Alerts

New York, April 11, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by yesterday's assault on Ebadullah Ebadi, a translator and assistant working for the Boston Globe.

Ebadi was attacked by Afghan fighters working with U.S. Special Forces in Soroobi, a district roughly 45 miles (70 kilometers) east of the capital, Kabul. The assault occurred within view of the U.S. soldiers, who did not intervene to stop the beating, according to an account published in today's edition of the Globe.

Bogotá, April 11, 2002—A Colombian television reporter received a death threat last week after reporting extensively on the country's left-wing guerrilla movement, CPJ has learned.

Carlos José Lajud works for the Bogotá station Citytv. On April 4, Lajud received a letter at the Citytv offices. "Our sincere condolences...for the death of Carlos Lajud," read the note, a copy of which was obtained by CPJ.

New York, April 11, 2002—A bomb exploded last night (April 10) just outside the editorial offices of the Communist Party's newspaper Kommunist in the Moldovan capital, Chisinau, CPJ has confirmed.

The bomb, which was planted near the office entrance, caused structural damage to the building and shattered its windows, as well as those in a nearby apartment building. An elderly guard sustained minor injuries but was not hospitalized.

New York, April 11, 2002—A draft Panamanian press law contains a troubling provision that would require all journalists in the country to hold a license in order to practice journalism.

The proposed legislation is currently before the Legislative Assembly. Meanwhile, a government agency announced that it would fine violators of an existing law that imposes mandatory licensing on radio and television newsreaders.

New York, April 11, 2002—On the third anniversary of the murder of journalist Slavko Curuvija, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) remains deeply concerned that the government has made no progress investigating the case.

On April 11, 1999, Curuvija, editor-in-chief of the Belgrade daily Dnevni Telegraf, was gunned down near his home in central Belgrade by two men wearing dark clothing and black masks.

New York, April 10, 2002—The editor of a fortnightly publication that criticized alleged corruption at a university in the southern city of Arequipa has received death threats, CPJ has learned.

Mabel Cáceres Calderón, editor of El Búho, works in the afternoon at the engineering sciences library of the Universidad Nacional de San Agustín (UNSA). On March 26, Cáceres arrived at the library and was given a package that had arrived for her in the mail.

Washington, D.C., July 13, 2001 --- A CPJ delegation met with Eritrean ambassador to the U.S. Gima Asmeron to express its deep concern about 15 journalists alleged to have been jailed or forcibly conscripted for military service.

CPJ first raised the issue in a June 7 letter to Eritrean Justice Minister Foazia Hashim. In her June 11 reply to CPJ, Minister Hashim stated that five of the 15 journalists mentioned in the CPJ letter were employed with local publications or NGOs, and that "the remaining journalists are performing their obligations in the National Service Program."

New York, April 9, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the criminal prosecution of Mikola Markevich and Paval Mazheika, editor-in-chief and reporter, respectively, at the Hrodno-based independent weekly Pahonya.

The journalists are accused of libeling President Aleksandr Lukashenko and face up to five years in prison if convicted. The trial, which was set to begin today in the Leninsky District Court in Hrodno, has been postponed indefinitely due to the judge's illness, CPJ has confirmed.

New York, April 9, 2002--The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the detention of Li Yanling, wife of Jiang Weiping, imprisoned journalist and recipient of CPJ's 2001 International Press Freedom Award. On March 18, Li was detained after being called in for questioning by security officials in Dalian, where the couple live, according to CPJ sources.

Bogotá, April 9, 2002 — The body of Juan Carlos Gómez, an intern at a radio station in northern Colombia, was found floating in the Magdalena River on April 3, CPJ has learned. Authorities said he had been beaten to death.

Gómez, 23, began working as an intern at La Voz de Aguachica (The Voice of Aguachica) six weeks before he was killed. He helped operate equipment on an evening music program called "Romantic Nights," said station director Freddy Alfonso Carvajalino.