Articles by Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
Journalist Chikeluba Kenechuku deported to Senegal
On 16 April 1996, Chikeluba Kenechuku, a journalist for the “Daily Observer” newspaper, was instructed by authorities to report to the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) office, where some of his previously seized documents and personal effects were returned to him. Kenechuku was then driven by NIA agents to Immigration Headquarters in Banjul and handed over […]
Kashmiri editor found dead three weeks after abduction
On 10 April 1996, the body of Kashmiri newspaper editor Ghulam Rasool Sheikh was found in the state’s Jhelum river. Sheikh had been missing since late March, when family members said that he was kidnapped by an Indian-backed militia. Local police, on the other hand, contend that he was abducted and slain by separatist guerrillas. […]
“Koha” newspaper suspended
On 7 April 1996, six police officers entered the printing house of “Koha”, an Albanian-language weekly in Pristina, Kosovo, and ordered the stoppage of the printing presses until the issue’s contents were inspected. The police also questioned the owner of the printing house for two hours. The police then insisted that by order of the […]
Journalist Rafael Solano freed
**Updates IFEX alerts dated 27, 21, 12 March and 29 February 1996** On 8 April 1996, journalist Rafael Solano, president of the independent news agency Habana Press, was released after being imprisoned for 42 days. However, the charges brought against Solano–alleged “association with persons with the intent to commit a crime”–stand. Consequently, unless the Cuban […]
Telecommunications cabinet minister fired
Dr. Pallo Jordan, Minister of Posts, Telecommunications and Broadcasting, was dismissed from his cabinet post on 28 March 1996 after a series of conflicts with President Nelson Mandela and other senior African National Congress (ANC) members. Jordan was a strong opponent of state interference in the broadcasting services and regularly opposed Mandela and fellow cabinet […]
Newspaper “Evrensel” ordered shut down; paper’s editor sentenced to two years in prison
On 9 April 1996, Istanbul State Security Court ordered the leftist daily “Evrensel” shut down for one month for having published two articles on 30 August 1995. The first one, entitled “Special Forces Execution in Midyat,” was ruled to have incited racism, which is in violation of Article 312 of the Penal Code. The second […]
Newspaper vendor arrested
In early March 1996, Jude Sinnee, a newspaper vendor in Bori, an Ogoni settlement in Rivers State, was arrested at his newsstand by armed agents of the Rivers State Internal Security Task Force. The agents, led by a Major Obi, also confiscated 500 copies of various publications, including 100 copies of the daily newspaper “National […]
Six journalists and media workers arrested at printing press
On 26 March 1996, State Security police arrested approximately six editors, reporters and clerical employees of the newspapers “Ethiop” and “Tekwami” as copies of the newspapers were being printed in the city of Bole. Police seized the newspapers’ galleys and transported the journalists to Ma’ekelawi prison. Family members confirmed that Dereje Haile, a journalist for […]