New York, April 7, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned about several recent incidents in which journalists have been briefly held by insurgents in Iraq. These incidents come amid escalating clashes between Coalition forces and Iraqi insurgents. According to The Associated Press (AP), one of its photographers and his driver were detained…
New York, April 6, 2004—Journalists covering yesterday’s opposition rally in Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, were attacked by two dozen men in civilian clothes. The men smashed journalists’ cameras, assaulted several reporters, and destroyed filmed footage of the events, the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported. The men attempted to disrupt the rally by throwing eggs…
New York, April 6, 2004-The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned about the recent jailing of an Ethiopian journalist, after he was unable to pay bail in a criminal defamation case. On Friday, April 2, Ethiopian authorities jailed Merid Estifanos, former editor-in-chief of the private, Amharic-language weekly Satanaw. According to local sources, Estifanos…
New York, April 5, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) today filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to obtain a copy of the classified investigation into the March 18 shooting by U.S. troops in Baghdad of two Iraqi journalists working for the Dubai-based Arabic satellite news channel Al-Arabiyya. On Monday, March 29, the…
New York, April 2, 2004—Marking the fourth anniversary of the murder of Jean Léopold Dominique, one of Haiti’s most renowned journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) calls on the new Haitian authorities to revive the stalled investigation into his killing and put an end to impunity in this case. “After years of delays and…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an independent, nonpartisan organization dedicated to defending press freedom worldwide, is concerned about deteriorating press freedom conditions in Kazakhstan, including the politicized legal prosecution of independent journalists.
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is disturbed by a series of recent attacks against journalists by security forces during recent mass opposition demonstrations in the Ivory Coast. While more than half a dozen Ivoirian journalists have reported being physically attacked by officials, many more were arrested, intimidated, and harassed while covering the protests.
New York, March 29, 2004—Jean-Denis Lompoto, editor of the satirical biweekly Pili-Pili, was released March 27 from a Kinshasa prison on bail of US$100. Lompoto, who had been held just over a week, was detained on March 19 on charges of defaming Mining Minister Eugène Diomi Ndongala, according to local press organization Journaliste en danger…
New York, March 29, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply troubled by the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority’s (CPA) closure of an Iraqi weekly newspaper for allegedly inciting violence against coalition forces. On March 28, dozens of U.S. troops sealed the offices of the Baghdad weekly Al-Hawza, which is affiliated with radical Shiite cleric…
New York, March 29, 2004— A judge granted bail to freelance journalist Khawar Mehdi Rizvi on March 27, in an anti-terrorism court in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta. Rizvi’s lawyer, Habib Tahir, told local journalists that he would be released from jail today after posting a 200,000 rupees (US$3,500) bond payment. Rizvi is still…