Photographer missing, feared abducted
New York, January 28, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned that a Colombian photographer is missing and feared abducted. On Saturday, January 22, Hernán Echeverri Arboleda, a photographer with the bimonthly regional newspaper Urabá Hoy (Urabá Today), disappeared on a rural highway in northwestern Colombia. Assailants thought to be members of the Revolutionary Armed…
MOZAMBIQUE
JANUARY 27, 2005 Posted: February 2, 2005 Jeremias Langa, STV THREATENED Two men commandeered Langa’s car in the capital, Maputo, forced him to drive around the city for a half hour, held guns to his head, and threatened to kill him, according to a statement from the private television station STV, where Langa works as…
CPJ protests newspapers’ suspension
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply disturbed that the Ministry of Justice suspended two Arabic-language weeklies. According to press reports and local journalists, intelligence agents notified the editors of the Oujda-based weeklies Al-Sharq and Al-Hayat Al-Maghribiya on January 18 that they were to cease publication of their weeklies immediately for three months on order of the ministry.
Response from the Embassy of the Republic of Cameroon
Dear Mrs. Cooper, We hereby acknowledge receipt of your letter of January 14, 2005 addressed to His Excellency Ambassador Jerome MENDOUGA, regarding Mr. Eric Wirkwa Tayu, publisher of a private newspaper in Cameroon. Mr. Tayu, you claim, “has been in prison since July 28, 2004 when he was convicted of defaming Kumbo’s mayor, Donatus Njong Fonyuy….”
Journalist attacked and threatened
New York, January 25, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the January 21 attack and death threats against Brazilian journalist Lúcio Flávio Pinto, who is based in the city of Belém, in the northern state of Pará. Pinto, the publisher and editor of the small bimonthly Jornal Pessoal, said he was at a restaurant having…
Fugitive in Cardoso murder returned to Mozambique
New York, January 24, 2005—A fugitive in the murder of investigative reporter Carlos Cardoso has been returned to Mozambique, where he faces a new trial in the November 2000 slaying. The Committee to Protect Journalists today called for the prompt prosecution and secure detention of Anibal Antonio dos Santos Junior, who has escaped from custody…
INDONESIA
JANUARY 23, 2005 Posted: January 27, 2005 William Nessen, freelance HARASSED Authorities detained Nessen at Polonia Airport in the northern Sumatran city of Medan after the American journalist visited the tsunami-ravaged province of Aceh. Nessen was flown to Jakarta and deported on the following day, January 24. He had previously been jailed in Aceh for…
BRAZIL
JANUARY 21, 2005 Posted: February 2, 2005 Lúcio Flávio Pinto, Jornal Pessoal ATTACKED Pinto, the publisher and editor of the small bimonthly Jornal Pessoal in the city of Belém, in the northern state of Pará, said he was at a restaurant having lunch with friends on Friday, January 21, when Ronaldo Maiorana, a businessman and…
CPJ calls for release of jailed publication director
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply troubled by the recent jailing of Jules Koum Koum, publication director of the private bimonthly Le Jeune Observateur, on criminal defamation charges. Two journalists are now imprisoned in Cameroon for their work.