China: Olympics organizers must ensure media freedom
New York, September 22, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on China and the International Olympic Committee to address concerns about press freedom when they brief the international media next week on preparations for the 2008 Beijing games. CPJ is troubled by new policies restricting the flow of information in China and the government’s continued…
Thailand: Junta further undermines press freedom by closing radio stations
New York, September 22, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists denounces further restrictions on press freedom imposed by the leaders of Thailand’s military coup. The junta issued broadcast media directives Thursday that resulted in the closure of more than 300 community radio stations in the north, the political stronghold of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The…
Vietnam: Internet writer and activist released, sent back to U.S.
New York, September 22, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of Cong Thanh Do, a Vietnamese political activist and pro-democracy advocate who writes on the Internet under the pen name Tran Nam. Cong was detained August 14 while on vacation with his family in Phan Thiet on the central Vietnam coast, 125 miles…
Pakistan:Musharraf government ignores promises to protect journalists
New York, September 21, 2006—As violence against journalists and violations of press freedom grow in Pakistan, the Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the government to keep its promise to reveal all information it holds on media deaths and disappearances. CPJ research shows that nine journalists have died for their work since 2002, and there…
In Thailand, moves by military junta threaten press freedom
New York, September 21, 2006—As Thailand’s new ruling military junta imposed restrictions on the media, the Committee to Protect Journalists today called on the transitional authority to uphold the press freedom guarantees enshrined in the recently dissolved 1997 constitution. The ruling Council for Democratic Reform under Constitutional Monarchy (CDRM) called a meeting today with senior…
Journalist on trial for satirizing Putin
New York, September 21, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by the prosecution for criminal insult of a Russian journalist who satirized President Vladimir Putin’s campaign to boost the birth rate. Vladimir Rakhmankov, editor-in-chief of the independent news Web site Kursiv, went on trial today in the city of Ivanovo, northeast of Moscow,…
Iraq, most dangerous place for journalists: study
Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss Reuters September 20, 2006 NEW YORK (Reuters) – Journalists are being killed at a pace of more than three a month worldwide, with Iraq the deadliest place for media to work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Wednesday.
Video blogger ordered back to jail
New York, September 20, 2006 – The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned that a freelance video blogger has been ordered back to jail after losing an appeal in a U.S. federal court in San Francisco. Joshua Wolf spent 30 days in prison after refusing to turn over to a federal grand jury unaired videotape…