Prominent editor shot in Kashmir
New York, September 18, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns yesterday’s attack on Ghulam Mohammad Sofi, a prominent editor in Srinagar, the summer capital of India’s Jammu and Kashmir State. Two young men entered the offices of Sofi, editor of the popular Urdu-language daily Srinagar Times, at about 6:30 p.m. yesterday and opened fire.…
CPJ opposes media legislation
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is alarmed about legislation currently before the Argentine Senate. The bill proposes adding three articles to the Penal Code that would criminalize operating a radio station without a license, putting at risk the thousands of stations currently broadcasting without permission.
CPJ opposes new legislation
New York, September 17, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) sent a letter today to Juan Carlos Maqueda, provisional president of the Argentine Senate, expressing concern about legislation that the Senate is scheduled to debate tomorrow. The bill proposes adding three articles to the Penal Code that would criminalize operating a radio station without a…
Journalist goes into hidingCPJ urges Interior Ministry to assist him
Bogotá, September 17, 2002—Edgar Buitrago Rico, founder and director of the monthly Revista Valle 2000, today fled the city of Cali in fear of his life after receiving repeated death threats since May. In response, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) today sent a letter to Colombian interior minister Fernando Londoño Hoyos urging him to…
Iran: Two more newspapers closed
New York, September 17, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the recent decision by Tehran’s Press Court to suspend two more newspapers. The latest ruling brings to 54 the total number of publications suspended since a crackdown began in April 2000. According to a CPJ source in Iran, on Sunday, September 15, the Press…
CPJ outraged by conviction of independent journalist
New York, September 16, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is outraged by today’s conviction of Viktar Ivashkevich, editor-in-chief of the independent newspaper Rabochy. A Minsk district court found Ivashkevich guilty of libeling President Aleksandr Lukashenko and sentenced him to two years’ hard labor. Under the Belarusian Criminal Code, defaming the president is punishable by…
Jornalista acusado de crime de difamação
Nova York, 13 de setembro de 2002 — O Comitê de Proteção aos Jornalistas vê com preocupacão a situação do jornalista Lúcio Flávio Pinto, que responde a diversas ações criminais por suas reportagens sobre o Estado do Pará. Lúcio Flávio é um respeitado jornalista independente de Belém do Pará. Ele escreve a coluna “Carta da…
Journalist charged with criminal defamation
New York, September 13, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about Brazilian journalist Lúcio Flávio Pinto, who faces several criminal and civil lawsuits because of his reporting from the Amazon rain forest in Brazil’s northern state of Pará. Lúcio Flávio, as he is known in Brazil, is a well-respected free-lance reporter based in Belém,…
CPJ marks second anniversary of journalist’s disappearance
New York, September 13, 2002—Two years after the disappearance of Ukrainian journalist Georgy Gongadze, the Committee to Protect Journalists is dismayed by the lack of progress in the government’s inquiry into this case. “President Leonid Kuchma’s government continues to obstruct the official inquiry,” said CPJ executive director Ann Cooper. “Journalists in Ukraine will not feel…
CPJ encouraged by interim administration’s pledge to promote press freedom
Our plan for the reconstruction and development of Afghanistan’s media is rooted in the vision of a social and political future that our people deserve and aspire to, and has been promised by our government – a free, independent and united Afghanistan, where government is the servant of the people and accountable to them; where there is peace, justice and the rule of law; and where people can build a modern society in accordance with the principles of Islam, democracy and human rights.