Statements

New York, December 29, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists admires and supports the decision of Pakistani journalists Najam Sethi and Jugnu Mohsin to make public the threats that have driven them at times to live outside their country in recent months. Sethi and Mohsin are returning to their home in Lahore and are determined to continue their independent work in the media. They, like other journalists in Pakistan in recent weeks, have opted to openly confront those making the threats, which have come from both state and non-state actors.

December 21, 2011--Today's conviction of two Swedish journalists by an Ethiopian court is emblematic of Ethiopia's increasing use of antiterrorism laws to persecute independent media, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

New York, December 15, 2011--Today's murder of Gadzhimurad Kamalov, founder of the independent newspaper Chernovik in the southern Russian republic of Dagestan today is a lethal blow to press freedom, said the Committee to Protect Journalists.

New York, December 14, 2011-- The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the sentencing of Egyptian blogger Maikel Nabil Sanad by a military court to two years in prison and a fine for insulting the military and calls for his immediate, unconditional release. Sanad, initially arrested in March was sentenced in April by a military court to three years in prison.

New York, December 14, 2011--Today's court ruling to scrap the case against former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma for allegedly ordering the 2000 murder of independent journalist Georgy Gongadze is a blow to press freedom, said the Committee to Protect Journalists.

New York, November 30, 2011--The All Pakistan Cable Operators Association must immediately unblock the BBC World News television channel in Pakistan, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Operators began censoring the channel Tuesday in response to a documentary they considered "anti-Pakistan," and threatened to pull other foreign news channels, the BBC said.

New York, November 24, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Egyptian authorities to release U.S.-Egyptian documentary filmmaker Jehan Nujaim detained in Cairo on Wednesday, and investigate the arrest and beating of columnist Mona Eltahawy.

New York, November 23, 2011-- The demise of freelance journalist Rafiq Tagi in a Baku hospital today following his stabbing four days ago by unknown assailants, must be fully investigated, said the Committee to Protect Journalists.

New York, November 11, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by reported death threats against César Ricaurte, head of the Ecuadoran press freedom group Fundamedios, which follow a concerted campaign by local authorities to discredit the group and foster a climate of intimidation against independent media and local press freedom activists.

New York, November 2, 2011--The Syrian government's acceptance of an Arab League proposal to end a crackdown on unrest must be closely monitored by international and domestic media, said the Committee to Protect Journalists in response to news of the agreement today. The measures include granting media access to the country as well as the release of political prisoners, among them an undetermined number of journalists. 

New York, November 2, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by today's firebomb attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and the disabling of its website by unknown hackers. The attacks appear to be in retaliation for the paper's spoof edition, "guest edited" by the Prophet Muhammad.

New York, October 13, 2011--As a court in Tajikistan prepares to issue verdicts in the politicized criminal prosecutions of BBC correspondent Urinboy Usmonov, and Makhmadyusuf Ismoilov, a reporter with the independent weekly Nuri Zindagi, the Committee to Protect Journalists is demanding justice.

New York, October 7, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists is delighted that the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to renowned Yemeni press freedom activist Tawakul Karman, Chairwoman of Women Journalists Without Chains, along with two other female leaders.

New York, October 7, 2011--Five years after the brutal assassination of Russian investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, the Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Russian authorities to prosecute the masterminds of her killing and end impunity in the murder of journalists.

New York, September 21, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the news that U.S. journalist Shane Bauer and his friend Josh Fattal were released today on US$1 million bail by the Iranian government after two years in Tehran's Evin Prison, according to news reports.

New York, September 20, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists is dismayed by an Ecuadoran appeals court ruling today upholding a criminal libel conviction against four El Universo newspaper managers in a case brought by President Rafael Correa. 

New York, September 19, 2011--Yemeni journalist Hassan al-Wadhaf, a cameraman for the Arabic Media Agency, is in critical condition after being hit in the face by sniper fire while covering protests today in Sana'a, a colleague told CPJ.

New York, August 25, 2011--Ali Ferzat, a famous Syrian cartoonist critical of the government, was abducted and severely beaten by masked gunmen as he left his office early on Thursday in Damascus, international media reported. The attackers stomped on his hands and said the beating was a warning, the Associated Press said. He was dumped bleeding on a roadside several hours later.

New York, August 24, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the news that U.S. journalist Matthew VanDyke escaped with several inmates from Abu Salim prison in Tripoli today. VanDyke's mother told CPJ that he called her with the news of his escape and that he is safe and in good spirits. He also told his mother that he had been kept in solitary confinement for much of his imprisonment. It was not clear whether the prison was now controlled by rebels.

New York, August 24, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the kidnappers of four Italian journalists seized in Tripoli today to release them immediately.

New York, August 24, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about comments made by former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe Vélez that could endanger journalists Juan Forero and Claudia Julieta Duque and jeopardize press freedom in the country. Forero is the Washington Post's Andean region correspondent and Duque is a journalist who works in Colombia.

New York, August 22, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on all forces fighting in Tripoli to ensure the safety of journalists and respect their status as civilians.

New York, August 19, 2011--The deaths of correspondent Paul Lockyer, cameraman John Bean, and pilot Gary Ticehurst of the Australian public broadcaster ABC are a tragic loss, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The three died in a helicopter crash on Thursday while filming in southern Australia.

New York, August 11, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron's statement calling for broadcasters to immediately provide unedited footage and for measures restricting social networking as a means to stem ongoing riots in the country.

New York, August 10, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the Libyan government to immediately extend all recognized legal rights to imprisoned American journalist Matthew VanDyke, who was identified as missing in Libya and is now confirmed to be in state custody, according to a recent news report.

The Committee to Protect Journalists is aggrieved by reports that journalists covering the riots in London and other cities are being attacked.

New York, July 29, 2011-- Authorities in Sri Lanka should immediately investigate a reported brutal assault on Gnanasundaram Kuhanathan, news editor of the Tamil-language daily Uthayan, said the Committee to Protect Journalists.

New York, July 26, 2011-- Recent news reports that Iranian authorities have added a year to the politicized five-year sentence currently being served by journalist Mohammad Davari is the latest example of vindictive government policies against critical journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

New York, July 21, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemns a sentence issued Wednesday in a libel case brought by Ecuador's president which sets an alarming precedent for suppressing free expression. The sentence, which is being appealed, calls for three years imprisonment each for three executives and an editor, in addition to $40 million in fines.

New York, July 18, 2011--Five distinguished leaders of new and traditional media worldwide have joined the board of directors of the Committee to Protect Journalists. The new members--John Carroll, Arianna Huffington, Jonathan Klein, Mhamed Krichen, and Jacob Weisberg--join a roster of remarkable journalists and news executives playing a vital role in CPJ's fight for press freedom.

New York, July 14, 2001--The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release today of Urinboy Usmonov, a BBC World Service correspondent, detained in June in Tajikistan and calls on authorities to fully exonerate him and remove restrictions on travel.  Tajik authorities released Usmonov on bail but continue to charge him with extremism while imposing a travel ban, according to the BBC.

New York, July 7, 2011--Following Ethiopian state television's broadcast of a clip presenting jailed and injured Swedish journalists Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye as accomplices to terrorists, the Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Ethiopia to immediately release the two journalists.

New York, July 5, 2011--Pakistan's president must clarify the role of Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence Directorate following U.S. allegations that the agency ordered the killing of journalist Saleem Shahzad, as reported in The New York Times today, said the Committee to Protect Journalists.

New York, June 29, 2011--Mexican federal authorities must fully investigate renewed anonymous death threats against prominent journalist and human rights activist Lydia Cacho and bring those responsible to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

New York, June 29, 2001--The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes reports from the French government that journalists Hervé Ghesquière and Stéphane Taponier and their interpreter Reza Din have been released after more than 18 months in captivity. CPJ is seeking further news about the group's fixer and driver, known as Ghulam and Sattar, who were also abducted.

New York, June 26, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of Hu Jia, the journalist and activist who was unjustly jailed in December 2007. He was freed after serving his three-and-a-half-year sentence on charges of inciting subversion.

New York, June 16, 2011--Sandra Mims Rowe, a distinguished editor with a record of journalistic and civic leadership, has been elected chairman of the Committee to Protect Journalists. Rowe succeeds Paul Steiger, president and editor-in-chief of ProPublica. Steiger served as CPJ chairman since 2005.

New York, June 14, 2011-- Today's trial of prominent political blogger Ahmad Mansoor and four others for alleged insult of authorities, criticism and undermining of the government in relation to the their online writings and activism represents a further setback for press freedom in the United Arab Emirates, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

New York, June 9, 2011-- Today's one-year prison sentence against Rachid Nini, executive editor of the Moroccan daily Al-Massae and owner of Al-Massae Media Group, is the latest instance of the Moroccan government settling scores with critical journalists through a judiciary that is subservient to the executive branch, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

New York, May 31, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes news reports of the arrest in Chechnya today of Rustam Makhmudov, the alleged gunman suspected of murdering prominent journalist Anna Politkovskaya in Moscow in 2006.

New York, May 26, 2011--The release today of independent editor Eynulla Fatullayev in Azerbaijan on a presidential pardon is a welcome and well overdue development, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

New York, May 18, 2011--The release of foreign journalists held in Iran and Libya today is a very positive development in a region where the press has been under attack since social upheaval began in Tunisia early this year, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

New York, May 11, 2011--Al-Jazeera reported today that Syria has deported Dorothy Parvaz, a journalist working for the channel's English-language service, to Iran.  The Committee to Protect Journalists is calling for her immediate release.

"Syria's apparent deportation of Dorothy Parvaz to Iran when she is also a citizen of the U.S. and Canada, is an irresponsible choice," said CPJ Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator Mohamed Abdel Dayem. "Given Iran's abysmal press freedom record, we are concerned about Parvaz's well-being. Iranian authorities must immediately release Parvaz, who has committed no crime."

Karachi, May 8, 2011--Pakistan's decision tonight to not allow foreign broadcasters to continue to do live transmissions from Abbottabad must be rescinded immediately, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today from Karachi.

"It is reckless for Pakistan to interfere with the flow of information from the site of what is one of the world's most important news stories. Falling back on regulatory controls to stifle the flow of news is short sighted and does a disservice to the entire world. The government must back away from this decision immediately," said Bob Dietz, CPJ's Asia program coordinator. Dietz had been part of a CPJ team in Pakistan for meetings earlier this week with President Asif Ali Zardari and Interior Minister Rehman Malik.