Iraqi editor reported missing in Baghdad
New York, February 26, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned about the safety of an Iraqi newspaper editor who disappeared in central Baghdad on Saturday. Jamal al-Zubaidi, 56, an economics editor for the Baghdad-based dailies As-Saffir and Al-Dustour, was last seen leaving As-Saffir’s offices in the central Karada neighborhood around 1 p.m. on…
Two Bangladeshi TV stations off-air after fatal fire
New York, February 26, 2007—At least three people were killed and more than 100 people were injured today as a fire tore through a Dhaka office building housing private television stations NTV and RTV and Bengali-language newspaper Amar Desh. The cause of the fire was unclear. The two news channels were off the air this…
ZIMBABWE: Journalists fined under repressive law
FEBRUARY 24, 2007 Posted March 21, 2007 Peter Moyo, E.TV HARASSED, LEGAL ACTION Moyo, a producer of the private South Africa-based E.TV, was convicted of violating Zimbabwe’s Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) and fined 4,000 Zimbabwean dollars (US$16) by a court in the eastern city of Mutare, according to the Media…
UKRAINE: TV news director violently attacked
February 18, 2007 Posted March 2, 2007 Anatoly Shinkarenko, 9 Kanal ATTACKED Two men violently attacked Shinkarenko, news director of the local television station 9 Kanal, in the eastern industrial city of Dnipropetrovsk. In late afternoon, Shinkarenko was leaving the café Gnom when two men began punching him, knockimg him off his feet, Shinkarenko told…
CPJ condemns Cuba’s decision to ban three foreign correspondents
New York, February 23, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Cuban government’s decision not to renew visas of three Havana-based foreign correspondents. The government’s decision comes at a crucial period in the country’s history, seven months after Fidel Castro’s ill health prompted the Cuban president to temporarily cede power to his brother Raúl. “We…
Russian journalist on trial for defaming local governor in Internet chat room
New York, February 23, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the criminal defamation prosecution of Dmitry Tashlykov, a reporter for the Kovrov-based weekly Vladimirsky Krai, for remarks made in an Internet chat room. Tashlykov was charged with defaming Vladimir regional Governor Nikolai Vinogradov in an Internet chat room in January 2006. His trial…
Unidentified gunmen in Colombia fire shots outside paper’s offices
New York, February 22, 2007—Unidentified gunmen fired shots outside the offices of the Cali-based bimonthly publication La Razón on Tuesday, injuring three people. The Committee to Protect Journalists is investigating whether the incident was an attack against the paper’s director, Édgar Buitrago Rico, who had been threatened with death. At 3: 45 p.m. on Tuesday,…
Egyptian blogger jailed for insulting Islam, Mubarak
New York, February 22, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns an Egyptian court’s verdict sentencing an Egyptian Internet writer to four years in prison for his online criticisms. The case represents the first time that an Egyptian blogger has stood trial and been sentenced for his work. Abdel Karim Suleiman, who goes by the online…
Independent editor jailed in Russia
New York, February 22, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is gravely concerned about the fate of Vladimir Chugunov, founder and editor of the independent weekly Chugunka, who has been imprisoned since January 21, according to his family and the independent Moscow daily Novaya Gazeta. Chugunov was summoned to police headquarters in Solnechnogorsk, 40 miles (64…
Time for Journalists to Defend Press Freedom
Samar Fatany Arab News February 21, 2007 I was reading an online discussion between early board members and former directors of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) regarding the challenges facing the press today. One of the best comments I read was an extract by Ann Cooper, executive director of the committee, in which she…