New York, March 3, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply troubled by sedition charges pending against Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, editor of the tabloid weekly Blitz. Choudhury, who spent 17 months in jail before his release on bail in May 2005, is due to be tried in a Dhaka court next week. Choudhury told CPJ he believes the prosecution is related to his journalistic work...
Civil society, Members of Parliament and human rights lobbyists have condemned the brutal destruction of Standard Group property by the Government. They described the closure of KTN television station and burning of newspapers as a cowardly act by a desperate government and urged the media house to work round the clock and resume services even more boldly. "That sounds like old Romania or some...
There is a genuine shock and amazement in Kenya that hooded armed police were used to raid media houses. For the past three years, the government has been applauded for opening up "democratic space", and allowing a fair degree of press freedom. The fact that the only response to come from government so far has been the colourful retort of Internal Security Minister John Michuki that "if you rattle...
NAIROBI - Fallout from a police raid on a major media group put Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki’s weakened government further on the defensive on Friday, with newspapers denouncing the action as "state thuggery". Yesterday’s heavy-handed raid sparked a storm of domestic and foreign condemnation and split Kibaki’s cabinet, heaping more pressure on his administration. The operation was particularly...
Let me kick off by condemning and denouncing in the strongest terms, the stupid, fascist vandalism perpetrated by masked and hooded State terrorists who smashed their way into the Standard Group premises – their downtown offices at the I&M building and their Industrial Area printing facilities on Likoni Road – yanking off power cables, pistol-whipping shocked reporters and workers, threatening to...
Kenyans on Thursday awoke to the shocking news of a Government attack on the Standard Group, in which KTN was put off air, the printing plant disabled and tens of thousands of newspapers burnt. And the country united in roundly condemning the raid on the media group, which was described as a blatant assault on Press freedom. Media colleagues, politicians - including some members of Government -...
US Government has condemned the police raid on the Standard Group offices and called for the prosecution of those who carried out the acts. In a statement, it asked the Government to respect the freedom of media and expression. "These acts of thuggery have no place in an open democratic society. We deplore the current campaign of vilification and harassment of a selected media. Clearly, their...
TUNCELI, Turkey, March 3 (Reuters) - A Turkish court heard charges on Friday that nine journalists and human rights workers, including a reporter for Reuters, had given help to Kurdish rebel fighters. But Judge Murat Tekmen said there were faults in the case and set June 2 for the next hearing, saying those involved needed more time to prepare their testimony. The reporter for Reuters, Turkish...
March 3, 2006 -- Ukraine's Foreign Ministry says it wants an explanation from Belarusian authorities for the deportation of some Ukrainian journalists and activists who arrived to cover its upcoming presidential election. Belarusian authorities detained the six journalists and three activists from the Ukrainian youth party Pora on March 2. One of the activists says the six were deported the same...
YAOUNDE, Cameroon (AP) -- A court sentenced a publisher to prison for defamation Friday after his newspaper published the names of prominent alleged gays and lesbians in a case that has riveted this conservative West African nation. Jean-Pierre Amougou Belinga, publisher of the weekly L'Anecdote, was ordered to serve a four-month jail term and pay a fine of 1 million CFA francs (about $1,800 or 1...
