New York, October 3, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists deplores local authorities’ ongoing harassment of the independent weekly Permsky Obozrevatel, one of the few sources of independent news in the western Russian city of Perm. “We are deeply concerned by the continuing harassment of Permsky Obozrevatel,” CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon said. Perm police detained…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply troubled by an intense crackdown on opposition and independent journalists who have been critical of public officials. In particular, we wish to call your attention to the cases of journalists Shakhin Agabeili, Eynulla Fatullayev, Fikret Faramazoglu, and Sakit Zakhidov. In a disturbing trend, several public officials have filed about a dozen politicized lawsuits against critical journalists in the past three months. Among the plaintiffs is Interior Minister Ramil Usubov who filed five defamation lawsuits against Agabeili, Fatullayev and Faramazoglu. We condemn this campaign of harassment of Azerbaijan’s independent press and call on you to do everything within your power to stop it.
New York, October 2, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the ongoing campaign of intimidation by the authorities in Burundi against radio stations that have cast doubt on a government claim to have uncovered a coup plot. The State Prosecutor today questioned three journalists from three independent stations about their sources for a…
New York, October 2, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a three-month ban by authorities in Gabon on the newspaper Les Echos du Nord for an article which criticized the handling of a territorial dispute with neighboring Equatorial Guinea. The National Council on Communications (CNC), an official regulatory body, imposed the ban on September 29,…
New York, October 2, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned a ban on the Far Eastern Economic Review, which has been hit with a criminal defamation lawsuit by the Singapore leadership for an article about an opposition politician. The Ministry of Information, Communications and Arts revoked the Review’s distribution rights in Singapore on September…
SEPTEMBER 30, 2006 Posted October 5, 2006 Elías Navarro Palomino, La República ATTACKED Unidentified assailants hurled a bomb in front of Navarro’s home in the southern city of Ayacucho, according to press reports. No one was hurt in the early morning attack, but a sign threatening Navarro’s children with death was found on the sidewalk.
New York, September 29, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by death threats against a media company owner and a prominent columnist, both harsh critics of President Néstor Kirchner’s administration. CPJ today called on Argentine authorities to immediately denounce the threats and to launch a thorough investigation. Joaquín Morales Solá, columnist for the daily…
New York, September 29, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed alarm today at the closure by Islamist militiamen of a radio station in southern Somalia and the questioning of three journalists. The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) said two other journalists had gone into hiding. The militias closed HornAfrik Radio, a prominent private radio…
New York, September 27, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by Tunisian and Egyptian government decisions to ban recent issues of European newspapers addressing the controversy caused by remarks about Islam made by Pope Benedict XVI. “Banning newspapers is unacceptable, and it is no solution in furthering the cause of mutual understanding and…