Empty promise of press freedom
Bob Dietz Published in the South China Morning Post December 12, 2006 China media-watchers are accustomed to seeing moderate pendulum swings in the government’s approach to press freedom. Over the years, rules have been eased, only to be reined back when social conditions or political administrations change.
Independent journalist released after nine days
UPDATE December 12, 2006 Original alert: December 6, 2006 Ahmed Rodríguez Albacia, Jóvenes sin censura IMPRISONED Rodríguez Albacia, a reporter for the independent news agency Jóvenes sin censura, was released at 10 p.m. on December 12, after being detained for nine days at Havana’s police station, 100 y Aldabó. He told CPJ that authorities filed…
CPJ condemns murder of APTN cameraman
New York, December 12, 2006— The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the murder today of an Associated Press Television News (APTN) cameraman in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. Aswan Ahmed Lutfallah, 35, was gunned down by insurgents while filming clashes between Iraqi police and insurgents in the city’s al-Karama neighborhood, The Associated Press reported.
China: CPJ Welcomes Release of Investigative Journalist Jailed Since 1998
New York, December 12, 2006–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the early release of investigative reporter Gao Qinrong, who served eight years of a 12-year prison sentence for his reporting on a corrupt irrigation scheme in northern China’s Shanxi Province. “The long imprisonment of Gao Qinrong is a horrible reminder that even those journalists who…
New law still threatens press freedoms
New York, July 12, 2006— The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply troubled by Egypt’s newly amended press law that fails to honor a promise by President Hosni Mubarak to abolish prison for press offenses. The law also sharply increases fines for defamation. The amendments lift some minor restrictions on the media but still mandate…
Tueni’s killers go unpunished one year on
New York, December 11, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is dismayed that a year after the assassination of leading Lebanese journalist Gebran Tueni in Beirut, the perpetrators remain at large. On December 12, 2005, Tueni, managing director and columnist for the leading daily Al-Nahar, was killed by a bomb that targeted his armored vehicle in…
Jailed Internet journalists on the rise?
Rukmini Callimachi Associated Press Newswires December, 8 2006 NEW YORK (AP) – When Iranian journalist Mojtaba Saminejad was sentenced to two years in prison for insulting the country’s Supreme Leader, it was not for an article that appeared in a newspaper. His offending story was posted on his personal Web blog.
South African weekly journalists detained over critical report
December 8, 2006 Dominic Mahlangu, Sunday Times Carlos Litulo, freelance HARASSED Police in the southeastern village of Xicumbane detained investigative reporter Mahlangu and freelance photographer Litulo for 14 hours without charge and confiscated their notebooks, cell phones, and a camera, according to CPJ interviews and news reports. A police official ordered the arrests after Mahlangu…
Philippines:Radio broadcaster and former newspaper columnist shot dead
New York, December 8, 2006—Two unidentified gunmen killed Ponciano Grande, 53, a former newspaper columnist and occasional co-host of a radio variety show, at his farm on Thursday in Cabantuan City, in Central Luzon. The Committee to Protect Journalists is investigating to determine whether the killing was related to Grande’s work as a journalist. Two…