Authorities crack down on opposition papers
New York, December 1, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the legal harassment of opposition and independent newspapers over the past month by the Yemeni authorities, including the closure of one newspaper and a barrage of defamation lawsuits against others. The legal actions come amid a broader government crackdown on the media. Several…
NIGERIA
NOVEMBER 30, 2005 Posted January 4, 2006 Glory FM, Bayelsa Broadcasting Corporation CENSORED Security forces under the authority of the federal government stormed and sealed off Glory FM, a radio station owned by the Bayelsa state government in its capital, Yenagoa. Broadcasts were immediately cut, according to news reports and the Lagos-based press freedom group…
Radio director freed but faces expulsion from country
New York, November 30, 2005—Chadian authorities freed community radio director Tchanguis Vatankah on Tuesday after improperly holding the journalist in detention for more than two months. Vatankah, whose station is known for critical reporting and commentary, still faces a government expulsion order and has been ordered not to speak to the press, according to Evariste…
Supreme Court provisionally allows radio news back on the air
New York, November 30, 2005— The Committee to Protect Journalists applauds a decision today by Nepal’s Supreme Court to provisionally lift a government ban on the broadcasting of FM radio news. Independent radio stations such as Kantipur FM and Radio Sagarmatha resumed news bulletins after the interim ruling, local reporters said. “This is an important…
After a year in jail, editor freed in Sierra Leone
New York, November 30, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes Tuesday’s release of jailed journalist Paul Kamara after an appeals court overturned his conviction and two-year sentence for seditious libel. He had served more than a year in prison for articles criticizing President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. “I am happy that I have been acquitted at…
RUSSIA
NOVEMBER 29, 2005 Posted: December 1, 2005 Olga Romanova, Ren-TV HARASSED Romanova said at a press conference in Moscow that she was concerned for her safety and that of her two children. She said that she had been followed by a black Audi since filing a criminal complaint with the Khamovnicheskii inter-district prosecutor on November…
CPJ urges Museveni to drop closure threats against media in Besigye case
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is troubled by restrictions on media freedom in Uganda following the November 14 arrest of opposition leader Kizza Besigye. Your Excellency’s government has instructed journalists not to comment on or discuss Besigye’s upcoming trials on treason, terrorism and rape charges. Ugandan troops today barred journalists from attending Besigye’s court hearing in the capital Kampala, according to Agence France-Presse. Police have also recently harassed staff members of the independent daily The Monitor, impeded its circulation, and threatened to close it down altogether.
Supreme Court stays suspension of independent radio station
New York, November 29, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomed an interim ruling by Nepal’s Supreme Court today preventing the government from suspending Radio Sagarmatha. Police raided the independent Kathmandu-based station on Sunday to stop it from broadcasting a BBC interview with Maoist rebel leader Prachanda. The Court summoned government officials to a hearing on…
In Philippines, ex-police officer convicted in Damalerio murder
New York, November 29, 2005— The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes today’s conviction of former police officer Guillermo Wapile in the 2002 murder of journalist Edgar Damalerio in Pagadian City. Judge Ramon Codilla of the Cebu Regional Trial Court sentenced Wapile to life imprisonment.