CPJ protests growing curbs on journalists
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is troubled by Vietnam’s treatment of journalists, including the recent harassment of independent writers, new fines for unauthorized reporting, and heightened Internet restrictions. These measures threaten the development of a transparent government and active press, and invite international scrutiny as Vietnam bids for accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) this fall.
In Guatemala, a radio host wounded in shooting
New York, August 24, 2006—Guatemalan radio host Vinicio Aguilar Mancilla was seriously injured Wednesday when unidentified assailants shot him in the face as he was jogging in Guatemala City, according to news reports and CPJ interviews. Aguilar was recovering today after undergoing surgery. Two men approached Aguilar, host of a daily political show on Radio…
Grenade attack on newspaper that reports on drug trafficking
New York, August 24, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a grenade attack on the Mexican daily Por Esto!, the third attack since June on the Cancún-based newspaper that has investigated local drug trafficking and government corruption. Unidentified assailants driving an SUV with tinted windows lobbed two hand grenades shortly before 10 p.m. Wednesday into…
Islamic group says it holds two Fox News journalists
New York, August 23, 2005—A group calling itself the Holy Jihad Brigades today released a video of two Fox News Channel journalists it said it kidnapped in the Gaza Strip last week. In a statement with the video, the previously unknown group demanded the release of Muslim prisoners held by the United States within 72…
Two photographers targeted by gunmen during shootout
AUGUST 22, 2006 Posted: August 25, 2006 Luis Alberto Cruz, Milenio Jorge Luis Plata, Reforma ATTACKED In the early morning, a group of heavily armed, unidentified individuals, traveling through the southeastern city of Oaxaca in a convoy of at least 30 cars shot at a group of antigovernment protesters and at Cruz and Plata, two…
Antigovernment protesters seize 12 private radio stations
New York, August 21, 2006—Protesters including striking school teachers in southern Mexico seized 12 private radio stations today after unidentified assailants shot up a government-owned station already under the demonstrators’ control. At least 50 protesters of the antigovernment group, Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca (APPO), simultaneously took over each of the stations in…
CPJ condemns partial closure of private radio station
New York, August 21, 2006—Authorities in Burundi have stopped local broadcasts of the private radio station Radio Publique Africaine (RPA) in the northern province of Ngozi since Friday. The reason authorities gave for the closure was non-payment of broadcast license fees but several local sources told CPJ the move was in retaliation for RPA’s critical…
Sri Lanka: Tamil newspaper editor killed in Jaffna
New York, August 21, 2006—A Tamil newspaper editor and former member of parliament was killed outside his home on the besieged Jaffna Peninsula late Sunday, international and local media reported. Sinnathamby Sivamaharajah, managing director of the Tamil-language Namathu Eelanadu newspaper was shot dead in Vellippalai. Police are investigating the murder, according to news reports. The…