News from the Committee to Protect Journalists, October 2013
CPJ launches US report Following CPJ’s release of its report on the state of press freedom in the United States, the organization is pursuing high-level meetings with the White House. CPJ had drafted six recommendations that were shared with President Obama, including calling for a guarantee that journalists would not be at legal risk or…
Sri Lanka detains, then releases two visiting journalists
With two weeks to go until the start of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka, the government’s anti-media policies remain a pressing topic. There are two links below to statements by media support groups today relating to the government’s wrongful and heavy handed response to a media workshop held in Colombo this…
Shabelle off air and staff evicted, fearing for safety
The young staff members of Radio Shabelle, whose offices were in the relatively safe section of Mogadishu next to the airport, are no longer feeling safe. On Saturday, while presenters were on the air, heavily armed security forces raided the Shabelle offices and arrested the three-dozen staff members at gunpoint, according to a statement by…
Vietnamese blogger sentenced for Facebook post
Bangkok, October 29, 2013–A Vietnamese court today sentenced independent blogger Dinh Nhat Uy to a 15-month suspended prison term and one year of house arrest in connection with his posts on Facebook, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the verdict and calls on Vietnamese authorities to end their escalating campaign of…
CPJ urges UK political parties to reconsider royal charter
New York, October 28, 2013–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Britain’s three main political parties to reconsider a royal charter that would establish a new press regulator in the United Kingdom. The Privy Council, the assembly that formally advises the Queen, is scheduled to review on Wednesday the proposed charter agreed by the…