CAMEROON
JANUARY 10, 2005 Updated: February 15, 2005 Jules Koum Koum, Le Jeune Observateur LEGAL ACTION, IMPRISONED Jules Koum Koum, publication director of the private bimonthly Le Jeune Observateur, was sentenced to six months in prison for allegedly defaming the CPA insurance company in an article published in February 2004.
Journalist remains missing in Iraq
New York, January 10, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by the disappearance in Iraq of French journalist Florence Aubenas, who was last seen in Baghdad on January 5 with her Iraqi translator, Hussein al-Saad. According to press reports, Aubenas, who was in Iraq working for the French daily Libération, has not been heard…
In Zimbabwe, Mugabe signs repressive new media law
New York, January 10, 2005 —Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe has signed into law a measure that sets prison terms of up to two years for any journalist found working without accreditation from the government-controlled Media and Information Commission. The Committee to Protect Journalists urges Mugabe and his government to turn away from such measures, including…
SAUDI ARABIA
JANUARY 8, 2005 Posted: January 27, 2005 Mohamed al-Oshen, Al-Mohayed IMPRISONED Al-Oshen, editor-in-chief of the Riyadh-based Islamist weekly Al-Mohayed, was detained on January 8 by Saudi security forces. A local source told CPJ that Al-Mohayed had recently published material that harshly attacked the Saudi government, as well as articles that criticized it for not taking…
Assets of opposition newspaper frozen
New York, January 7, 2005—The independent Azerbaijani opposition newspaper Yeni Musavat ceased publication indefinitely on December 31, 2004, because a court froze the paperís assets and bank account after ordering it to pay hefty libel damages to several government officials. The damages, which total nearly 800 million manats (US$160,000), stem from seven different defamation lawsuits…
PERU
JANUARY 6, 2005 Posted: March 23, 2005 Luis Aguirre Pastor, La Voz de Madre de Dios LEGAL ACTION Aguirre, a radio journalist based in the city of Puerto Maldonado in the southern Madre de Dios region, could be barred from working as a journalist for a year after an appeals court upheld his September 2003…
CPJ condemns attack on journalists
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply troubled by the recent violent attack on journalists by government security forces. On Tuesday, January 4, police acting as security at a meeting of the National Executive Council of Your Excellency’s ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the capital, Abuja, assaulted at least 10 journalists who were covering the meeting.
Al-Arabiya correspondent arrested after news report
New York, January 6, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly protests the arrest of a correspondent for news channel Al-Arabiya in Kuwait yesterday, shortly after the station aired a disputed report of clashes between Kuwaiti government forces and militants. Correspondent Adil Aidan remained in custody today after his arrest by Kuwaiti authorities, according to Al-Arabiya…
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
JANUARY 5, 2005 Posted: January 27, 2005 Deo Mulima Kampuku, La Référence Plus LEGAL ACTION Mulima, a reporter with the independent Congolese daily La Référence Plus, was sentenced in absentia to four months in jail for criminal defamation on January 5, according to local press freedom group Journaliste en Danger (JED) and sources at the…
VIETNAM
JANUARY 5, 2005 Posted January 27, 2005 Nguyen Thi Lan Anh, Tuoi Tre HARASSED, LEGAL ACTION Lan Anh, a staff reporter for the daily Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, was indicted on a charge of “appropriating state secrets.” The January 5 announcement of legal action against Lan Anh followed her series of investigative articles about manipulations…