Alerts

New York, April 8, 2002—CPJ is alarmed that the independent television channel A1+ has lost its broadcast frequency and been forced off the air.

On April 2, the National Committee on Television and Radio (NCTR), whose members are appointed by the president, awarded the A1+ frequency to the entertainment company Sharm, which has close government ties, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

A1+ is known for its critical stance toward the government of President Robert Kocharian, who is up for reelection in 2003. The government maintains that the NCTR's decision was impartial.

New York, April 8, 2002—CPJ is gravely concerned about the safety of journalist Demling Lama, who was abducted on April 5 by armed Maoist rebels, according to sources in Nepal.

Lama is the correspondent in the Sindhupalchok District for both Radio Nepal and the national Nepali-language daily Himalaya Times.

At some time during the morning of April 5, more than a dozen armed Maoist rebels entered Lama's house in Sindhupalchok and kidnapped him while he was sleeping, according to Nepalese press reports. His whereabouts are unknown.

New York, April 5, 2002---The trial of four suspects accused in the kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl began today at Karachi's Central Jail, and was closed to the public and the media. Chief prosecutor Raja Qureshi said that "journalists have not been allowed because of security and the sensitivity of the case," according to The Associated Press. Close relatives of the accused were permitted to attend the trial.

New York April 4, 2002—CPJ commends the efforts of Pakistani authorities to apprehend and prosecute the killers of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. The trial of four men charged with the journalist's kidnapping and murder is scheduled to begin tomorrow, April 5. Seven others accused in the case remain at large.

"Around the world, crimes against journalists are routinely committed with impunity," said CPJ executive director Ann Cooper. "We hope that the extraordinary level of international attention to the murder of Daniel Pearl will help to ensure that his killers are brought to justice."

Who: Terry Anderson, Honorary Co-Chair of the Committee to Protect Journalists, former AP Bureau Chief in Beirut; Chris Cramer, president of CNN International Networks, author of Hostage, a first-hand account of the 1980 Iranian Embassy siege, where he was held hostage; Robert Klamser, Executive Director, Crisis Consulting International, a non-profit organization providing security, crisis management, training, risk assessment and hostage negotiation services to the international non-profit community; Charles Rogers, Director Corporate Security, World Vision International, specializes in security for relief workers during war and complex emergencies. Rogers has authored a guide called, "A Shield About Me: A Security Handbook for World Vision Staff."

New York, April 3, 2002—Ten independent Eritrean journalists who have been jailed without charge since September began a hunger strike on March 31 to protest their continued detention, according to local and international sources.
In a message smuggled from inside the Police Station One detention center in the capital, Asmara, the journalists said they would refuse food until they are either released or charged and given a fair trial.

New York, April 3, 2002— The trial of Abdullah Keskin, a Turkish publisher charged with "separatist propaganda" in connection with a U.S. journalist's book about the Kurdish issue, opened today in a State Security Court in Istanbul.

The charges against Keskin came after his publishing house, Avesta, printed a Turkish edition of After Such Knowledge, What Forgiveness?—My Encounters in Kurdistan, a book about the Kurds written by retired Washington Post correspondent Jonathan Randal. The state prosecutor's indictment cited several passages from the book that contained references to "Kurdistan."

New York, April 2, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) today reiterated its alarm at mounting press restrictions and attacks on reporters in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

In a letter sent today to Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, CPJ protested the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) declaration that the West Bank towns of Bethlehem and Qalqiliya are "closed military areas" and therefore off-limits to the press. [Read CPJ's letter to Prime Minister Sharon]

New York, April 2, 2002—The body of 26-year-old Sergei Kalinovsky, editor-in-chief of the daily Moskovsky Komsomolets—Smolensk, was found yesterday by a lake outside the city of Smolensk in central Russia.

Kalinovsky, who reported on local politics and crime for the Smolensk edition of the Moscow daily Moskovsky Komsomolets and the local SCS television station, disappeared on the evening of December 14, 2001.