CPJ support helps an injured Haitian reporter
His collarbone severely fractured in the January 12 earthquake, Haitian journalist Yves Adler Boissonniere needed considerable medical attention—care that he could not get in his devastated country. With US$40 and a few gourdes (Haiti’s currency) in his pocket, Boissonniere decided in late January to cross the border to the Dominican Republic in hopes of getting…
Costa Rica eliminates prison terms for defamation
New York, February 12, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on the Costa Rican legislature to remove criminal defamation provisions from its penal code after a recent Supreme Court decision eliminated prison terms from its 1902 Printing Press Law.
In meeting, delegation presses for Fatullayev’s freedom
Washington, January 20, 2010—A delegation from the Committee to Protect Journalists met today with Azerbaijani Charge d’Affaires Khazar Ibrahim at the Azerbaijani Embassy to deliver a letter carrying the names of more than 500 international journalists petitioning for the immediate release of imprisoned editor Eynulla Fatullayev, a 2009 recipient of CPJ’s International Press Freedom Award.…
Petitioners urge Azerbaijan to free Eynulla Fatullayev
President Aliyev: The Committee to Protect Journalists urges you to open a new page in your government’s policies toward the independent and opposition press, one that would demonstrate tolerance for the critical role of media in a democracy. No other action would contribute to this goal as much as the immediate release of Eynulla Fatullayev, editor of the now-closed independent Russian-language weekly Realny Azerbaijan and the Azeri-language daily Gündalik Azarbaycan, who has been imprisoned since April 2007 on charges that range from defamation to terrorism.
How to help journalists in prison
Today CPJ released its annual census of imprisoned journalists around the world. Citing 136 journalists jailed for their work around the world, the report brings to the foreground one of the toughest issues CPJ and other advocacy groups grapple with: Advocacy working at its best can make a difference over time and, in some cases,…
Senegalese president responds to CPJ
Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade has written a response to a recent CPJ protest letter. While we welcome his attention to the issues we raised about press freedom last month, we note with great concern the president’s comments about the ongoing criminal case of two journalists assaulted by police in 2008.
Newsweek’s Bahari released on bail in Iran
Reacting to the release of Newsweek correspondent Maziar Bahari on bail in Iran today, we issued the following statement: “We are greatly relieved that Maziar Bahari is out on bail and at home with his family in Tehran,” said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. “We hope the many journalists who remain jailed in Iran will…
Clinton raises impunity in journalist murders in Russia
When CPJ issued its recent special report Anatomy of Injustice: The Unsolved Killings of Journalists in Russia, we called on world leaders to join us in engaging Russian leaders on human rights, press freedom, and impunity. We were pleased to hear Secretary Hillary Clinton do just that today when she spoke about impunity at a…
It’s an honor
Yesterday, CPJ received the Thomas J. Dodd Prize for International Justice and Human Rights at an outdoor ceremony at the University of Connecticut. It was one of those perfect, crisp fall mornings in New England with a strong wind blowing clouds across the sun and shaking the first leaves from the maples, which have already…