Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)

On 26 April 1996, several journalists were beaten and detained during police dispersal of an unauthorized march in the capital, Minsk, on the 10th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Authorities reportedly set up a police line of OMON (special riot police) officers to stop the demonstrators from proceeding. The reporters were standing with their […]

**Updates IFEX alert dated 25 April 1996** On 26 April 1996, journalist Olance Nogueras was released from detention. He was detained by Cuban authorities on 23 April in the city of Cienfuegos when he attempted to meet with Danielle Mitterand, president of the humanitarian organization France Liberte. Appeals To

**Updates IFEX alerts dated 2 February and 25 January 1996** The CPJ has reported that, according to journalists at the Islamic weekly “Selam”, both Ali Tekin and Telip Ozcelik (also reported as Ozdemir), were sentenced to three years imprisonment for illegal entry into Chechnya under Article 83 of the Russian Criminal Code. Recommended Action Send […]

**For background to previous harassment of Olance Nogueras, see IFEX alert dated 23 January 1996, and others** On 23 April 1996, Olance Nogueras, a reporter for the Bureau of Independent Press in Cuba (BPIC), was detained by agents of the political police in the city of Cienfuegos as he was on his way to meet […]

The independent financial weekly “Bursa”, known for its ground-breaking coverage of the black market and the emerging securities market, has been the target of threatened legal action. On 12 April 1996, the National Securities Commission (CNVM) issued a statement declaring that “trading shares listed or unlisted on the Bucharest Stock Exchange by unauthorized persons through […]

**For background to previous harassment of “Atilim”, see IFEX alerts dated 26, 21 and 19 March 1996** On 18 April 1996, a court ordered the leftist weekly “Atilim” closed for one month. A previous one-month closure order expired the same day. The latest order, issued under Article 8 of the Anti-Terror Law, is connected to […]

**For background to other legal harassment of “The Free Press”, see IFEX alerts dated 23, 15 and 12 February 1996** On 17 April 1996, editor of the weekly “The Free Press”, Eben Quarcoo, and the newspaper’s publisher, Tommy Thompson, were arrested and released on 10 million cedis (US$ 6,700) bail each “for publishing falsehood likely […]

Liberian journalist Nyenati Allison, correspondent for the Associated Press (AP) news agency and the British Broadcasting Corporation’s (BBC) “Focus on Africa”, was targeted by both sides of the recent factional fighting in the Liberian capital, Monrovia. On 7 April 1996, one day after fighting erupted, Allison was chased into hiding by a group of fighters […]