Alerts

New York, January 17, 2002—Shodi Mardiev, the Uzbek radio reporter who was sentenced in 1998 to an 11-year prison term for defamation and extortion, was released under an amnesty earlier this month, according to local and international sources.

The journalist's lawyer, Khakim Bobonorov, who met with Mardiev shortly after his release, told CPJ in a telephone interview that the 63-year-old journalist was in good spirits. Bobonorov cautioned, however, that Mardiev is in poor health as a result of his incarceration.

New York, January 17, 2002—After a week of intense international pressure, Zimbabwe's government delayed its vote yesterday on a harsh media bill that would stifle dissent during the run-up to the presidential elections, scheduled for early March, until certain changes can be made to the legislation, according to Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa.

New York, January 11, 2002—CPJ is gravely concerned over today's ruling by the Presidium of the Highest Arbitration Court upholding the liquidation of the Moscow Independent Broadcasting Company (MNVK), parent company of Russia's only independent, nationwide television channel, TV-6.

The suit was originally lodged in September by the pension fund of LUKoil-Garant, a minority shareholder in TV-6. LUKoil-Garant is a subsidiary of the giant LUKoil Corporation, which owns 15 percent of TV-6. The Russian industrial magnate Boris Berezovsky, who is a bitter opponent of President Vladimir Putin, owns 75 percent of the station, either outright or through other companies that he controls. Originally, the Moscow Arbitration Court ruled to close MNVK on the basis of an obscure Russian law that prohibits companies from running a deficit for more than two years. TV-6 appealed, and though a Moscow appellate court upheld the liquidation in November, another appeal from TV-6 led to a ruling in the station's favor on December 29. However, as of January 1, 2002, the Russian parliament repealed a law that allowed shareholders to liquidate their own companies, thus eliminating the legal basis for proceedings against TV-6.

New York, January 7, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemns legislation before Zimbabwe's Parliament that would create a rigid system to register and regulate media companies and the journalists who work for them. Parliament is expected to vote on the legislation this week.

The bill, called the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, would create a new Media and Information Commission with enormous powers to control all media within Zimbabwe.

New York, January 4, 2002—After a record-breaking detention of more than five months, free-lance writer Vanessa Leggett this morning walked out of the Texas jail where she was held for refusing to turn over research materials about a high-profile murder case to federal prosecutors.

Leggett, 33, is currently writing a book about the 1997 murder of Houston socialite Doris Angleton. Her research materials include tapes of interviews she conducted with murder suspect Roger Angleton, the victim's brother-in-law, shortly before he committed suicide.

New York, January 3, 2002--A total of 37 journalists were killed worldwide as a direct result of their work in 2001, a sharp increase from 2000 when 24 were killed, according to CPJ research. At least 25 were murdered, almost all with impunity.

The dramatic rise is mainly due to the war in Afghanistan, where eight journalists were killed in the line of duty covering the US-led military campaign and a ninth journalist died of wounds sustained there two years ago. This was the highest death toll recorded for a single country since 1999, when 10 journalists were killed in Sierra Leone.

Nueva York, 3 de enero de 2002 -- Un total de 37 periodistas fueron asesinados en todo el mundo como resultado directo de su labor en el 2001, un brusco incremento en relación con el año 2000, cuando 24 fueron asesinados, según las investigaciones del Comité para la Protección de los Periodistas (CPJ, por sus siglas en inglés). Por lo menos 25 de ellos fueron asesinados, casi todos con impunidad.

El dramático aumento se debe principalmente a la guerra en Afganistán, donde ocho periodistas murieron cumpliendo su deber al cubrir la campaña militar encabezada por los Estados Unidos, y un noveno periodista murió de heridas que recibió en ese país hace dos años. Este es el mayor saldo de víctimas que se haya registrado en un solo país desde 1999, cuando 10 periodistas fueron asesinados en Sierra Leona.