Alerts

New York, July 15, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is very concerned about the safety of Natasa Odalovic, a correspondent for the U.S.-government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and a columnist for the weekly Danas, which is based in Serbia's capital, Belgrade.

"I have been under surveillance for the past three days and am very concerned about my security," Odalovic told CPJ in a telephone interview today.

New York, July 15, 2002—Andrew Meldrum, the Zimbabwe correspondent for the British Guardian newspaper, was today acquitted of "publishing false information" and "abusing journalistic privileges." However, Meldrum, the first journalist to be tried under Zimbabwe's repressive new media laws, was ordered to leave the country within 24 hours.

Meldrum, a U.S. citizen who has been a permanent resident of Zimbabwe for more than 20 years, was charged under the draconian Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act for a Guardian article that cited a report in Zimbabwe's independent Daily News. The Daily News story alleged that young members of the ruling ZANU-PF party had beheaded an opposition supporter [see Special Report].

New York, July 12, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has just learned that Mario Prada Díaz, of the weekly El Semanario Sabanero in the Santander Department in northeastern Colombia, was killed this week. His death occurred the same week in which another journalist in the region was threatened at gunpoint, one day after a paramilitary commander declared the local press a military target.

A source in Colombia told CPJ that Prada, 44, was abducted from his house in the municipality of Sabana de Torres at 11 p.m. on July 11. This morning, Prada's body was found riddled with gunshots not far from his home. The source said that it was not clear who killed Prada, or why.

New York, July 12, 2002—Palestinian free-lance photographer Imad Abu Zahra died this morning from gunshot wounds he sustained yesterday in the West Bank town of Jenin. Said Dahla, a photographer for the official Palestinian news agency WAFA who was accompanying Abu Zahra, was also wounded.

"We mourn the loss of our colleague Abu Zahra," said CPJ executive director, Ann Cooper, noting that he was the second journalist to be killed while covering conflict in the West Bank this year.

July 10, 2002, Wednesday, BC cycle

International News

By ZARAR KHAN, Associated Press Writer

HYDERABAD, Pakistan

The trial of four Islamic militants charged in the killing of Wall Street Journal correspondent Daniel Pearl wrapped up Wednesday with prosecutors calling for the death penalty.

Judge Ali Ashraf Shah scheduled court proceedings for Monday to hand down a verdict, although Pakistani courts sometimes delay such rulings beyond the scheduled delivery time. There is no jury, and Shah is the only judge deciding the case.

Manila, July 12, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned about a case of mistaken identity that could jeopardize the safety of Philippine journalist Bernadette Tamayo, a veteran military correspondent with the People's Journal newspaper.

Military intelligence officials on the southern island of Mindanao have issued a "wanted poster" that mistakenly included a picture of Tamayo, identifying her as a member of the Abu Sayyaf guerrilla group and placing a 1 million peso (US$20,000) bounty on her head.

New York, July 11, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is alarmed that Iran's Supreme National Security Council has censored media coverage of the resignation of prominent cleric Ayatollah Jalaleddin Taheri.

According to a CPJ source in Tehran, the council, which is headed by the president and includes several top government officials, sent the written directive to newspapers late last night, Wednesday, July 10. The order instructed publishers not to take a position "for or against" Taheri.

New York, July 11, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply disturbed that Israeli authorities continue to detain three Palestinian journalists—Reuters sound technician Youssry al-Jamal, photographer Hussam Abu Alan of Agence France-Presse, and Al-Quds newspaper reporter Kamel Jbeil.

Al-Jamal was arrested on April 30 while filming near Al-Ahli Hospital in Hebron, and Abu Alan and Jbeil were picked up several weeks ago in the West Bank.

New York, July 10, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is alarmed by today's attack on Shahid Rashid, editor of the Urdu-language daily State Reporter.

Rashid was shot this morning by masked gunmen as he rode his scooter to the newspaper office in the Chanapora area of Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir State. Both Pakistan and India claim the disputed territory of Kashmir for their own.

Bogotá, July 1, 2002—The owner of a radio station, who recently had alerted the public to the presence of paramilitary fighters in the region, was shot and killed in northeastern Colombia.

Efraín Varela Noriega, owner of Radio Meridiano­70, was driving home from a university graduation in Arauca Department on the afternoon of June 28 when gunmen yanked him from his car and shot him in the face and chest, said Col. Jorge Caro, acting commander of Arauca's police.