News

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on Syrian authorities to disclose the whereabouts of a journalist who has been held incommunicado since early April after he was ordered to visit the political security ‎‎office in Aleppo. Faruq Haji Mustafa, a Syrian Kurdish journalist and writer, was arrested on April 5 by political security ‎officers, according to the ‎‏Samir ‎Kassir...

In response to a letter sent on Sunday by Iran's president urging the public prosecutor to ensure justice for Iranian-American ‎journalist Roxana Saberi, the Committee to Protect Journalists on Monday called for Saberi to be released on bail pending her appeal. An Iranian Revolutionary Court found Saberi guilty of espionage and sentenced her to eight years in prison on Saturday in a closed, one...

Two individuals, who identified themselves as members of the far-right paramilitary group United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC), shot Colombian journalist Gustavo Adolfo Valencia Ayala inside his home in the eastern city of Popayán on March 16, 2009, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has reported quoting local news reports. The journalist, who was injured but is in stable condition...

On March 28, 2009, several gunshots were fired at the home of Juan Antonio Zavala Hernández, publisher of the weekly newspaper Mi Ciudad in the town of Romita in central Guanajuato state, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has reported. There were no injuries, the journalist told CPJ. Zavala, who said he has been repeatedly threatened by the local mayor, said he believes the attack was in...

An Iranian court convicted journalist Roxana Saberi of espionage and sentenced her to eight years in prison Saturday following a closed, one-day trial earlier in the week. Her lawyer said he will appeal. "Roxana Saberi's trial lacked transparency and we are concerned that she may not have been treated fairly," said Mohamed Abdel Dayem, CPJ's Middle East and North Africa programme coordinator. "We...

Amid Thailand's continuing political chaos, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has strongly condemned the assassination attempt against media owner, television commentator, and political activist Sondhi Limthongkul on Friday and called on Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's government to ensure a quick investigation. According to local and international news reports, at around 5:30 a.m...

Gambian authorities must authoritatively account for the whereabouts, health, and legal status of journalist "Chief" Ebrima Manneh, who was taken into government custody by security agents in July 2006, the Committee to Protect Journalists has said. Authorities, who have held Manneh in secret locations since the arrest, have provided conflicting and incomplete accounts this month regarding his...

The Iraqi military should drop a criminal lawsuit it filed Monday against a newspaper and a TV channel for misattributing a quote to its spokesman, the Committee to Protect Journalists has said. Iraqi and international press reported Monday that Major General Qassim Atta al-Moussawi, spokesman of the Baghdad Military Command Operations, has said that the military has initiated a lawsuit to shut...

As part of its declaration of a state of emergency on Sunday, the Thai government issued a decree that empowered officials to censor news considered a threat to national security, according to international and local news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on the government to immediately rescind this order of censorship. On Monday, the government ordered the blocking...

Iranian-American freelancer, Roxana Saberi, who has been charged with espionage after being arrested in late January, appeared in court for the first time on Monday. Iranian judiciary spokesman Alireza Jamshidi told a news conference in Tehran Tuesday that Saberi appeared before a Revolutionary Court for a closed, one-day trial, during which she presented a defence, Reuters and the Associated...