By Chrystyna Lapychak Wars in Yugoslavia and Chechnya dominated regional and international headlines in 1999. The conflicts raised the journalists’ death toll in the region and prompted crackdowns, as governments blocked access to war zones and engaged in propaganda campaigns.
Azerbaijani press groups have proposed that August 6, 1998, the day that censorship was officially abolished, be declared Press Freedom Day. The move may be premature. While conditions have improved notably since then, journalists still must contend with lawsuits and threats of violence. The 1998 presidential decree that abolished censorship also dismantled Glavlit, the Soviet-era…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is greatly disturbed by the pressure your government has exerted on the independent television station ANS to block it from airing an interview with a Chechen rebel leader.
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is greatly concerned by the Azerbaijani parliament’s December 9 adoption of a new media law that severely restricts press freedom in your country. Although the new law formally forbids censorship, it outlines several provisions that limit the internationally-recognized right of journalists to practice their profession. The legislation:
Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply disturbed by the closing and continued harassment of the Baku independent station Sara TV and Radio. At 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, October 9, some 15 police officers, along with officials from the Baku City Prosecutor’s Office, the Baku and Yasamal district police departments and the Ministry of the Interior entered the offices of Sara TV, halting all broadcast transmissions and demanding that staff evacuate the office immediately.
August 18, 1999 To all who respect basic human rights and freedoms, including freedom of expression and the press, all who respect the rights of every person to due process, and all who are concerned about democratic development around the world: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), in partnership with The Trade Union of Journalists…
August 6, 1999 His Excellency Heidar Aliyev President of Azerbaijan 19 Istiglaliet Street Baku, Azerbaijan 370066 Via fax: 011-9412-920-625 Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply disturbed by a recent series of violent attacks against journalists in Azerbaijan, including the August 6 assault on Mirjavid Rahim, a reporter with the Uch Noqte…
Executive Director William A. Orme, Jr., who was interviewed on CNN International, Fox News “In Depth,” MSNBC “Online,” and numerous radio shows about Attacks on the Press in 1997, traveled to California for the April 6 launch of the book at a program at the Freedom Forum in San Francisco. He also addressed the regional conference…