New York, June 26, 2002—Six suspects accused in the October 1994 murder of Dmitry Kholodov, of the Moscow-based independent newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets, were fully acquitted today by the Moscow Circuit Military Court. The six men were released from custody following the verdict. The court ruled that the prosecution failed to prove the suspects’ guilt, according…
New York, June 26, 2002—Tajikistan’s Prosecutor General’s Office has dropped its criminal case against Dodojon Atovullo, editor and publisher of the Russian-language paper Chroghi Ruz. Authorities have been searching for Atovullo since May 2001, when he fled in exile to Germany. According to a June 21 report from Interfax news agency, First Deputy Prosecutor General…
New York, June 25, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns yesterday’s conviction of Mikola Markevich and Paval Mazheika, both of the independent weekly newspaper Pahonya. The Leninsky District Court in the city of Hrodno, in western Belarus, found editor-in-chief Markevich and journalist Mazheika guilty of libeling President Aleksandr Lukashenko. The journalists were sentenced to…
New York, June 25, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is dismayed that the Military Collegium of the Russian Supreme Court today upheld journalist Grigory Pasko’s December 2001 conviction and prison sentence. Pasko was convicted of treason and sentenced to four years in prison on December 25, 2001, based on the charge that he intended…
Washington, DC, June 24, 2002–In a round-table discussion organized by the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), CPJ’s Asia program coordinator Kavita Menon called for greater U.S. support for press freedom in China. “The U.S. has clear commercial and political interests in promoting greater transparency and the rule of law in China,” said Menon. “The local…
Remarks Presented Before the Congressional-Executive Committee on China By Kavita Menon June 24, 2002 Thank you for inviting the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) to participate in this round-table discussion about media freedom in China. CPJ has been monitoring press freedom conditions in China, and around the world, for more than 20 years. The organization…
New York, June 24, 2002—Dragoljub Milanovic, the former director of the state broadcaster Radio Television Serbia (RTS), was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Friday for failing to protect 16 RTS employees killed by a NATO missile in April 1999, said Serbian and international press reports. A Belgrade district court found Milanovic guilty of…
New York, June 21, 2002—The Military Collegium of the Russian Supreme Court is scheduled to hear an appeal on June 25 of imprisoned journalist Grigory Pasko’s December 25, 2001 conviction. Pasko’s defense lawyers are seeking his full acquittal and release. According to Russian sources, state prosecutors plan to use the hearing to ask for a…
New York, June 20, 2002—In a letter sent today to Mario Dupuy, Haiti’s Secretary of State for Communications, the Committee to Protect Journalists expressed concerns about the government’s plan to develop a legally enforceable code of ethics for the press. In the letter, CPJ asked for more details about the proposed legislation and suggested opening…
New York, June 20, 2002—Police in Niger have again arrested Abdoulaye Tiemogo, publisher and editor-in-chief of the satirical weekly Canard Dechaine, on charges of defaming Niger Prime Minister Hama Amadou. This is the third time in eight months that Tiemogo has been arrested for his work. According to local journalists contacted by the Committee to…