New York, September 1, 2004—A Mexican columnist who wrote about government corruption and crime was beaten to death yesterday in the city of Matamoros, near the United States border. The Committee to Protect Journalists is investigating whether the murder was tied to his reporting. Francisco Arratia Saldierna, 55, wrote a column called “Portavoz” (Spokesman) that…
New York, August 27, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is concerned about reports of intimidation against Nicaraguan journalist Sergio León Corea, who has been writing about drug trafficking and police corruption in Bluefields for the Managua-based daily La Prensa. León Corea, a correspondent in Bluefields on the Caribbean coast, told CPJ that early on…
Washington, D.C., August 24, 2004—A contempt of court ruling against a Time magazine correspondent was dismissed yesterday after he agreed to testify in the CIA leak case. Matthew Cooper agreed to give a deposition after one of his sources, vice presidential aide I. Lewis Libby, waived confidentiality. Cooper was held in contempt this month by…
New York, August 20, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly opposes a bill to regulate journalists in Brazil, a measure Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva sent to Congress this month. “This government-sponsored proposal severely restricts the right to freedom of expression,” said CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper. “Journalism must not be guided by…
New York, August 18, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply disturbed by a federal judge’s ruling today holding five reporters in contempt for refusing to identify sources for stories about Wen Ho Lee, the nuclear scientist once suspected of spying. U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson imposed daily fines of $500 against H. Josef…
New York, August 11, 2004—More than seven months after escaping from the Port-au-Prince National Penitentiary, two of the men charged in the April 2000 killing of prominent journalist Jean Léopold Dominique have been recaptured. Dymsley Millien was arrested August 1 in Port-au-Prince, and Jeudi-Jean Daniel was captured August 8 in the southern city of Jacmel,…
New York, August 11, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is very concerned by a U.S. federal judge’s ruling to hold a journalist in contempt of court for refusing to testify before the grand jury probing the 2003 leak of a CIA operative’s name. Chief Judge Thomas F. Hogan of U.S. District Court in Washington,…
Dear Mr. Secretary: The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned that recent actions by the Department of Homeland Security have impeded access of foreign reporters to the United States, reversing long-standing U.S. government practice.