Click here to read more about press freedom conditions in PHILIPPINES New York, September 11, 2000 — The release of two France 2 television journalists, cameraman Jean-Jacques Le Garrec and sound engineer Roland Madura, has been delayed due to factional fighting within the ranks of the Philippine rebel group that kidnapped them, according to news…
New York, September 11, 2000 — Ruslan Musayev, a local reporter, cameraman, and photographer for The Associated Press (AP), was captured by Russian military forces in Chechnya on September 5, beaten, and held in detention overnight. He was released the following morning after paying US$600 to his guards, AP reported. This is the second recent…
New York, September 8, 2000–The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) wrote to Sri Lankan president Chandrika Kumaratunga today, welcoming her decision to ease censorship restrictions on the media. However, CPJ noted that censorship of military-related news remains in place, in violation of Sri Lanka’s international obligations to uphold press freedom. “We do not think that…
New York, September 7, 2000 — An irate crowd of some three dozen people calling themselves agents of Mauritian prime minister Navin Ramgoolam’s Labor Party staged a loud demonstration in front of the offices of Le Mauricien and L’express, the island’s leading independent dailies. Wielding sticks and shouting slogans, the protesters railed against what they…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is disturbed by your stated intention of banning private radio stations from broadcasting in Kenya’s vernacular languages. On August 31, 2000, at the opening of the Agricultural Society of Kenya show in Mombasa, you accused private stations that broadcast in languages other than English and Kiswahili, Kenya’s two official languages, of undermining national unity and promoting tribal chauvinism. You also ordered Attorney General Amos Wako and Information, Transport, and Communication Minister Musalia Mudavadi to draft legislation that would force private stations to broadcast only in English and Kiswahili.
Click here to read more about press freedom conditions in JORDAN New York, September 6, 2000–The state-sanctioned Jordan Press Association (JPA) expelled its secretary general, a weekly newspaper editor, from the organization yesterday because of his work with a local press freedom group, according to CPJ sources.
Click here to read more about press freedom conditions in AZERBAIJAN MAP of Azerbaijan New York, September 5, 2000 — In a widening crackdown on local media, Azeri authorities called in a second editor for questioning in connection with recent attempted hijacking in the Azeri enclave of Nakhchivan.
New York, September 5, 2000 — The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the sentencing today of Lasantha Wickrematunga, editor of the English-language weekly newspaper The Sunday Leader, on charges of criminally defaming President Chandrika Kumaratunga. A judge from Colombo’s High Court sentenced Wickrematunga to two years in jail, but suspended the sentence for five…