ARCHIVES: Harassed
In a 19 April 2000 letter to the chief minister of India's Manipur state, W. Nipamacha Singh, RSF protested the arrest of N. Biren Singh, editor of the daily "Naharlogi Thoudang". The organisation called on the minister to "ensure the immediate release of the journalist". RSF believes that a jail sentence would constitute a serious violation of press freedom. In a document dated 18 January 2000, the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression of the United Nations Commission on... MORE
In a 29 March 2000 letter to the chief minister of Punjab, Parkash Singh Badal, RSF expressed concern about the sanctions taken against journalist Sukhbir Singh Osan. RSF asked the governor to ensure that the journalist could recover his accreditation with the Punjab authorities. Robert Ménard, RSF's secretary general, reminded the authorities that "Indian laws guarantee press freedom". According to the information obtained by RSF, on 10 March, the Punjab authorities decided to withdraw Singh... MORE
RSF is protesting the arrests of three senior journalists in the state of Assam. According to RSF's information, on 10 February 1999, Naresh Kalita, news editor of the vernacular daily "Agradoot", was arrested by the police on charges of aiding and abetting separatist militants. A police statement said that he was jailed after the confessions of a militant of the United Liberation Front of Assom (ULFA) and that a Sten gun magazine, pistol cartridges and incriminating documents were found in his... MORE
RSF is protesting the new press censorship decided by the Manipur government. According to RSF, during the first week of October 1998, the government of the state of Manipur (northern India) ordered the local media not to publish or distribute statements by the separatist guerillas. The government's directive says that any newspaper which violates the order will be "severely punished under the rule of law." There is apprehension among local journalists that those who do not respect the... MORE
According to information released by RSF on 18 May 1998, Dhiren Chakravarty and Atanu Bhuyan, editor and executive editor respectively, of the Guwahati-based daily "Ajir Batori", were woken up and arrested at 3:00 a.m. (local time) on Friday 15 May, by Assam state policemen (in the northwestern state of Assam). They are charged with defaming Parliament and its members after the publication, on 21 March 1998, of an article critical of Parliament. They were taken to the Assembly to bow down... MORE
Ajit Bhuyan, editor of the widely read Assamese-language newspaper "Asomiya Protidin" ("Assamese Daily") and its sister paper, the Assamese-language weekly "Sadin" ("Seven Days"), has been the target of repeated arrests since August 1997. According to news reports, Bhuyan has been linked by state authorities to the banned United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) and with complicity in the kidnapping and murder of social activist Sanjay Ghosh, who died while in ULFA custody. Since 25 August, he... MORE
On 28 February 1997, senior journalists from Pakistan were detained for over three hours upon arriving at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi Airport. Among them were prominent journalists Mahmud Sham, editor of Pakistan's largest circulated daily "Jang", and Rehana Hakim (f), editor of the monthly "Newsline". According to Sham, for three hours, immigration authorities would not allow the journalists to exit the airport. When the journalists protested to the authorities and demanded permission to fly... MORE
The CPJ recently called upon the organizational body of the Kashmir separation movement, the All-Party Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference (APHC), to condemn attacks on the press by militant groups, and to expel member parties whose militant allies continue to threaten journalists and news organizations. Following the APHC condemnation of the murder of Norwegian tourist Hans Christian Ostro by the militant group Al Faran, the CPJ called for APHC to issue a statement condemning the frequent attacks on... MORE
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