Attacks on the Press 2001: Zimbabwe
President Robert Mugabe was named to CPJ’s list of the ten worst enemies of the press in 2001. See CPJ’s 2001 Enemies list. Backed by his volatile minister of information and publicity, Jonathan Moyo, Mugabe harangued, insulted, threatened, and intimidated journalists throughout the year. Mugabe, his unpopularity growing at home, found himself increasingly isolated on…
Attacks on the Press 2001: Journalists in Prison
There were 118 journalists in prison around the world at the end of 2001 who were jailed for practicing their profession. The number is up significantly from the previous year, when 81 journalists were in jail, and represents a return to the level of 1998, when 118 were also imprisoned.
Radio journalist jailed over controversial talk show
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned that Comoran authorities continue to hold a respected independent journalist in jail for his work. On November 10, 2001, Izdine Abdou Salam, a host and director of programming for the private station Radio Karthala, was detained and interrogated by police officers in the capital, Moroni.
Journalists accused of complicity in global drug trade
New York, March 22, 2002—The Venezuelan state news agency has sparked widespread furor by accusing three local independent journalists of involvement in an alleged global drug trafficking conspiracy controlled by international banks and political leaders from developed countries. On March 13, the state information agency Venpres published an opinion piece on its Web site (http://www.venpres.gov.ve)…
PRESS CRACKDOWN CONTINUES
New York, March 20, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is alarmed by increasing state restrictions on the press in Jordan, including the detention of some journalists and the harassment of others by security agents. On March 17, a State Security Court prosecutor imposed a 15-day detention on Hashem Khalidi, editor of the weekly newspaper…
CPJ protests court rulings against satirical weekly
New York, March 19, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is very concerned about two recent crippling libel judgments against the satirical weekly Feral Tribune. The judgments were issued in two separate libel suits filed by Marica Mestrovic, the daughter of a famous Croatian sculptor, and Zeljko Olujic, an attorney and former ally of the…
Editor arrested
New York, March 19, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned about the recent detention of Shyam Shrestha, editor of the leftist monthly Mulyankan. On March 16, authorities detained Shrestha at the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu. Shrestha was on his way to New Delhi, India, to take part in a conference on…
Government bans Australian reporter who covered rights abuses
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the Indonesian government’s decision to deny Australian journalist Lindsay Murdoch’s application for a renewal of his working visa, thereby effectively banning him from working as a correspondent in Jakarta. This action is a clear attempt to punish Murdoch for writing stories that criticize government policies.
Lawsuits, assassination attempt threaten survival of independent newspaper
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is extremely concerned that crippling damage awards in two recent libel suits threaten the survival of the independent, twice-weekly newspaper Novaya Gazeta. We also condemn a recent attempt to assassinate one of the paper’s reporters.