Officials seize independent-media equipment ahead of presidential election
“[My paper] gives alternative information, and the authorities do not like that,” an editor told CPJ. New York, August 23, 2001—In an ongoing crackdown on the independent press during the run-up to the September 9 presidential elections, Belarusian government officials have seized computers and other office equipment from several publications. Some of the equipment had…
INDEPENDENT PRESS UNDER SIEGE IN ZIMBABWE
New York, August 23, 2001—President Robert Mugabe and his Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) government have intensified the harsh crackdown on the independent press ahead of next year’s presidential elections. In the last two weeks, several journalists in Harare have faced detention and interrogation, threats of criminal prosecution, and other forms of…
CPJ protests harassment of independent press
Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply disturbed by your government’s recent harassment of several new independent media outlets. And we heartily object to a recent presidential decree that will make it easier to imprison journalists who criticize the government.
CPJ concerned about detained Lebanese journalists
New York, August 21, 2001—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is concerned about the recent arrests of two Lebanese journalists accused of having illegal contacts with Israeli officials. The journalists’ incarceration followed a series of large-scale arrests of Christians who oppose Syria’s military presence in Lebanon. About 250 individuals have been detained this month alone.…
Editor charged with defaming president
New York, August 21, 2001 — Fred M’membe, editor-in-chief of the independent Zambian daily The Post, was arrested today and charged with criminal defamation of the head of state, an offence under Article 69 of Zambia’s Penal Code. He was released after posting bail. The charges stem from an article and an editorial in the…
JOURNALIST ON ALLEGED GOVERNMENT DEATH LIST SUMMONED BY POLICE
New York, August 21, 2001—Two days after a Harare newspaper reported that prominent local journalist Basildon Peta topped an alleged government “hit list,” police summoned the journalist for questioning. Peta is the news editor of the weekly Financial Gazette and a stringer for the Independent of London and The Star of Johannesburg, South Africa. He…
Police confiscate special edition of independent newspaper
New York, August 20, 2001—In the latest crackdown on the independent press before the September 9 presidential election, police from the State Committee for Financial Investigation seized 400,000 copies of the independent triweekly Nasha Svaboda on Friday, August 17, according to local and international sources. The special election issue, which endorsed Vladimir Goncharik, the only…
CPJ DOCUMENTS PERSECUTION OF CHINESE JOURNALISTS WHO INVESTIGATE CORRUPTION
New York, August 20, 2001—Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji and other officials have said publicly that Chinese journalists should act as watchdogs over society. In reality, journalists are regularly harassed or threatened and sometimes sent to prison for doing just that. A briefing released today by the Committee to Protect Journalists exposes the subtle, and not-so-subtle,…
Journalist attacked after being released from prison
New York, August 20, 2001—Plainclothes police officers attacked Tunisian journalist and human rights activist Sihem Bensedrine and a group of her supporters on August 17 as they gathered to celebrate her recent release from prison, Bensedrine told CPJ. Bensedrine was jailed for six weeks after criticizing the Tunisian government during a June 17 television appearance…
Zimbabwe: Government grows more hostile to independent press as election nears
Your Excellency: A delegation from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) visited Harare from July 11 to 14 to assess press freedom conditions in Zimbabwe during the run-up to the general elections, scheduled for next spring. The delegation, which consisted of board member Clarence Page, deputy director Joel Simon, and Africa program coordinator Yves Sorokobi, met with journalists from the independent press and held informal discussions with members of the state media. They also spoke at length with Zimbabwean human rights activists and foreign correspondents based in the country.