Category: Letters to Countries

We call your attention to the case of Mikhail Afanasyev, editor of the on-line journal, Novy Focus, who has been charged with slander over reports he filed suggesting that Russian officials may not be doing enough to find possible survivors of a dam disaster.

We add our voices and dismay to the world-wide outcry at the injustice done to our six Gambian colleagues convicted last week of sedition and defamation charges.

We write to condemn the brutal murder of yet another Russian journalist, and to urge Russia’s government to ensure that the investigation into Abdulmalik Akhmedilov’s death is thorough and transparent.

A reporter for the daily newspaper Milliyet, Nedim Sener, who wrote a book about the Hrant Dink murder, has been targeted by several police officers who have filed criminal complaints against Sener that could lead to a prison sentence for him of up to twenty eight years.

The OPC urges the Zambian government to immediately dismiss the case against journalist Chansa Kabwela who was arrested on July 15 on trumped-up charges of circulating obscene photos. (The OPC received a reply from the Zambian government dated September 12, 2009.)

The OPC is shocked to learn that Congo’s national police assaulted Trésor Nduaya, a cameraman for privately-owned CCTV, while he was attempting to interview residents of a local housing project that was being demolished.

The OPC is shocked to learn that Congo’s national police assaulted Trésor Nduaya, a cameraman for privately-owned CCTV, while he was attempting to interview residents of a local housing project that was being demolished.

The OPC was relieved to hear of the release on bail last week of six Gambian journalists jailed in late June for issuing a statement critical of H.E. Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh, Chairman – Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council and Head of State. But given Gambia’s recent record of harassment, our hopes of a just resolution of their case are not high.

The OPC is dismayed and appalled by yet another brutal murder of a Russian civil rights activist and former journalist, Natalia Estemirova. Abducted outside her home in Grozny, she was found fatally shot a few hours later near a highway.