Imprisoned

From his cell in the maximum security Agüica Prison in western Matanzas province, jailed Cuban journalist Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez has written us a letter to accept CPJ’s International Press Freedom Award. In his letter, Maseda Gutiérrez speaks out “for all those who suffer the horror that characterizes despotic and oligarchic government models.” He will be honored on Tuesday. The…

New York, November 21, 2008–A Burmese court sentenced entertainer, blogger, and activist Maung Thura–known by his stage name, “Zarganar”–to 45 years in prison today for violations of the Electronics Act, according to Burmese rights groups and international news reports. Sports journalist Zaw Thet Htwe, and two other defendants were also sentenced to at least 15…

New York, November 21, 2008–A court in China’s southwestern Sichuan province sentenced a writer critical of the government to three years in prison today on charges of inciting subversion of state power, his wife told the Committee to Protect Journalists. 

Washington, November 20, 2008–On the day Ugandan editor Andrew Mwenda was introduced here as a recipient of a CPJ International Press Freedom Award, police back home summoned the journalist for questioning over his magazine’s hard-hitting political coverage.

New York, November 18, 2008–Two Nigerien journalists were sentenced to prison today on criminal libel charges over editorials critically scrutinizing the director of the country’s electricity supplier, according to local journalists. 

New York, November 18, 2008–An Azerbaijani court convicted Ali Hasanov, editor-in-chief of the pro-government daily Ideal, on defamation charges and sentenced him to six months in jail, according to the head of the Baku-based Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS), Emin Huseynov. 

New York, November 17, 2008–Amid a growing crackdown on political dissent and freedom of expression, a Burmese court on Friday handed down a two-year prison sentence to Eine Khine Oo, a journalist with the local weekly Ecovision Journal. 

New York, November 11, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the long prison sentence handed down by a Burmese court to blogger Nay Phone Latt, who has been held in detention since his arrest on January 29.

Dear Minister Jamil, The Committee to Protect Journalists brings your attention to a one-month prison sentence handed down last week by the criminal court in Sulaymaniyah in contravention of the region’s new press law.

New York, November 7, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the court-ordered release from prison today of blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin, editor and founder of the Malaysia Today news and commentary Web site.