Two Iraqi journalists found murdered
New York, August 8, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the murders of two Iraqi journalists who were discovered dead on Monday by police in Baghdad. At least four Iraqi journalists have been slain in the past 10 days as murder continues to drive up the record death toll of journalists in Iraq. Unidentified gunmen…
CPJ condemns jailing of two journalists in Niger
New York, August 7, 2006—The director and editor of the private weekly Le Républicain have been held in police custody since Friday and questioned over a July opinion piece suggesting that Prime Minister Hama Amadou was “deserting the West for Iran.” Director Maman Abou said that he and Editor Oumarou Keita have been accused of…
CPJ condemns harassment of Burundian radio director
New York, August 4, 2006—A prominent radio journalist went into hiding for fear of arrest after police searched his home on Thursday. Alexis Sinduhije, founder and director of Radio Publique Africaine (RPA) and a 2004 recipient of the Committee to Protect Journalists’ International Press Freedom Award, said authorities sought to arrest him in retribution for…
Journalist freed after nine months in jail
New York, August 4, 2006—Patrice Booto, publisher of two Congolese newspapers, was freed on Thursday evening after spending nine months in prison for running stories that said the government had directed millions of dollars to neighboring Tanzania, the local press freedom group Journaliste en Danger reported. “This egregious case highlights the urgent need for the…
Journalists’ driver killed in ambush
New York, August 4, 2006—Unidentified gunmen today ambushed leaders of the National Union of Somali Journalists on the road from Baidoa to Mogadishu, fatally shooting their driver, Madey Garas, according to NUSOJ Secretary-General Omar Faruk Osman. Another NUSOJ official who was in the car, Fahad Mohammed Abukar, was injured in the attack. “Our hearts go…
Magazine’s print run seized, editor harassed
MAY-JULY 2006 Smolensk CENSORED Vladimir Korenev HARASSED, LEGAL ACTION Copies of the May edition of the monthly magazine Smolensk in the central Russian city of Smolensk were withheld by printer, Mikhailov Print Factory. The issue carried an article by magazine co-founder and Member of Parliament Viktor Drenkovsky criticizing Smolensk Gov. Viktor Maslov’s economic policies.
Reporters denied entry to Cuba
New York, August 3, 2006—Cuban authorities on Wednesday turned back at least three foreign journalists seeking to enter the country to cover President Fidel Castro’s illness and handover of power. The Committee to Protect Journalists is troubled that the reporters were denied entry at Havana’s international airport.
In Tajikistan, government rejects BBC bid for FM license
New York, August 3, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the Tajik government’s July 26 refusal to grant a license to the BBC for FM radio broadcasts in the capital, Dushanbe, and the northern city of Khudzhand. The broadcaster was taken off the air in January, allegedly for failure to comply with Tajikistan’s…