Alerts

New York, December 29, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called for a full investigation into the death of Ersa Siregar, a senior reporter for the private Indonesian channel Rajawali Citra Televisi (RCTI), who was shot and killed today during a gun battle between Indonesian military forces and separatist rebels in the war-torn Aceh Province, according to RCTI chief editor Derek Manangka.

New York, December 29, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the prolonged detention of writer Nguyen Vu Binh and calls for his immediate release. Binh, 35, is scheduled to go on trial on December 31 at the People's Court in Vietnam's capital, Hanoi.

A court official told international news agencies that Binh will be tried on charges of espionage. Foreign journalists and diplomats will be barred from the trial.

New York, December 23, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the continued detention of South Korean freelance photographer Jae Hyun Seok.

On December 19, a court in Shandong Province rejected an appeal filed by Seok and upheld his two year sentence on charges of human trafficking, according to CPJ sources. The appeal hearing, which was originally set for June, was postponed until mid-July and then further delayed without explanation.

New York, December 22, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is concerned about two journalists who were arrested in Pakistan last week: Marc Epstein, a reporter with the French news magazine L'Express, and Jean-Paul Guilloteau, a L'Express photographer.

CPJ is also investigating the whereabouts of Khawar Mehdi Rizvi, a local journalist working as their guide who has been missing since December 16, according to his family.

New York, December 19, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned about the health of imprisoned Cuban journalist Ricardo González Alfonso, who has been on a hunger strike for the last 12 days.

González Alfonso, who is jailed at the Kilo 8 Prison in central Camagüey Province, went on a hunger strike on December 8 to demand his transfer to another unit within the prison where he can be with other political prisoners, said his wife, independent journalist Álida Viso Bello. As punishment for the hunger strike, prison officials placed González Alfonso in a small cell with no running water that is lit 24 hours a day. He has been in this cell since December 14.

Nova York, 19 de dezembro de 2003—O Comitê para a Proteção dos Jornalistas (CPJ) está muito preocupado com o estado de saúde do jornalista cubano preso Ricardo González Alfonso, que começou uma greve de fome há 12 dias.

González Alfonso, que está encarcerado na prisão de Kilo 8, na província central de Camagüey, declarou-se em greve de fome no dia 8 de dezembro para solicitar sua transferência para outro destacamento da prisão, onde possa estar com outros presos políticos, segundo a esposa, a jornalista independente Álida Viso Bello. Como castigo por sua greve de fome, as autoridades prisionais puseram González Alfonso numa pequena cela, sem água corrente e onde a luz permanece acesa durante 24 horas. O jornalista está nesta cela desde 14 de dezembro.

New York, December 11, 2003—Two journalists working with the U.S. newsmagazine Time were wounded today in a grenade attack in Baghdad while accompanying U.S. troops.

Senior correspondent Michael Weisskopf and photographer James Nachtwey suffered undisclosed injuries when unidentified assailants threw a grenade into a Humvee the men were traveling in, Time managing editor Jim Kelly said in a written statement. Two soldiers in the Humvee were also injured in the attack, which occurred at about 9:30 p.m.

New York, December 11, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the letter bomb attack against the offices of the Kuwaiti daily Al-Siyassah.

At around 12 p.m. today, a secretary for Al-Siyassah editor Ahmed Jarallah was wounded when he opened a large envelope addressed to Jarallah containing explosives. The secretary, Walid Dahdouh, suffered cuts on his hands and face, apparently after cutting a wire on a detonator, Jarallah told CPJ.

New York, December 4, 2003—Zaw Thet Htway, editor of the Burmese sports magazine First Eleven, has been sentenced to death for high treason. Although death sentences are rarely carried out in Burma, exiled Burmese journalists call the sentence “disturbing.”

According to international press reports, Zaw Thet Htway and eight other individuals, including a lawyer and a member of an opposition party, received death sentences on November 28 at a special court in Insein Jail near the capital, Rangoon.

New York, December 3, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the detention of Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, editor of the tabloid weekly Blitz, who was arrested by security personnel at Zia International Airport in the capital, Dhaka.

According to local news reports, Choudhury was on his way to Israel on November 29 to participate in a conference with the Hebrew Writers Association when he was arrested at the airport on charges of espionage. Intelligence agents interrogated Choudhury at the airport and confiscated his luggage, according to The Daily Star. Choudhury's home was also raided, according to The Independent newspaper.