Articles by Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
CubaPress director Raul Rivero threatened and briefly detained on agency’s first anniversary; telephone service cut and Rivero under surveillance
23 September 1996 was the first anniversary of the independent news agency CubaPress, and director Raul Rivero and other journalists had planned an informal gathering to commemorate the event. Members of the Sistema Unico de Vigilancia y Proteccion, an umbrella group of various Cuban civic groups tied to the Cuban Communist Party whose main charge […]
“Contrapunto” director abducted
Razhy Gonzalez Rodriguez, director of the Oaxaca-based regional weekly magazine “Contrapunto”, was abducted in Oaxaca City on the night of 17 September 1996. At 23:00 hours on 17 September, Gonzalez was walking along Bustamante Street in the centre of Oaxaca towards the office of “Contrapunto” with a friend, Pilar Monterubio, when they were accosted by […]
Concern over circumstances of arrest of “El Universal” owner
In a 17 September 1996 letter to Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo, CPJ expressed concern over the circumstances of the recent arrest of Juan Francisco Ealy Ortiz, owner of the Mexico City daily “El Universal”. CPJ does not pretend to have any information on the veracity of tax evasion charges levelled against Ealy Ortiz by federal […]
“Torchlight” newspaper banned temporarily
The 6 September 1996 launch in Freetown of the twice-weekly independent newspaper “Torchlight” was delayed when, in a statement issued that same morning, Minister of Information George Banda Thomas banned the circulation of the newspaper, apparently because, according to CPJ sources, the newspaper had published “very uncomplimentary articles” about President Tejan Kabba. Later that same […]
Two Ukrainian journalists missing in Chechnya; a third reportedly missing
Vitaly Shevchenko and Andrei Bazvluka, two television journalists from Lita-M, a small television company in Kharkhiv, Ukraine, have been reported missing by their colleagues. Fellow correspondents last saw the pair in the city of Grozny on 11 August 1996, during heavy fighting between Russian federal troops and Chechen fighters who had seized control of the […]
Journalist Paddy Mbawa released from prison; faces seven libel suits
Paddy Mbawa, director of the independent newspaper “Cameroon Post”, was released from prison during the last week in August 1996 after serving eleven months. He had been sentenced after being found guilty of fourteen different libel offences against the government. Despite his release from prison, Mbawa faces seven additional libel suits. The date for his […]
Editor released without charge; government authorities warn journalists
On 28 August 1996, “Expo Times” publisher and editor-in-chief Ibrahim Seaga Shaw was released without charge. **New case, plus update to IFEX alert dated 28 August 1996** The following day, Minister of Information George Banda-Thomas and Attorney General Solomon Berewa called all editors to a meeting at Banda-Thomas’s office where they were warned against publishing […]
Five journalists shot at while covering demonstration
During the 29 August 1996 attack on several journalists who were covering a demonstration by coca cultivators in the Caqueta department of Colombia, soldiers fired on five Colombian journalists, all of whom were clearly identified as journalists by brightly coloured flak jackets marked with the names of their news organisations. The journalists fired upon are: […]