Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply troubled by the deterioration of press freedom in the Gambia. Authorities in your country have held a journalist without any official explanation since April 10 and have prevented his newspaper, The Independent, from operating for more than seven weeks.
New York, May 17, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed that Colombian journalist Pedro Antonio Cárdenas Cáceres was forced to flee his hometown after getting death threats in the wake of his reports on government corruption in central Tolima province. Cárdenas, director of the biweekly La Verdad in the city of Honda, left for…
New York, May 17, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the continued imprisonment of New York Times researcher Zhao Yan, who has been re-indicted on charges of fraud and revealing state secrets. The Times reported the reinstated charges today. Zhao has been imprisoned for 21 months without once appearing before a judge. Charges against Zhao…
New York, May 17, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the May 6 shooting of journalist Paul Manaog, a reporter and commentator with local radio station DWLL. Manaog was still in critical condition at a local hospital today, according to the Philippines Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), a press freedom advocacy…
New York, May 17, 2006—The U.S. House of Representatives has called on Russian authorities to pursue justice in the July 2004 murder of Forbes Russia Editor-in-Chief Paul Klebnikov and the unsolved murders of 11 other journalists in Russia. On Tuesday, the House unanimously approved Resolution 499, urging Russian authorities to “continue inquiries into the murder…
UPDATED: May 16, 2006 Original Alert: December 12, 2005 Leykun Engeda, Dagim Wonchif IMPRISONED, LEGAL ACTION CPJ confirmed that Leykun Engeda, who was sentenced on December 9 to 15 months in prison, was released pending a decision in his appeal. The former editor-in-chief and publisher of the Amharic-language weekly Dagim Wonchif was convicted of publishing…
MAY 3, 2006 Posted: May 16, 2006 Sebastiao Canjera, Mabarwe Joao Mascarenhas, Mabarwe Patreque Francisco, Mabarwe IMPRISONED A prosecutor in the western district of Manica ordered three journalists from the community newspaper Mabarwe detained without charge, according to the local chapter of the Media Institute for Southern Africa (MISA) and local news reports. According to…
MAY 16, 2006 Posted: June 30, 2006 Neville De Silva, The Sunday Times, THREATENED A veteran Sri Lankan journalist based in London was threatened after a Web site that supports the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam ((LTTE)) posted his picture and accused him of being a Sri Lankan government spy. Neville De Silva, U.K. correspondent…
New York, May 16, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the detention of two journalists who have written about divisions within Syria. Military intelligence service detained prominent activist and writer Michel Kilo on May 14 in Damascus, according to CPJ sources. Online journalist Muhammad Ghanem has been in detention for 47 days. Kilo,…
New York, May 16, 2006—The Supreme Court in the Russian republic of Bashkortostan today ordered the release from pre-trial detention of Viktor Shmakov, the 63-year-old editor-in-chief of Provintsialniye Vesti (Provincial News), according to local press reports. The court said authorities did not have enough evidence to hold Shmakov on the grounds that he would continue…