Cambio de Sonora ATTACKED Unidentified assailants in a moving vehicle tossed a grenade into a garden outside the offices of the Hermosillo-based daily Cambio de Sonora, causing minor damages to the building’s facade, according to press report and CPJ interviews.
Abducted crime reporter still missing
New York, April 17, 2007—A Mexican crime reporter who was abducted on Monday by armed men in Agua Prieta, a city on the Arizona border, is missing. The Committee to Protect Journalists is investigating whether the incident was related to his journalistic work. Saúl Noé Martínez Ortega, 36, who covers crime for the newspaper Interdiario…
Indian government shutters Burmese exile-run news Web site
New York, April 17, 2007—After the forced closure of the New Delhi-based Mizzima News, an exile-run Web site popular for hard-hitting reports on neighboring Burma’s military-run government, the Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Indian authorities to fully explain the move. Approximately 20 Indian police and two municipal officials raided Mizzima’s offices on Monday and…