Alerts

New York, June 18, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the continued imprisonment of Basile Agboh, publication director of the independent Lomé­based weekly Le Scorpion. Agboh has been in prison for two weeks.

Agboh was arrested on June 5 along with Maurice Atchinou, editor-in-chief of Le Scorpion, who was released the following day. Their arrests came after an article in the June 3 edition of the paper alleged that Lieutenant Colonel Ernest Gnassingbé, son of Togo's president, Gnassingbé Eyadéma, issued death threats to Prime Minister Agbeyomé Kodjo.

Port-au-Prince, June 13, 2002—After a three-day fact-finding mission, a delegation from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has found that journalists in Haiti face a troubling atmosphere of intimidation and fear.

Haitian journalists have told CPJ of violent attacks and threats that largely remain unpunished. Some have felt obliged to censor themselves, go into hiding, or even leave their country.

New York, June 11, 2002—A Brazilian judge has granted an injunction banning the country's media from publishing any information regarding proceedings against another judge. This is the second case of prior censorship in Brazil within two weeks.

On May 23, Judge Zélia Maria Antunes Alves, of the São Paulo State Court of Justice, granted an injunction requested by Judge Renato Mehana Khamis, of the Regional Labor Tribunal of the State of São Paulo, who faces administrative-disciplinary proceedings for alleged sexual harassment. The injunction banned the Brazilian media from circulating any information related to the proceedings.

New York, June 11, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the decision by a United Nations war crimes tribunal to compel the testimony of retired Washington Post reporter Jonathan C. Randal.

In its June 7 decision, the tribunal ruled that Randal will be forced to testify regarding the accuracy of a 1993 article in which he quoted Bosnian-Serb housing minister Radoslav Brdjanin as saying that those "unwilling to defend [Bosnian-Serb territory] must be moved out" in order to create "an ethnically clean space."

New York, June 11, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the decision by a United Nations war crimes tribunal to compel the testimony of retired Washington Post reporter Jonathan C. Randal.

In its June 7 decision, the tribunal ruled that Randal will be forced to testify regarding the accuracy of a 1993 article in which he quoted Bosnian-Serb housing minister Radoslav Brdjanin as saying that those "unwilling to defend [Bosnian-Serb territory] must be moved out" in order to create "an ethnically clean space."

New York, June 11, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the upcoming trial of Andrew Meldrum, a U.S. journalist based in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, on charges of "abusing journalistic privilege" and publishing "false information."

Meldrum, who writes for the London Guardian, The Economist, and contributes to Radio France Internationale, is due to appear in court tomorrow, June 12.

Tashkent, June 10, 2002—A delegation from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) today completed a nine-day mission to Uzbekistan by calling on President Islam Karimov to free three jailed journalists and to change government policies that severely restrict press freedom in the country.

In recent weeks, Uzbek officials formally abolished prior censorship. But local newspaper editors have been warned that they will be held personally accountable for what they publish, limiting the impact of this step.

New York, June 7, 2002—The Kenyan High Court has ordered copies of the Weekly Citizen off the streets following a complaint from a businessman.

High Court judge Andrew Hayanga issued a temporary injunction forbidding the managing editor of Weekly Citizen, a tabloid known for salacious reporting, and its vendors from continuing to distribute the June 3-9 issue until a libel suit filed by businessman Sunil Behal is heard and resolved, according to Kenyan news reports.

New York, June 6, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) welcomes the release of British journalist Amardeep Bassey but calls on the government to release his two Pakistani guides, Naoshad Ali Afridi and Khitab Shah Shinwari.

On May 10, Bassey, investigations editor for the British newspaper The Sunday Mercury, Afridi, and Shinwari were detained at the Torkham border crossing, near Peshawar, after crossing into Pakistan from Afghanistan.

New York, June 5, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned about the June 2 disappearance of Tim Lopes, an investigative reporter with TV Globo in Brazil. According to news reports, he was last seen on assignment in the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro, at an impoverished community, known as a favela.

On June 2, the 50-year-old Lopes traveled to Favela Vila do Cruzeiro. According to a TV Globo press release published in Brazilian papers, the reporter was met by his driver at the favela at about 8 p.m., but told the driver that he needed more time to finish his work. They agreed to meet again at 10 p.m., but the reporter never arrived.