Alerts

Kathmandu, June 6, 2002—In a press conference today, a delegation from the Committee to Protect Journalists announced that it had met with Nepalese prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and Information Minister Jaya Prakash Gupta to raise concerns about press freedom abuses that have occurred since the government declared a state of emergency in November 2001. The CPJ team specifically brought up the illegal detention of journalists and the alleged torture by authorities.

New York, May 31, 2002—A three-judge appeals panel yesterday sentenced two men to a 13-year prison term for the 1998 murder of Philip True, a Mexico City correspondent for the San Antonio Express-News. The unanimous ruling overturned an August 2001 verdict that had acquitted the two men.

The men were found guilty of "intentional homicide," the San Antonio Express-News reported. The prosecution had sought a conviction on charges of "premeditated murder," which carries a sentence of up to 20 years. The defendants remain free while their lawyers consider whether to file a final appeal before a federal court.

New York, May 29, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the shooting of Zafar Iqbal, a journalist for the Srinagar, Kashmir­based English-language daily Kashmir Images.

Iqbal, who was shot by three unidentified assailants this afternoon, was seriously injured and is currently in the hospital in stable condition, according to journalists in Kashmir and Indian news reports.

New York, May 28, 2002—Reuters photographer Suhaib Jadallah Salem was released by Israeli authorities yesterday after being detained for five days. According to Reuters news reports, no charges were filed.

Israeli authorities detained Salem on May 22 at the Abu Holi checkpoint in the Gaza Strip.

Reuters reported that Salem was attempting to enter the town of Rafah, en route to Egypt, where he was scheduled to fly to Japan to cover the World Cup soccer tournament. He was traveling in a Reuters armored car, clearly identified as a press vehicle, with a driver and two other passengers.

New York, May 24, 2002—A Brazilian judge has censored CartaCapital, a weekly magazine based in the city of São Paulo. The magazine said it will fight the decision.

According to press reports in Brazil and court documents, copies of which were obtained by CPJ, Judge Marcelo Oliveira da Silva of the 21st Civil Chamber of Rio de Janeiro ordered the magazine to not disclose the contents of conversations between presidential candidate Anthony Garotinho and Guilherme Freire, a donor to Garotinho's previous campaigns, that Freire had recorded.

Bogotá, May 24, 2002--The leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) have demanded that a newspaper in northern Colombia pay the equivalent of US$250,000 and publish a four-page communiqué to secure the release of a reporter and another employee who were kidnapped last week, the newspaper's director said yesterday.

Ulilo Acevedo, founder and director of Hoy Diario del Magdalena, said he and the other editors still haven't decided whether to submit to the demands. Acevedo fears that a rival right-wing paramilitary army could retaliate against the daily newspaper for publishing the communiqué.

New York, May 24, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the ongoing detention of several journalists by Israeli forces in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

At least five journalists remain in Israeli custody after being arrested in recent weeks. On May 22, most recently, Israeli troops detained Reuters photographer Suhaib Jadallah Salem at the Abu Holi checkpoint in the Gaza Strip. Salem was arrested while attempting to enter the town of Rafah.

New York, May 23, 2002—A homemade bomb exploded yesterday morning at the entrance of Bombo Radyo station in Cagayan de Oro City, on the southern island of Mindanao, in the Philippines. According to local news reports, no one was injured in the attack.

The bomb detonated at about 1:00 a.m. on May 22, causing superficial damage to the exterior of the building. The blast did not affect Bombo Radyo's ability to broadcast.

New York, May 22, 2002—This morning assailants threw Molotov cocktails into the office windows of Delovoye Obozreniye Respublika, an opposition newspaper based in the city of Almaty in southern Kazakhstan. In a separate incident, two employees of another opposition paper were attacked yesterday.

According to international reports and CPJ sources in Kazakhstan, no one was injured in today's attack, but the resulting fire destroyed much of the office, including the publication's technical equipment.

New York, May 22, 2002—Geoff Nyarota, editor-in-chief of Zimbabwe's Daily News and a 2001 CPJ International Press Freedom Award winner, was arrested by police on Monday, May 20, and charged with "publishing falsehoods." He was released after five hours of questioning.

If found guilty, he faces a fine of up to Z$100,000 (US$ 1,876) or a two-year jail term.
Nyarota is the fourth journalist to be arrested for the April 23 story about youths from the ruling ZANU-PF party beheading an opposition supporter in front of her two daughters. That story was later declared inaccurate.