Release a relief, but CPJ troubled by U.S. message in Miller case
New York, September 30, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is relieved that New York Times reporter Judith Miller has been freed after spending 85 days in a U.S. prison for refusing to disclose a confidential source. But CPJ is deeply troubled by the long-term damage that the federal prosecutor’s investigation has had on the free…
U.S. military to address concerns for safety of Iraqi journalists
New York, September 29, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomed today a request by U.S. Senator John Warner, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, for the Pentagon to address concerns about the safety of journalists in Iraq. Warner raised the issue at a hearing in Washington with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and senior commanders.…
Jail for reporting on corruption in famine aid distribution
New York, September 29, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the jail sentence given to a magazine journalist who reported on alleged corruption in the distribution of food aid during this year’s famine in Niger. On Tuesday, a court in the northern town of Agadez convicted Abdoulaye Harouna, publication director of the monthly Echos…
Iraqi journalists routinely jailed by U.S. forces
Dear Secretary Rumsfeld: The Committee to Protect Journalists wishes to express its grave concern about the continuing detention of Iraqi journalists by the U.S. military in Iraq. U.S. forces have routinely detained Iraqi reporters or photojournalists since the March 2003 invasion of Iraq. In several cases, individual journalists have been held for weeks or months without charge or due process.
Journalist released after serving criminal libel sentence
New York, September 28, 2005 – Eduard Abrosimov was released from prison two weeks early on Wednesday after a court in the southern Russian city of Saratov upheld his criminal libel conviction and reduced his sentence from seven months to time served. Abrosimov, a journalist and adviser to former regional governor Dmitry Ayatskov, was convicted…
NIGER
SEPTEMBER 27, 2005 Posted October 11, 2005 Abdoulaye Harouna, Echos Express LEGAL ACTION A court in the northern town of Agadez convicted Abdoulaye Harouna, publication director of the monthly Echos Express, of defaming the local governor, Yahaya Yendaka. The court sentenced him to four months in jail and fined him 520,000 CFA francs (US$950). Harouna…
Missing journalist case should be priority, CPJ urges
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply troubled by the stalled police investigation into the disappearance of Elyuddin Telaumbanua, a journalist with the daily Berita Sore who was reported missing on the island of Nias off the northwestern coast of Sumatra on August 22.
Newspaper suspended after exposing mining accident cover-up
New York, September 27, 2005— The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the suspension of a Chinese daily for reporting in August on the cover-up of a coal mining accident in the central city of Ruzhou. Henan Shang Bao (Henan Business News) was suspended for a month from September 17 for “inaccurate reporting” on orders…
As Kazakhstan vote nears, six papers blocked from publishing
New York, September 27, 2005—Six newspapers that have covered an opposition candidate’s presidential campaign were prevented on Monday from publishing their current editions, according to local and international press reports. Managers at the private printing company Vremya-Print in the financial capital of Almaty refused to explain why they would not publish Epokha, Svoboda Slova, Zhuma-taims,…
Radio journalist jailed for reports on Puntland prison
New York, September 27, 2005—Authorities in the Puntland city of Bossasso arrested an STN radio editor Monday in connection with his reporting on prison conditions, according to the Somali journalists union NUSOJ and a local source. Awale Jama Salad is being detained without charge for the second time in recent months. The arrest stems from…