Articles by Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
BPIC’s Norma Brito and Lazaro Lazo briefly detained; Lazo questioned
**For background, see IFEX alerts** On 26 June 1996, Norma Brito, spokesperson for Bureau of Independent Press in Cuba (Buro de Prensa Independiente de Cuba, BPIC), was summoned to State Security headquarters in Villa Marista. She was released a few hours later. On 24 June, BPIC interim director Lazaro Lazo was retained for nine hours […]
Court to decide on fate of publication ban imposed on the daily “Zero Hora”
On 1 July 1996, the court of Rio Grande do Sul state will hand down a verdict on the publication ban imposed on the Port Alegre daily “Zero Hora”. On 24 June, a judge in Port Alegre handed down an order that prevented the daily from publishing the monthly earnings of the employees of the […]
“Nawai Banker” editor Zafar Iqbal killed; several journalists assaulted during demonstration; offices of daily “Mashriq” ransacked
On 27 April 1996, Zafar Iqbal, the executive editor of the Urdu- language weekly “Nawai Banker”, was killed by two men as he was driving away from the newspaper’s office. The men, armed with Kalashnikov rifles, opened fire on Iqbal, hitting him twice in the neck. He died instantly. On 28 April, at least four […]
Daily “As Sharq” suspended
On 26 June 1996, the daily “As Sharq” was suspended for three months by the Ministry of Information and Culture following the publication, in the newspaper’s 17 June edition, of a poem by an Islamic fundamentalist from Saudi Arabia. The Ministry stated that the poem “undermined the heads of state and damaged relations with other […]
Several journalists subject to campaign of harassment in Ukrainian newspapers
Six anonymous articles attacking independent journalists have been published in leading Ukrainian newspapers known to be close to the government. On 11 June 1996, an article published in “Nezavissimost” with a false byline attacked Dimitri Djanguirov, a journalist with the weekly “Business”, stressing his Armenian origins in order to discredit his criticism of presidential policy. […]
Journalist Veronica Guerin killed
**For background to previous attacks on Guerin, see IFEX alert dated 9 February 1995** On 26 June 1996, journalist Veronica Guerin was shot dead by two men on a motorcycle as she was waiting outside a hotel in Dublin. Guerin, who was a correspondent for the Irish daily “The Independent”, had recently obtained an exclusive […]
Reuter correspondent briefly detained and questioned; “l’Eclaireur” journalist remains in preventive custody
Christian Jennings, the Reuter news agency correspondent in Burundi, was arrested on the morning of 18 June 1996 and questioned for a few hours. The British journalist was arrested at his hotel and taken to the police station (the gendarmerie), where he was asked questions about his news reports. Jennings, who says he was not […]
Journalist Juan Bolivar Diaz sentenced to six months in prison
On 19 June 1996, Juan Bolivar Diaz, director of the television channel Teleantillas, was sentenced to six months in prison and fined three million pesos (US $200,000) by judge Juan Maria Severino of the Criminal Court of Santo Domingo. Bolivar was convicted of defaming the head of the company Comunicaciones Ltd., Generoso Ledesma, after a […]