Alerts

New York, February 14, 2002—CPJ remains hopeful that kidnapped Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl is alive, despite today's statement by a key suspect in the abduction that he thinks the reporter has been killed.

Ahmad Omar Saeed Sheikh, the man investigators say is responsible for Pearl's kidnapping, told an anti-terrorism court in Karachi today that, "As far as I know, Pearl is dead." Saeed had earlier told investigators that Pearl is alive, according to official sources.

New York, February 14, 2002—Facing strict government regulations, capricious censors, and corrupt bureaucrats, journalists in Burma persevere against odds unheard of in almost any other country, according to a CPJ special report, "Under Pressure: How Burmese journalism survives in one of the world's most repressive regimes."

The report was released as United Nations envoy Paulo Sergio Pinheiro visited Burma to investigate the country's deplorable human rights record. One journalist, Myo Myint Nyein, was among a small group of political prisoners released on February 13 to coincide with Pinheiro's visit, but press conditions in Burma remain abysmal.

New York, February 14, 2002—CPJ welcomes the release yesterday of Burmese journalist Myo Myint Nyein, former editor of the magazine Pe-Phu-Hlwar, who was freed along with four other political prisoners during a visit by United Nations envoy Paulo Sergio Pinheiro.

Myo Myint Nyein had served more than 11 years of a 14-year prison term.

"CPJ is extremely pleased that Myo Myint Nyein is finally free," said CPJ executive director Ann Cooper. "But he should never have been arrested in the first place, and 11 of his colleagues remain in jail for doing their professional duty as journalists."

New York, February 13, 2002—CPJ commends today's decision by the Military Collegium of the Russian Supreme Court to nullify a clause in a 1990 Defense Ministry decree used to convict military journalist Grigory Pasko.

Pasko was convicted of treason in December 2001, based on the charge that he intended to leak classified information to Japanese news outlets about the Russian Pacific Fleet's dumping of nuclear waste in the Sea of Japan. Pasko was sentenced to four years in prison and is currently serving his jail term in Vladivostok.

New York, February 12, 2002—CPJ is hopeful that apparent progress made by Pakistani authorities in their investigation of the abduction of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl will soon lead to the journalist's safe release.

Police said today that they have arrested Ahmad Omar Saeed Sheikh, whom they have identified as the chief suspect in the kidnapping.

New York, February 12, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is concerned about reported threats to journalists from the Abu Sayyaf, an armed group active in the southern Philippines that American and Filipino officials have linked to the al-Qaeda network.

More than 600 American troops arrived recently on the southern island of Basilan to help the Philippine army in its efforts to crush the Abu Sayyaf, which claims to be fighting for a separate Islamic state.

New York, February 12, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) welcomes today's decision by the Military Collegium of the Russian Supreme Court to nullify a controversial Ministry of Defense decree used to convict and jail Russian journalist Grigory Pasko.

Pasko was convicted of treason in December 2001 for allegedly leaking information to Japanese news outlets about the Russian Pacific Fleet's dumping of nuclear waste in the Sea of Japan.

New York, February 11, 2002—The Bulawayo city bureau of the independent Daily News was bombed in the early hours of Monday morning, CPJ has learned.

At about 3 a.m., two gasoline bombs were thrown at the Daily News building from a moving vehicle. No one was hurt in the explosion, and the office suffered only minor damage. A nearby building housing the Daily Press, a private printing business unrelated to the Daily News, was also bombed.

New York, February 8, 2002 — The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) welcomes yesterday's decision by a Colombo High Court judge to sentence two Air Forces officers to nine years in prison for their role in a nighttime raid on the home of Iqbal Athas, the award-winning defense correspondent for The Sunday Times. The raid, which occurred on February 12, 1998, was intended to silence Athas after he had written a series of exposés on corruption within the military.

New York, February 7, 2002—On February 5, explosions from several homemade bombs rocked the area surrounding the Chittagong Press Club, where journalist Shahriar Kabir was attending a reception to celebrate his release on bail. One bystander was killed in the attack, and several others were injured. Kabir was not harmed.

Kabir, a documentary filmmaker, regular contributor to the national Bengali-language daily Janakantha, and author of several books about Bangladesh's war for independence, was arrested on November 22 for "anti-state activities on the basis of intelligence reports and at the instruction of higher authorities," according to a police report. He was released on bail on January 20, 2002.