Saberi to Lee and Ling: ‘You are not alone’
Roxana Saberi, who was imprisoned in Iran for nearly four months, offers her thoughts on the detentions of U.S. journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee in North Korea. In this interview with CPJ, Saberi, left, said she was “amazed and very moved at the support I received” while in prison. “You are not alone,” she…
Saberi voices support for colleagues held in North Korea
Journalist Roxana Saberi, recently detained in Iran, asked us to release this statement on her behalf in response to the convictions of Laura Ling and Euna Lee in North Korea: “As a fellow journalist, I am shocked and saddened to hear about the heavy sentence handed to Laura Ling and Euna Lee. I hope that…
Monitoring the Lee, Ling case in North Korea
I’ve been staying up nights waiting for news on journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling, who are detained and facing trial in North Korea. The government in Pyongyang, through its official Korean Central News Agency, posted this terse item on Thursday: “The Central Court of the DPRK will start a trial of American journalists Laura…
Meeting Sami al-Haj
In conjunction with the International Freedom of Expression Exchange general meeting, the Norwegian government hosted a Global Forum on Freedom of Expression featuring three days of discussions, seminars, and lectures from leading experts. For me, a highlight was finally meeting Sami al-Haj, at left, the Al-Jazeera correspondent who was held for six years at Guantanamo…
An Iraqi journalist in America: California pilgrimage
I couldn’t say anything. I didn’t want to blink and waste a single moment of looking at the beach and the Pacific. I had never seen an ocean. If I could set up a tent on the sand, I thought, I could stay there forever. I have loved the seas, rivers, and oceans since I studied…
Cuban journalist in second week of hunger strike
Cuban dissidents–both on and off the island–have been blasting the news of Víctor Rolando Arroyo’s 12-day hunger strike. In a matter of hours, CPJ received three concerned e-mails from Havana and Miami. In the meantime, foreign-based Cuban news Web sites plastered the story across the Internet.
An Iraqi journalist in America: Fastening my seatbelt
It’s been almost a month since I arrived in the United States. Oddly, I haven’t felt homesick or strange here even though this is my first time ever outside Iraq. I was born in Baghdad in 1986. I never lived anywhere else. Baghdad is where my father and mother were born, fell in love, and…
An Iraqi journalist in America: Applications, airports, arrival
I’m finally in America. I lived all of my 23 years in Baghdad, never even traveling outside Iraq, but now I am in Tucson, Arizona, to begin a new life. I’m still trying to understand my feelings–missing the streets of Baghdad and the comfort of my family, but enjoying the sense that I can go about…
Schiff, Pence speak out for press freedom
“Information is power, which is precisely why many governments attempt to control the press to suppress opposition and preempt dissent,” said U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, the California Democrat who three years ago founded the Congressional Caucus for Freedom of the Press. “Far too often, the reporters and editors who demand reform, accountability, and transparency find…