As presidential vote approaches, CPJ calls on government to free jailed journalists
June 6, 2001 — CPJ is concerned that Iran’s June 8 presidential election is taking place in an environment where local journalists are not free to report the news. Five Iranian journalists are currently jailed for their work, according to CPJ research, and dozens of newspapers have been shut down. “When Iranians last went to…
Newspaper executives arrested in aftermath of palace killings
New York, June 6, 2001 – The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemned today’s arrest of three leading Nepalese journalists and called for their immediate and unconditional release. Yubaraj Ghimere, editor of the Nepali-language daily Kantipur, Kailash Shirohiya, managing director of Kantipur and its sister English-language publication the Kathmandu Post, and Binod Raj Gyawali, director…
CPJ welcomes lifting of censorship, urges press access to conflict areas
New York, June 6, 2001 — In a letter sent today to Sri Lankan president Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, CPJ welcomed her government’s recent decision to lift censorship restrictions on the Sri Lankan media. The letter also urged the president to lift access restrictions that still impede reporting on the country’s long-running civil war. In addition…
Government bans political TV program
New York, June 6, 2001 — A weekly television talk show was banned yesterday after only three broadcasts because callers criticized Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe. On June 5, Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) chairman Gideon Gono wrote to the show’s sponsor saying that the live phone-in television program had been cancelled for “policy” reasons. The program,…
Local press freedom group launches emergency network
New York, June 5, 2001 — At a recent seminar in Guatemala City, the local press freedom organization Centro para la Defensa de la Libertad de Expresión (CEDEX) encouraged journalists from all over Guatemala to report attacks on the press in their areas. Journalists in Guatemala often face violent threats in response to their work,…
CPJ condemns military trial of Lebanese-American correspondent
June 5, 2001 — CPJ today condemned the military trial of a New York-based Lebanese reporter who has been charged with “dealing with the enemy” because she participated in the same panel discussion as an Israeli official. Raghida Dergham, the New York bureau chief for the London-based daily Al-Hayat and a noted commentator on Arab…
Local crime reporter threatened with death
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned for the safety of Paraguayan journalist Séver del Puerto and his family, who have suffered an onslaught of death threats and harassment in recent weeks. We call on Your Excellency to ensure that these threats are fully investigated, and the perpetrators punished.
Postponement of Pasko trial criticized by defense, CPJ
Vladivostok, June 4, 2001 — The postponement Monday of a new trial against Russian environmental journalist Grigory Pasko was denounced by his defense team and CPJ representatives in front of the Vladivostok courthouse and at a later press conference. Defense lawyer Anatoly Pishkin said the delay was an attempt by Pacific Ocean Fleet prosecutors “to…
President bans government subscriptions to leading daily
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is disturbed by your recent order banning government agencies from spending public funds to purchase the Windhoek independent daily The Namibian. This decision follows a government advertising ban imposed on the newspaper in December.
Authorities brutalize provincial reporter who exposed prosecutorial misconduct
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an independent organization dedicated to the defense of press freedom around the world, protests the violent persecution of provincial journalist Olga Kitova by officials in the southern city of Belgorod.