Weekly newspaper allowed to resume publishing
New York, July 20, 2004—Iraq’s interim government has allowed a weekly newspaper closed by U.S. occupation authorities in March to resume publishing. Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi issued a decree on July 18 allowing for the reopening of Al-Hawza, a Baghdad weekly affiliated with radical Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr. A spokesman for al-Sadr said the…
After 16 months without charge, prominent writer to go on trial
New York, July 20, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) calls for the immediate release of writer Nguyen Dan Que, who spent 16 months in detention without charge. The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court will finally try Que on July 29 on charges of “taking advantage of democratic rights to infringe upon the interests…
BBC journalists released
New York, July 19, 2004—Farouk Chothia and Ange Ngu Thomas, two BBC journalists who were detained last week by Cameroonian soldiers in the disputed Bakassi peninsula and accused of spying, were released without charge on Friday, July 16, according to the BBC and international news reports. They are expected to arrive in the capital, Yaoundé,…
TRIAL IN CASE OF MURDERED PHOTOJOURNALIST ENDS AMID CHARGES OF GOVERNMENT COVER-UP
New York, July 19, 2004—The trial of an intelligence agent accused of killing Canadian-Iranian freelance photographer Zahra Kazemi in July 2003 was suddenly brought to a close on Sunday, July 18, amid accusations from Kazemi’s legal team of misconduct. An Iranian court abruptly ended the trial of Agent Mohamed Reza Aqdam just one day after…
CPJ calls on Putin to end climate of “lawlessness, impunity” that led to slayings of Klebnikov, other journalists
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) calls on you to address the climate of lawlessness that has led to the slayings of more than a dozen independent journalists in Russia in four years, most recently the July 9 murder of Paul Klebnikov, the 41-year-old editor of the Russian edition of Forbes Magazine.
Radio journalist slain in northeastern state of Alagoas
New York, July 14, 2004—Radio owner and host Jorge Lourenço dos Santos was killed on Sunday, July 11, in Alagoas State in northeastern Brazil. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is investigating whether the slaying was related to his work as a journalist. Dos Santos was killed at about 7:30 p.m. outside his home in…
Two BBC journalists under house arrest
New York, July 14, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) calls for the immediate release of two BBC journalists arrested on Sunday, July 11, while reporting in the Bakassi peninsular, a disputed territory between Cameroon and Nigeria. The BBC confirmed today that producer Farouk Chothia and reporter Ange Ngu Thomas are being held under house…
Writer sentenced to 19 months in prison
New York, July 14, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns today’s conviction of writer and military historian Pham Que Duong. The Hanoi People’s Court sentenced Duong to 19 months in prison on charges of “taking advantage of democratic rights to infringe upon the interests of the state.” The sentence accounts for time already served,…
ISLAMIC GROUPS THREATEN DOZENS OF JOURNALISTS
New York, July 13, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is alarmed by the rapidly growing number of death threats against journalists and writers throughout Bangladesh. Since July 10, at least 24 journalists and writers have received death threats, all apparently from Islamic groups who accuse them of being “enemies of Islam” or “acting against…