New York, August 9, 2002—Three journalists who had been sentenced to 30 days of “preventative detention” were released on Wednesday, August 7, on the condition that they remain in the capital, Kigali, and report regularly to the police. However, it is unclear whether the charges against them have been dropped. Robert Sebufirira, Elly MacDowell Kalisa,…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) strongly protests your government’s closure of the Amman bureau of the Qatar-based satellite television channel Al-Jazeera. On August 7, Information Minister Muhammad Adwan revoked the station’s license to operate in Jordan and barred its staff from working for the station in the country. The move came after a guest on that day’s broadcast of the debate program “Opposite Direction” criticized Jordan’s relationship with Israel.
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned by your government’s recent use of defamation lawsuits and official pressure to silence the Baku-based independent magazine Monitor, which is known for its critical reporting on government officials. We are also troubled by the ongoing harassment of the magazine’s publisher and editor-in-chief, Elmar Huseynov.
New York, August 7, 2002—In a fresh series of actions against Cuba’s independent press corps, Cuban state security agents have harassed, detained, and threatened several independent journalists during the last 10 days. Journalist detainedÁngel Pablo Polanco, 60, director of the independent news agency Noticuba, was detained on July 30. According to Polanco’s wife, at around…
New York, August 7, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned about the investigation ordered yesterday by a state prosecutor in Lebanon into accusations that Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International (LBCI), a private television station, is responsible for “inciting sectarian strife” and “disturbing general peace.” Under investigation are LBCI’s news editor, Jean Feghali, and…
August 6, 2002 Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba Prime Minister’s Office Singh Durbar Kathmandu, Nepal Via facsimile: +997 1 227286 Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the recent detention of Kishor Shrestha, editor of the Nepali-language weekly newspaper Jana Aastha. Although police claimed the detention was because of a July 31 article,…
New York, August 6, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the recent 11-year sentence handed down to activist Li Dawei for downloading and printing materials from the Internet. This is the longest sentence CPJ has documented for Internet-related activities in China. On July 24, 2002, the Intermediate Court in Tianshui City, Gansu Province, sentenced…
New York, August 6, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) today confirmed that Eritrean journalist Simret Seyoum, a writer and general manager at the banned private weekly Setit, has been in Eritrean government custody since early January. This puts the total of jailed Eritrean journalists at 14, although government sources recently acknowledged holding only “about…
New York, August 2, 2002—During a recent fact-finding mission to Eritrea, a presidential official told a delegation from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) that eight independent journalists are currently imprisoned and held incommunicado. Although the official, presidential spokesperson Yermane Gebremesken, cited eight journalists, CPJ puts the total number of journalists jailed in Eritrea at…
New York, August 2, 2002—On July 31, Abdullah Keskin, a Turkish publisher charged with “separatist propaganda” for publishing a U.S. journalist’s book about Turkey’s Kurdish minority population, was convicted and sentenced to a six-month prison sentence, which the court converted to a fine of about US$500. An Istanbul State Security Court ruled on Wednesday that…