A British journalist abducted in the southern Iraqi city of Basra two months ago has been rescued by Iraqi troops. Richard Butler, who worked for CBS News, was found with a sack over his head and his hands tied inside a house in Basra, Lt Gen Mohan al-Fireji told the Associated Press (AP). He said Butler was in "good" condition. In a statement, CBS said: "We are incredibly grateful that our...
Kyrgyzstan authorities have closed the investigation into the October murder of Alisher Saipov, editor of the independent Uzbek-language weekly Siyosat (Politics), according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). This is the second time authorities have officially closed the investigation in as many months. The Saipov family told New York-based CPJ that the local bureau of the Kyrgyz...
An Iraqi judicial committee has dismissed terrorism-related allegations against Associated Press (AP) photographer Bilal Hussein and ordered him released nearly two years after he was detained by the US military, the news agency has reported. Hussein, 36, remained in custody Wednesday at Camp Cropper, a US detention facility near Baghdad's airport. A decision by a four-judge panel said Hussein's...
The Northeast Media Forum (NEMF) has urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to ensure the safety of journalists in the region. NEMF appealed to the prime minister to ensure that journalists can carry out their professional duties in the region without fear of physical harm. NEMF, an organisation of over 100 journalists hailing from the Northeast region and working in the national capital, in a letter...
The Tajik Prosecutor-General's Office has charged two men with the murder of the Russian TV reporter, Ilyas Shurpayev, RIA Novosti has reported quoting a law enforcement source. "Masrurdzhon Yatimov and Nadzhmiddin Mukhiddinov have been charged under the provisions of Article 104/2 of the Penal Code of Tajikistan [premeditated murder with aggravating circumstances]," he said. The accused, both...
Four men have been convicted and sentenced to 11 years each in the November 2004 murder of Mexican photographer Gregorio Rodríguez Hernández. Judge Daniel Armenta Rentería convicted former Escuinapa Police Chief Abel Enríquez Zavala on charges that he acted as an intermediary between the mastermind and the perpetrators, court secretary Juan Carlos López told the New York-based Committee to Protect...
Five years after a series of US military strikes against news media outlets in Baghdad killed three journalists, there are calls on the US military to fully investigate the incidents and make its findings public. So far, impunity has ruled. On April 8, 2003, a US tank fired a single shell on the Palestine Hotel, the main base for dozens of international journalists covering the US-led invasion of
Russian prosecutors have opened a criminal case into the mysterious death in July 2003 of an investigative journalist and liberal lawmaker, news agency RIA Novosti has reported quoting an investigation committee spokesman on Friday. Yury Shchekochikhin, who reported on high-profile corruption cases, died after a brief and puzzling illness almost five years ago, at the age of 53. A post mortem...
An appeal court in the Montenegrin capital of Podgorica Wednesday ordered a new trial with different judges in the murder of Dusko Jovanovic, the owner and editor of the opposition daily Dan, who was gunned down outside his newspaper in Podgorica on May 28, 2004. The original trial ended in December 2006 with the acquittal of the sole defendant, Damic Mandic, a former karate champion and alleged...
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has welcomed a decision by the Cebu Regional Trial Court (RTC) in the Philippines in finding John Lloyd Ortiz guilty of attempted murder of Cebu radio broadcaster Cirse “Choy” Torralba on June 8, 2004. According to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), an IFJ affiliate, Judge Estela Alam Singco issued the 29-page decision on...
