Jailed Internet publisher tried in secret
New York, August 16, 2001—Jailed Internet publisher Huang Qi was tried Tuesday, August 14, on charges of subversion, according to CPJ sources in China and the United States. The trial was held in secret in the Chengdu Intermediate Court in Sichuan Province. Family members were not allowed to attend and no verdict or sentencing date…
CPJ welcomes release of Belgian filmmakers held hostage
New York, August 16, 2001—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) welcomes today’s release of Philippe Simon and Johan van Den Eynde, two Belgian documentary filmmakers who were held hostage by a faction of the Free Papua Movement (Organisasi Papua Merdeka, or OPM) for more than two months in the Indonesian province of Irian Jaya, also…
ZIMBABWEAN GOVERNMENT GROWS MORE HOSTILE TO INDEPENDENT PRESS AS ELECTION NEARS
New York, August 16, 2001—The Committee to Protect Journalists today sent a letter to Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe chronicling a host of press freedom violations. The letter called on Mugabe to take specific steps to “eliminate all obstacles inhibiting the work of the press so that [upcoming] elections can take place in an environment in…
Threatened by separatists, Aceh newspaper suspends publication
New York, August 15, 2001—On August 11, Serambi Indonesia, the largest daily newspaper in Aceh Province, suspended publication under pressure from the separatist Free Aceh Movement (Gerakan Aceh Merdeka, or GAM), CPJ has confirmed. GAM leaders were angered by an article about the massacre of 31 villagers in eastern Aceh that appeared in the August…
POPULAR EDITOR AND THREE COLLEAGUES ARRESTED
New York, August 15, 2001—Police arrested Daily News editor Geoff Nyarota at 12:15 a.m. this morning at his home in Harare, according to international news reports confirmed by CPJ sources in Zimbabwe. Police later detained Daily News reporter Sam Munyavi, editor John Gambanga, and Gambanga’s assistant, Bill Saidi. All four journalists remain in police custody…
Soldier assaults Egyptian TV crew at West Bank checkpoint
New York, August 14, 2001—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is gravely concerned about yesterday’s attack on an Egyptian television crew by an Israeli soldier in the West Bank, although we are pleased that the soldier involved has been disciplined. On the morning of August 13, Tarek Abdel Jaber and Abdel Nasser Abdoun, a reporter…
Government issues new list of banned media topics
New York, August 10, 2001—CPJ is disturbed by the Chinese government’s recent announcement that publications can be summarily closed down for reporting on any one of seven proscribed topics. The so-called Seven No’s policy was announced August 8 on national television. The banned topics include any criticism of government policies and any reporting that “harms…
Vineet Narain contempt trial postponed
New York, August 10, 2001—Yesterday’s scheduled contempt of court case against journalist Vineet Narain has been postponed due to violence in Jammu and Kashmir State, the trial venue. It is not known when the next hearing will be held. Narain is the founding editor of the New Delhibased investigative journal Kalchakra. He faces contempt charges…
IN MEXICO, TWO SUSPECTS ACQUITTED IN MURDER OF U.S. REPORTER
New York, August 9, 2001—On August 3, a Mexican judge acquitted the two men accused in the 1998 murder of American journalist Philip True. Juan Chivarra de la Cruz and his brother-in-law Miguel Hernández de la Cruz were charged with True’s murder in December 1998. Municipal Judge José Luis Reyes Contreras ordered their release despite…
CPJ monitor denied entry
In addition to state control, CPJ has documented intimidation and direct attacks against the independent media. London, August 8, 2001—The Belarusian embassy in London has denied a visa request by Emma Gray, a UK-based consultant with the Committee to Protect Journalists who intended to monitor press conditions in Belarus in advance of the September 9…