CPJ asks fair trial for journalist charged with spying
August 2, 2001 His Excellency Jiang Zemin President, People’s Republic of China Beijing 100032 People’s Republic of China VIA FACSIMILE: 86-10-6512-5810 Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned about the continued imprisonment of author and journalist Wu Jianming, a U.S. citizen, on charges of spying for Taiwan and “collecting information that…
CPJ CALLS ON NEW INDONESIAN PRESIDENT TO SUPPORT PRESS FREEDOM
New York, August 1, 2001—In a July 30 letter to Megawati Sukarnoputri, the newly elected president of Indonesia, the Committee to Protect Journalists called on her to preserve and strengthen recent gains in press freedom. CPJ cited reports that Megawati’s Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle may revive the Ministry of Information—a department which, under the…
CPJ urges new government not to revive repressive Ministry of Information
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) wishes to congratulate you on your appointment as the new president of Indonesia. As an organization of journalists dedicated to the defense of press freedom around the world, we hope that you will use your authority to preserve and strengthen recent gains in press freedom.
CPJ urges inquiry into prosecution of Frontier Post editor
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is concerned that the prosecution on drug charges of Rehmat Shah Afridi, owner and chief editor of the English-language newspaper The Frontier Post and the Urdu daily Maidan, may be politically motivated. On June 27, a special anti-narcotics court in Lahore convicted Afridi on drug smuggling charges and sentenced him to death.
Wife of missing cameraman calls for independent investigation
New York, July 27–The wife of missing Belarusian cameraman Dmitri Zavadsky called on the United States and the international community to establish an independent commission to investigate her husband’s disappearance and other politically motivated deaths and disappearances in Belarus. Svetlana Zavadskaya visited Washington, D.C., for four days in mid-July with a small delegation that included…
Georgian Journalist Found Dead
New York, July 27, 2001–A popular 26-year-old Georgian journalist was found dead in his Tbilisi apartment yesterday, according to local and international reports. Georgy Sanaya was shot once in the head at close range with a 9mm weapon. Sanaya anchored “Night Courier,” a nightly political talk show in which he interviewed Georgia’s leading politicians on…
Army chief orders commanders to ensure safety of journalists
New York, July 27, 2001–Responding to concerns repeatedly expressed by the Committee to Protect Journalists and other international press freedom groups, Israeli military authorities have ordered field commanders to protect journalists who cover street clashes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Israeli Embassy spokesman Mark Regev informed CPJ via e-mail today that Israeli Defense…
CPJ delegation visits Harare to support local press
Harare, July 26, 2001–For more than two years, since the January 1999 arrest and torture of two journalists from the Harare weekly The Standard, the press in Zimbabwe has operated under a virtual state of siege. In April 2000, the offices of the Daily News were bombed. In January 2001, a commando team blew up…