KAZAKHSTAN
SEPTEMBER 26, 2005 Posted October 17, 2005 Epokha Svoboda Slova Zhuma-taims Apta.kz Azat Soz. CENSORED Six newspapers that have covered an opposition candidate’s presidential campaign were prevented 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…
Three journalists freed; another ordered expelled
New York, September 26, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of three jailed journalists today in Chad. Garondé Djarma, Michaël Didama, and Sy Koumbo Singa Gali had been sentenced in July and August to prison terms ranging from six months to three years on charges related to their work. An appeals court in…
China tightens restrictions for online news and commentary
New York, September 26, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by severe new restrictions for online news, which were issued by China’s State Council and the Ministry of Information Industry on Sunday. CPJ called the new regulations a “major setback for independent writers and Internet users in China.” Under the new regulations, any…
Third attack against press in four months
New York, September 26, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists voiced outrage today at the attempted murder of Lebanese news anchor May Chidiac, a strong critic of Syria. Chidiac, a political talk show host with the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation, was seriously wounded when a bomb exploded in her car near the port city of Jounieh on…
CHAD
SEPTEMBER 25, 2005 Posted October 13, 2005 Tchanguis Vatankah, Radio Brakos IMPRISONED Chadian authorities arrested community radio station director Tchanguis Vatankah in southern Chad and announced they would expel him from the country, according to local sources. A native of Iran who had been living in Chad for several decades, Vatankah is the founder and…
CHINA
SEPTEMBER 25 2005 October 17, 2005 All journalists CENSORED China’s State Council and the Ministry of Information Industry issued severe restrictions for online news. Under the new regulations, any individual or organization that posts news or commentary must first be approved by the State Council Information Office. Bulletin board systems (BBS), a widely used medium…
LEBANON
SEPTEMBER 25, 2005 Posted October 11, 2005 May Chidiac, Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation ATTACKED Lebanese news anchor May Chidiac, a strong critic of Syria, was seriously wounded when a bomb exploded in her car near the port city of Jounieh. She was the third journalist who has criticized Syrian influence in Lebanon to be attacked since…
CPJ concerned about health of jailed journalist on hunger strike
Victor Rolando Arroyo New York, September 23, 2005—The Committee to P rotect Journalists is concerned about the health of jailed independent journalist Víctor Rolando Arroyo who went on hunger strike two weeks ago and is now in the prison hospital, his sister Blanca Arroyo told CPJ. Arroyo refused food to protest mistreatment at the Guantánamo…
Tunisian journalist wages second hunger strike in five months
New York, September 23, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned about the health of imprisoned Tunisian journalist Hamadi Jebali, who has been on a hunger strike for eight days to protest 14 years of unjust imprisonment. CPJ today called for his immediate release. His wife, Wahida Jebali, told CPJ that the journalist’s health…
Jail sentence for online writer, the third this year
New York, September 22, 2005— The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the conviction of freelance journalist Zheng Yichun, the third Internet journalist this year to be sentenced to jail by Chinese authorities. A court in the northeastern port city of Yingkou on Tuesday handed Zheng a seven-year jail term to be followed by three…