Attacks on the Press 2005: Nepal
NEPAL King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev seized direct power on February 1, dealing an unprecedented blow to press freedom. He cut all telephone lines, blocked Internet service, and sent the army to major media outlets to censor the news line by line. Hundreds of political leaders, civil activists, and journalists were detained. The king…
Government intensifies crackdown on freedom of expression
New York, December 9, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the detention of journalist Hang Sakhorn on a charge of criminal libel, part of a growing government crackdown on freedom of expression in Cambodia. Sakhorn, editor of the occasional newspaper Ponleu Samaki, was arrested December 2 over an article published in September that accused state…
Burmese: Delivering with Depth
BANGKOK, ThailandAfter Burmese troops fired on democracy demonstrators in August 1988, Aung Zaw, a student who had already been jailed for helping to publish pro-democracy pamphlets, fled into the jungle. Seventeen years later he has yet to return home. Aung Zaw, a pseudonym, is a senior member of a vibrant community of Burmese journalists in…
In Thailand, media activist testifies about climate of fear’
Bangkok, Thailand, October 11, 2005—In her closing testimony today, media activist Supinya Klangnarong said a criminal defamation case brought against her by the telecommunications giant Shin Corp. has given rise to a “climate of fear” among journalists and activists in Thailand. But the presiding judge refused to include that portion of her testimony in the…
May justice prevail in Thai courts
Freedom of expression is on trial in the young democracy of Thailand, where state agencies, politicians and politically connected businesses have targeted the news media with an alarming string of criminal and civil court actions that seek prison terms and exorbitant monetary damages.
Company seeks massive damages in defamation cases
Bangkok, Thailand, July 28, 2005—A Thai company with ties to a former government official has filed criminal defamation complaints seeking massive damages from two daily newspapers owned by the Matichon media company. The Committee to Protect Journalists said today it is deeply concerned about the cases, part of a troubling trend toward litigation against the…
CPJ condemns threats to media freedom in Thailand
Bangkok, Thailand, July 19, 2005—Thailand’s cabinet today imposed emergency rule empowering the prime minister to censor the media in the country’s three Muslim-dominated, insurgency-hit southern provinces. The measure also gives the government power to detain suspects without trial, tap telephones, monitor e-mail exchanges, and confiscate suspects’ property in Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani provinces.