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In Tunisia, police arrest TV journalist

New York, February 8, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is troubled by the overnight arrest of an opposition television station director by Tunisian police in the capital Tunis. Tahar Ben Hassine, director of Italy-based satellite channel Al-Hiwar Tunisi, was detained by Tunisian police in the Al-Manar neighborhood after leaving Tunisian dissident journalist Taoufik Ben Brik’s…

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Colombia: Radio Journalist Flees Home Following Threats From Guerrilla Group

New York, February 8, 2008–Colombian journalist José Joaquín Chávez was forced to leave his home in Anzoátegui, in central Tolima province, after receiving several death threats from alleged members of a leftist guerrilla group. Chávez, director of the Anzoátegui-based community radio station Acción Estéreo and correspondent for the regional radio station La Voz del Tolima,…

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Another paper raided over ‘pirated’ software

New York, February 8, 2008—For the second time in a week, Russian police have raided an independent newspaper and seized its computers, accusing it of using pirated Microsoft software. The latest incident was on Wednesday, when police in St. Petersburg raided the offices of the weekly Minuty Veka and its publishing house, seizing its computers.…

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RUSSIA: Court orders Kommersant to pay damages to Chechen leader

February 7, 2007 Posted February 23, 2007 Kommersant LEGAL ACTION Popular Russian daily Kommersant was ordered to publish a court verdict and to pay 10,000 rubles (US$382) in damages to Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov for a July 2006 critical article, according to international and local press reports.

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In Uganda, government shuts down new TV station

New York, February 7, 2007— The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed concern today at the government’s indefinite removal of a new private television station from the air by cutting its use of a state-owned transmitter. Nation Television Uganda (NTV) went off the air Saturday after officials at the Broadcasting Council (BC), an official media regulator,…

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Gambian reporter said to be in state custody; CPJ seeks release

Your Excellency, We are deeply concerned about the well-being of our colleague “Chief” Ebrima B. Manneh of the Daily Observer, who has not been seen or heard from since his arrest seven months ago, according to sources in the media and human rights organizations.

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Three staffers of a trade union newspaper abducted

New York, February 6, 2007—Three staff members of Akuna, a bimonthly trade union newspaper, were seized on Monday from the suburbs of Colombo, according to news reports. The men, who are also trade union activists, may be in government custody. “We fear for the safety of the three missing newspaper staff members, and we call…

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Elected autocrats a danger to press-rights group

Michelle Nichols Reuters News February 5, 2007 NEW YORK, Feb 4 (Reuters) – The rise of popularly elected “democratators” in Venezuela and Russia is an alarming new model for government control of the press, the U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists warned on Sunday.

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Attacks on the Press 2006: Table of Contents

PrefaceBy Anderson Cooper Introduction By Joel Simon AFRICA ANALYSIS African Union fails to defend press freedom By Julia Crawford AMERICAS ANALYSIS Leftists lean on the Latin American media By Carlos Lauría ASIA ANALYSIS Afghan-Pakistani border off-limits to most journalists By Bob Dietz EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA ANALYSIS: Getting away with murder in the former Soviet…

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Attacks on the Press in 2006: Preface

By Anderson CooperSilence. When a journalist is killed, more often than not, there is silence. In Russia, someone followed Anna Politkovskaya home and quietly shot her to death in her apartment building. The killer muffled the sound of the gun with a silencer. Her murder made headlines around the world in October, but from the…

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