CPJ alarmed by planned legal action against Kantipur
New York, August 26, 2005 The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by Minister for Information and Communication Tanka Dhakal’s confirmation yesterday that the government has initiated legal action against Kantipur Publications following the publication of an allegedly “objectionable” cartoon. Dhakal told a news conference in Kathmandu “The government action has begun. You will…
Security service agents raid private newspaper
New York, August 26, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed outrage at a raid by the State Security Service (SSS) on the Lagos-based weekly The Exclusive. Fourteen SSS agents raided the tabloid’s offices on August 19 and confiscated over 200 copies of its latest edition. They also detained and harassed vendors of the newspaper, local…
TAJIKISTAN
AUGUST 25, 2005 Posted: August 29, 2005 Mukhtor Bokizoda, Nerui Sukhan LEGAL ACTION A judge in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, convicted the editor of the shuttered opposition newspaper on theft charges, sentencing him to two years of “corrective” labor, fining him, and garnishing part of his wages.
CPJ urges justice in editor’s abduction, assault
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the shocking abduction and assault of a Yemeni newspaper editor this week in the capital, Sanaa. Four men seized Jamal Amer, editor of the weekly Al-Wasat, as he returned home from his office at 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday. Amer told CPJ that the men bundled him into a waiting car, blindfolded and bound him, and, after changing cars, drove him to a desolate area outside of the city. Amer said the men beat him with their fists and accused him of getting funding from the U.S. and Kuwaiti embassies, Amer said. One of the men warned him about defaming unspecified “officials.”
Imprisoned journalist Shi Tao’s family files for review of appeal
New York, August 25, 2005—The mother of a journalist serving a 10-year prison sentence on charges of “illegally leaking state secrets abroad” is seeking a review of her son’s court appeal. Gao Qinsheng, mother of imprisoned journalist Shi Tao, has alleged “serious procedural defects” in the proceeding, the human rights group Human Rights in China…
Second independent journalist jailed in less than a month
New York, August 25, 2005 – Cuba has jailed a second independent journalist who covered an unprecedented opposition meeting in May. Albert Santiago Du Bouchet Hernández, was arrested on August 6, tried three days later and handed a one-year jail term without the knowledge of his family who found out about his detention only after…
Army head threatens closure of newspapers
New York, August 25, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by a threat by the head of Ivory Coast’s armed forces to ban newspapers that fail to work “in the interests of the nation.” General Philippe Mangou summoned local journalists on Wednesday and told them to check their sources and avoid hate speech. He…
CPJ concerned by reports of editors’ imminent arrest
New York, August 25, 2005—The editors of Nepal’s two leading daily newspapers believe police plan to arrest them for their coverage of political unrest in the Himalayan kingdom, whose leadership has imposed widespread curbs on press freedom this year. Narayan Wagle, editor of Kantipur, and Prateek Pradhan, editor of the Kathmandu Post, were told by…
Editor of independent weekly sentenced to two years corrective labor
New York, August 25, 2005—A judge in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, convicted the editor of a shuttered opposition newspaper on theft charges today, sentencing him to two years of “corrective” labor, fining him, and garnishing part of his wages. The Committee to Protect Journalists denounced the verdict, calling the charges politically motivated. Mukhtor Bokizoda told…