Articles by Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
Free press vital to economic development in Asia and emerging markets elsewhere in the world, say participants in CPJ forum
(CPJ/IFEX) – The continued vitality of Hong Kong as an international financial centre will depend on an unhindered free press, United States of America Deputy Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers told a public forum on 23 September 1997, held in conjunction with the World Bank/International Monetary Fund annual meetings in Hong Kong. “Hong Kong has […]
Journalists from six countries to receive CPJ’s International Press Freedom Awards; committee to honour Ted Koppel, Fred Friendly for dedication to press freedom
(CPJ/IFEX) – Six journalists — from Croatia, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Russia, Taiwan and the United States — who have risked their freedom and their lives to report the news will receive the 1997 International Press Freedom Awards from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), it was announced on 19 September 1997. CPJ will also honour […]
Trial of journalist Yryspek Omurzakov resumes
(CPJ/IFEX) – On 18 September 1997, the trial of Yryspek Omurzakov, a journalist with the opposition weekly “Res Publika”, resumed in the Lenin District Court of Bishkek. Omurzakov was arrested in March 1997 on criminal charges for allegedly libelling a factory director, an accusation characterized by his lawyers as politically motivated. **Updates IFEX alerts dated […]
Court decides to ban newspaper; copies of another newspaperseized
(CPJ/IFEX) – The Egyptian court of first instance, on 10 September 1997, decided to ban the publication of three issues of the bi-weekly newspaper “Al-Sha’b” as a result of its coverage of a pending libel suit initiated by Interior Minister Hassanal-Alfi against “Al-Sha’b” editor-in-chief Magdi Hussein and four journalists from the newspaper. The move followed […]
International press freedom awardee Ocak Isik Yurtcu released from prison; move follows government amnesty for jailed editors
(CPJ/IFEX) – After serving nearly 32 months in prison for his newspaper’s critical coverage of Turkey’s ongoing conflict with Kurdish insurgents, editor Ocak Isik Yurtcu was freed from Saray Prison on 15 August 1997, one day after Turkey’s parliament unanimously passed an amnesty law allowing for the release of several jailed editors. **Updates IFEX press […]
Criminal libel suit filed against two journalists
(CPJ/IFEX) – On 7 November 1996, Lui Tai-ying, director of the Business Management Committee of Taiwan’s ruling Kuomintang party, filed a criminal libel suit against Ying Chan, an American journalist for the “Daily News” of New York, and Hsieh Chung-liang, senior editor of “Yazhou Zhoukan” (“Asia Weekly”), a Hong Kong-based newsweekly. Also named in the […]
Two “Ziua” journalists sentenced
On 25 October 1996, Tana Ardeleanu (f), an investigative reporter, and Sorin Rosca-Stanescu, the managing director of the independent Romanian daily newspaper “Ziua”, were found guilty of seditious libel (“offense against authorities”) under Article 238 of the Romanian Penal Code. Ardeleanu was sentenced to one year and two months and Rosca-Stanescu was sentenced to one […]
Three “Al-Diyar” journalists charged with defamation
Three employees with the opposition daily “Al-Diyar” — editor- in-chief Sheril Ayyoub, director Youssef Howeyyek and cartoonist Elie Saliba — are currently being prosecuted for vaguely-worded offences under both the Lebanese Publications Law and the Penal Code. The charges against them include “defaming and soiling the honour of the president of the republic and the […]