CPJ's 2008 International Press Freedom awardees, who were officially announced yesterday at a press conference in Washington, are making news today--including editor Andrew Mwenda, who was concurrently issued an arrest warrant in his home country of Uganda.

Washington, November 20, 2008--On the day Ugandan editor Andrew Mwenda was introduced here as a recipient of a CPJ International Press Freedom Award, police back home summoned the journalist for questioning over his magazine's hard-hitting political coverage.

A new turn in the Anna Politkovskaya murder trial is making news today across the wires. It was initially going to be held behind closed doors, but had been opened to the public on Monday. However, stories from AP, Reuters, AFP, and RFE/RL all report that the court has repealed that ruling and will now close the trial to outside observers. Reports claim that jurors felt the presence of media would jeopardize their personal safety.

New York, November 18, 2008--Two Nigerien journalists were sentenced to prison today on criminal libel charges over editorials critically scrutinizing the director of the country's electricity supplier, according to local journalists.

New York, November 21, 2008--A decision to order the arrest of renowned Colombian journalist Alejandro Santos Rubino is an act of censorship, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. A Bogotá judge ordered the arrest of Santos, the director of the national weekly newsmagazine Semana, for failing to follow the court's instructions in a defamation suit.

CPJ's 2008 International Press Freedom awardees, who were officially announced yesterday at a press conference in Washington, are making news today--including editor Andrew Mwenda, who was concurrently issued an arrest warrant in his home country of Uganda.

CPJ's Monica Campbell is interviewed today on NPR's "People and Places" about the recent murder of crime reporter Armando Rodriguez and the worsening situation for Mexican journalists. She is joined by journalist Arturo Chacon.

Visit NPR.org to listen to the report.

New York, November 20, 2008--The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Mexican authorities today to protect journalists in the border town of Ciudad Juárez after one journalist was forced to flee and another was murdered. 

New York, November 21, 2008--A Burmese court sentenced entertainer, blogger, and activist Maung Thura--known by his stage name, "Zarganar"--to 45 years in prison today for violations of the Electronics Act, according to Burmese rights groups and international news reports. Sports journalist Zaw Thet Htwe, and two other defendants were also sentenced to at least 15 years each in the same trial.

New York, November 21, 2008--A court in China's southwestern Sichuan province sentenced a writer critical of the government to three years in prison today on charges of inciting subversion of state power, his wife told the Committee to Protect Journalists. 

CPJ's 2008 International Press Freedom awardees, who were officially announced yesterday at a press conference in Washington, are making news today--including editor Andrew Mwenda, who was concurrently issued an arrest warrant in his home country of Uganda.

Washington, November 20, 2008--On the day Ugandan editor Andrew Mwenda was introduced here as a recipient of a CPJ International Press Freedom Award, police back home summoned the journalist for questioning over his magazine's hard-hitting political coverage.

In response to Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Dmitry Fedorov's announcement today about the progress of the official Kyrgyz investigation into the October 2007 murder of ethnic Uzbek journalist Alisher Saipov, we released the following statement...

In response to news reports that a juror in Anna Politkovskaya's murder trial disputed the Moscow District Court's claim that the jury had asked for the closure of proceedings to the press, we issued the following statement...

There is more coverage of yesterday's revelation that the Anna Politkovskaya murder trial will again be held behind closed doors. VOA News, The Sydney Morning Herald, and GulfNews are all running reports that say the proceedings were closed to reporters after jurors came forward to express fear for their safety. However, in an interesting twist, Agence France-Presse is reporting that one of the jurors has come forward claiming that collectively they do, in fact, wish the controversial trial to be opened to the press.

New York, November 19, 2008--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the brazen attack on Edik Baghdasarian, the editor of the Yerevan-based online newsmagazine Hetq. Three unidentified men ambushed Baghdasarian on Monday outside his office and badly beat him.