SOMALIA
AUGUST 2, 2005 Posted: August 17, 2005 Abdullahi Kulmiye Adow, HornAfrik IMPRISONED, HARASSED Adow, a reporter for the Mogadishu-based independent radio station HornAfrik, was detained on August 2 by militia loyal to local faction leader Mohamed Dhere. Dhere is a supporter of Somalia’s Transitional Federal President Abdullahi Yusuf, who recently established a temporary headquarters in…
PHILIPPINES
AUGUST 2, 2005 Posted: August 9, 2005 Glenda M. Gloria, Newsbreak THREATENED A funeral wreath was delivered to the residence of Gloria’s mother on the night of August 2, according to a statement released by the Manila-based news magazine. The flowers came with the message, “Condolence from your loving friends.” The delivery person identified the…
RUSSIA
AUGUST 2, 2005 Posted: August 9, 2005 ABC Andrei Babitsky, ABC HARASSED, LEGAL ACTION The Foreign Ministry announced steps to bar the U.S. television network ABC from reporting in Russia. The ministry said in a statement that ABC reporters had been denied access to government officials and that their accreditations will not be renewed when…
CPJ calls for independent inquiry into editor’s death
Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply troubled by the July 28 death of independent newspaper editor Harry Yansaneh. An autopsy attributed Yansaneh’s death to kidney failure. Yansaneh, acting editor of the daily For Di People, was assaulted on May 10 by a group of attackers. Prior to his death, Yansaneh alleged that Member of Parliament Fatmata Hassan had ordered the attack, according to local sources and press freedom organizations. Hassan, a member of your Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), was seeking at the time to evict For Di People and five other independent newspapers from the office space they had rented from her family for many years. The other newspapers were The Independent Observer, The Pool, The African Champion, The Pioneer and The Progress.
Venezuelan prosecutor ‘offended’ by editorial, launches probe
Dear Mr. Rodríguez: The Committee to Protect Journalists, an independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom around the world, is deeply concerned about the investigation your office has opened against the Caracas-based daily El Universal after it published an editorial that criticized your office and the judiciary.
Internet essayist Zhang Lin sentenced to five years in prison
New York, August 2, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the five-year prison sentence, followed by four years of deprivation of political rights, handed to freelance Internet journalist Zhang Lin on charges of inciting subversion. Zhang Lin’s family and lawyer Mo Shaoping received notice this morning that the Intermediate People’s Court of Bengbu in central…
Kremlin moves to bar ABC from reporting in Russia
New York, August 2, 2005—The Kremlin escalated its campaign of intimidation against foreign news media covering the war in Chechnya as authorities began moving today to bar the U.S. television network ABC from reporting in Russia. The Committee to Protect Journalists denounced the decision and called for its reversal.
Prosecutor says Gongadze probe moves to new phase
New York, August 2, 2005—The Ukrainian Prosecutor-General’s Office announced last night that it has completed the first part of its investigation into the 2000 murder of Georgy Gongadze, editor of the independent news Web site Ukrainska Pravda (Ukrainian Truth). Yuri Boychenko, a spokesman for the prosecutor, said yesterday that authorities have identified the suspects who…
TAJIKISTAN
JULY 28, 2005 Posted: August 2, 2005 Jumaboy Tolibov, freelance IMPRISONED A judge in northern Tajikistan sentenced independent journalist Jumaboy Tolibov to two years in a prison colony on charges of hooliganism, illegally entering a residence, and abusing his office as a local government administrator, according to local and international reports. The defense said it…