ETHIOPIA: Journalist charged with contempt over caption critical of judiciary
JANUARY 11, 2007 Posted February 6, 2007 Olurotimi Akanbi, Addis Fortune LEGAL ACTION Akanbi, a copy editor for the private English-language business weekly Addis Fortune in the capital Addis Ababa, was charged with contempt of court in connection with a December 31, 2006, headline critical of the Ethiopian judiciary, according to CPJ sources. The headline,…
DRC newspaper suspended, director jailed for defamation
New York, January 11, 2007—The director of a newspaper in the capital, Kinshasa, was jailed today for an 11-month term and his publication suspended for six weeks on a criminal defamation charge, according to the local press freedom group Journaliste en Danger (JED) and local journalists. Rigobert Kwakala Kash, who also edits the private twice-weekly…
Nigerian SSS raids another newspaper, arrests a top official
New York, January 11, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Nigerian government’s apparent crackdown on critical reporting, as security service agents reporting directly to the president engaged in the second newspaper raid in as many days. State Security Service (SSS) officials were holding Dan Akpovwa, publisher of the private weekly Abuja Inquirer, incommunicado late…
CPJ alarmed by censorship during Bangladesh political crisis
New York, January 11, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by orders from the Bangladeshi Information Ministry that private broadcast outlets suspend news programs and print outlets halt critical news coverage during a state of emergency announced this evening. “It’s essential that at this very sensitive moment Bangladeshi citizens have unfettered access to information,”…
In Bolivia, 11 journalists attacked while covering protests
New York, January 10, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns attacks by protesters and police against at least 11 Bolivian reporters, photographers, and camera operators covering Monday’s violent demonstrators in the central city of Cochabamba. Thousands of demonstrators-including members of the ruling leftist party Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS), labor unions, and indigenous groups-took to the…
Nigeria’s SSS grills journalists over story critical of ruling party
New York, January 10, 2007—An article raising critical questions about Nigeria’s ruling party led state security agents to raid the offices of an Abuja daily, seize documents, and detain the story’s author, a newspaper executive told the Committee to Protect Journalists today. State Security Service (SSS) officials were still holding reporter Danladi Ndayebo, a reporter…
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…
Iranian journalist languishes in jail without charge
New York, January 9, 2007-The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by reports that an Iranian journalist has been held in Tehran’s Evin Prison for more than 40 days without charge. Ali Farahbakhsh, a former economics and foreign affairs reporter for the banned reformist dailies Yas-e No and Shargh, was detained by security officers…