CPJ condemns criminal defamation suits
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is gravely concerned that Thailand’s criminal defamation laws are being used to suppress critical voices. In June, a court ruled that telecommunications giant Shin Corporation could sue media reformer Supinya Klangnarong for criminal libel. On July 5, London Times’ Bangkok correspondent Andrew Drummond was convicted of criminal libel in a separate suit.
CPJ condemns imprisonment of journalist
New York, NY, July 12, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the imprisonment of Maka Gbossokotto, publication director of the private French-language daily Le Citoyen in the Central African Republic (CAR). Charged with defamation and slander, Gbossokotto was transferred today to the N’Garagba Central Prison in the capital, Bangui, after appearing before a Bangui…
CPJ calls for release of arrested editor
New York, July 12, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply disturbed that Madiambal Diagne, publication director of the Senegalese independent daily Le Quotidien, has been imprisoned and calls for his immediate release. Diagne has been in prison since Friday, July 9, in connection with articles about alleged fraud in the customs service and…
Forbes editor shot and killed
New York, July 9, 2004 – Paul Klebnikov, editor of the Russian edition of Forbes Magazine, was shot and killed this evening in the capital of Moscow as he left his office, according to local press reports. Klebnikov, an American journalist of Russian descent, was shot four times at about 10 p.m. local time. There…
Writer convicted of “infringing” on state interests
New York, July 9, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the guilty verdict handed down today to writer Tran Khue. The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court sentenced Khue, 68, to 19 months in prison on charges of “taking advantage of democratic rights to infringe upon the interests of the state” and of violating…
After 18 months in prison, two writers to be tried
New York, July 7, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) calls for the immediate release of writers Pham Que Duong and Tran Khue, who were held without charge for 18 months. Khue is now expected to go to trial on July 9 in Ho Chi Minh City, with Duong’s trial scheduled for July 14 in…
Australian journalist reported safe
New York, July 1, 2004—Australian journalist Carmela Baranowska, who was reported missing yesterday in southern Afghanistan, made contact with her employer, SBS Television, by satellite telephone today, according to international news reports. Following the call, SBS issued a statement saying “we are reassured as to her well-being and to the fact that she is not…
Government suspends Al-Jazeera’s bureau operations
New York, July 1, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply troubled by the Algerian government’s decision to suspend operations of the local office of the Qatar-based news channel Al-Jazeera. According to press reports and journalists in the capital, Algiers, the Ministry of Communications ordered Al-Jazeera’s Algiers bureau to suspend its newsgathering operations yesterday.…
COURT CLOSES CRIMINAL DEFAMATION CASE AGAINST JOURNALIST AFTER LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL OUTCRY
New York, July 1, 2004—Bowing to international pressure, the mayor of Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, has dropped criminal charges against a journalist who had criticized his administration. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) welcomes the decision, but calls on the government to scrap its criminal defamation law entirely.