Attacks on the Press - Committee to Protect Journalists

attacks on the press in 2009journalists killed: iraqSalvadoran news reports said gangmembers may have killed Poveda becausethey believed him to be a policeinformant.INDONESIA: 1Anak Agung Prabangsa, Radar BaliFebruary 2009, BaliPrabangsa, 41, a reporter with the Indonesian-languageRadar Bali daily, wasreported missing on February 12 on theprovincial island of Bali. His body wasfound four days later, floating in waterswest of the Padangbai harbor, news reportssaid. The journalist had receivedthreatening calls and text messages onhis cell phone for two weeks before hedisappeared, the director of Radar Bali,Justin Herman, told CPJ.Police arrested a local politician andseveral accomplices in the killing, whichthey said was motivated by the reporter’scoverage of a local governmentproject, news accounts said. Police allegedthat I. Nyoman Susrama, a legislativecouncil member for the district ofBangli, a large city in eastern Bali, andaccomplices had seized Prabangsa fromhis home on February 11.Police said the assailants took Prabangsa30 miles (50 kilometers) to thesmall coastal town of Padangbai anddumped him into the sea, The JakartaGlobe reported. An autopsy reportcited in news stories found saltwaterin the journalist’s digestive system, indicatingthat he may have been alivewhen he entered the water. The autopsysaid he also sustained head injuriesand a broken wrist before his death.Prabangsa’s reporting had exposedpossible corruption in a local educationdepartment project under Susrama’sjurisdiction, according to theAlliance of Independent Journalistsin Indonesia.Police arrested Susrama and severalothers on May 24, accordingto The Jakarta Globe. The politicianand three suspects, Komang Wardana,Komang Gede, and NyomanRencana, were accused of planningand executing the assassination. Ifconvicted of premeditated murder,they face a possible death sentence,the Globe reported. Six others wereaccused of playing lesser roles in thekilling, news reports said.IRAN: 1Omidreza Mirsayafi, RooznegarMarch 18, 2009, TehranMirsayafi, 28, author of the culturalnews blog, Rooznegar, died in Tehran’sEvin Prison, where he was servinga 30-month term on charges ofinsulting Supreme Leader AyatollahAli Khamenei and Ayatollah RuhollahKhomeini, leader of the 1979revolution.Prison officials said Mirsayafi hadcommitted suicide, the journalist’slawyer, Muhammad Ali Dadkhah,told the U.K.’s Times Online. Dadkhahsaid Mirsayafi had expressed concernsabout his health, “but the doctorsthere didn’t take this seriouslyand said he was faking it.” The journalist,convicted in November 2008,had begun serving his prison term inFebruary 2009.Hissam Fairoozy, an inmate, toldHuman Rights Activists in Iran(HRAI) that Mirsayafi had sufferedfrom depression and had been takingantidepressant medications. Fairoozy,a physician, said that he wasconcerned about his fellow inmate’scondition and had unsuccessfullysought to have prison doctors hospitalizehim.Mirsayafi’s brother, Amirparviz,disputed claims that the journalistsuffered from depression. He toldthe U.S. government-funded Voiceof America (VOA) on March 28 thathis brother had no history of takingantidepressant medications. He alsosaid that his brother’s body showedsigns of abuse, including a left ear that“was covered with blood.” VOA posteda photo of Mirsayafi’s face, whichshowed facial bruises.Mirsayafi, in an interview withHRAI after being sentenced, said hehad been coerced into making a falseconfession. He said the court didn’tspecify the blog entries that it consideredoffensive. An unidentified Iranianblogger told the Times Online thatthe journalist’s imprisonment mayhave been linked to an entry in whichhe questioned Iranian support forHezbollah.IRAQ: 4Suhaib Adnan, Al-Baghdadia TVHaidar Hashim SuhailAl-Baghdadia TVMarch 10, 2009, Abu GhraibAdnan, a cameraman, and Suhail, acorrespondent, both working withthe Cairo-based Al-Baghdadia satellitechannel, were among morethan 30 people killed when a suicidebomber set off an explosivein the town of Abu Ghraib, Anbarprovince, colleagues told CPJ.Suhail, 30, Adnan, 25, and a group ofjournalists were accompanying Brig.Gen. Mard Abdul Hassan, head ofthe tribal affairs division at the Ministryof Interior, to a tribal reconciliationgathering in Abu Ghraib. Theywere interviewing residents when thesuicide bomber, wearing a militaryuniform, detonated the explosive,cameraman Raid Qassim told CPJ.Four other journalists were injuredin the attack. Ibrahim al-Katib, a correspondentwith state-run Al-IraqiyaTV, suffered head injuries and internalbleeding and underwent surgeryat Al-Yarmuk Hospital in Baghdad,his colleagues told CPJ. Qassim, assistantcameraman Uday Munzir, anddriver Fawzi Aidan, all working withAl-Iraqiya, suffered minor injuries,Qassim told CPJ.Alaa Abdel-WahabAl-Baghdadia TVMay 31, 2009, Mosul256257