Alerts

New York, December 25, 2001—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is outraged by the prison sentence handed down today to journalist Grigory Pasko by the Military Court of the Pacific Fleet in Vladivostok.

The court found Pasko guilty of treason and sentenced him to four years in prison, according to local news reports and CPJ sources. Russian prosecutors had demanded a nine-year sentence.

The IDF has completed what it describes as "an accounting" of the outstanding cases in which journalists were shot in the territories.

We are pleased that the IDF has reaffirmed its commitment to the freedom of the press, the safety of journalists and their freedom of movement.

New York, December 13, 2001—The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned Israel's destruction of the Voice of Palestine radio station broadcasting headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

The Associated Press reported that Israeli missiles hit the building's main transmitter, knocking the station off the air.

New York, December 13, 2001—The Committee to Protect Journalists applauds the creation on December 7 of the Zimbabwe Foreign Correspondents Association (ZFCA), which has vowed to challenge a restrictive new press law in court.

The draconian Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Bill would allow only Zimbabwean citizens to work for foreign media. A Media and Information Commission created by the bill would accredit local journalists on an annual basis.

New York, December 12, 2001—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) welcomes yesterday's announcement that the killers of journalist Agus Muliawan were among those convicted of "crimes against humanity" in connection with the violence that surrounded East Timor's August 1999 vote for independence from Indonesia.

The Special Panel for Serious Crimes of the District Court in the East Timor capital, Dili, issued the verdicts on December 11. This landmark case marks the first successful prosecution for crimes against humanity in East Timor.

New York, July 12, 2001—Dododjon Atovullo, the Tajik journalist and opposition activist who was detained in Moscow last week while Russian authorities considered extraditing him to Tajikistan, was released today and has returned to Germany, where he is currently living in exile with his family.

New York, December 10, 2001—On December 8, Robert Fisk, Middle East correspondent for the London daily Independent, was severely beaten by Afghan refugees in the village of Kila Abdullah in western Pakistan.

Fisk, his Independent colleague Justin Huggler, driver Amanullah, and translator Fayyaz Ahmed were driving past Kila Abdullah, near the Afghan border, when their car broke down. A large crowd gathered around the car and started throwing stones and hitting Huggler and Fisk. As the two reporters tried to board a bus, Fisk was dragged off, beaten, and kicked by about 60 men. The assailants were mostly Afghan refugees, according to Fisk.

New York, November 30, 2001—A well-known Russian television journalist was assaulted and robbed by three unknown attackers in the early morning hours of Friday, November 30, CPJ has confirmed.

Ildar Zhandaryov co-hosts "Bez Protokola" (Without Protocol), one of Russia's top-rated talk shows, and the movie review program "Interesnoye Kino" (Interesting Movie). Both shows appear on TV-6, currently the only independent Russian television station with a national reach.

New York, November 28, 2001—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is extremely concerned about the safety of Ken Hechtman, a Canadian free-lance journalist who is believed to be held captive in the border town of Spin Boldak.

Hechtman, 33, was writing for the weekly Montreal Mirror.

On November 27, a man who identified himself as Mohammedzai approached two Western journalists in the Pakistani border town of Chaman and told them of Hechtman's abduction.

New York, November 27, 2001—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned about an ongoing government investigation of two independent Belgrade publications, the weekly magazine Reporter and the daily Blic.

The police investigators invoked two Milosovic-era laws.