Attacks on the Press - Committee to Protect Journalists

attacks on the press in 2009journalists in prison: egyptIn early 2007, Sánchez Madan was detainedtwice and warned to stop workingfor the independent press after hecovered a local corruption scandal andsocial problems in western Matanzasprovince, where he lived. He was arrestedin April 2007 and, after a one-daytrial, Cuban authorities convicted himof “social dangerousness,” a vague chargecontained in Article 72 of the penal code.The reporter was handed the maximumprison sentence of four years.In 2009, the reporter was being heldat the maximum-security Combinadodel Sur Prison, outside the provincialcapital of Matanzas, according to CPJresearch. His neighbor, Juan FranciscoSigler, told CPJ that prison conditionswere very poor. The reporter’s motherwas allowed to visit once every 45days, CPJ research shows.Sánchez Madan continued to reporton human rights violations fromprison, Sigler said. Prison authoritiesthreatened retaliation, saying theywould do everything in their powerto keep him jailed if he continued towrite, Sigler told CPJ. On at least oneoccasion, inmates beat the journalistseverely at the encouragement of auauthoritiesimposed on prisoners. InFebruary, he waged a hunger striketo call attention to the situation at ElGuayabo, the Miami-based news Website Payolibre reported.Omar Ruiz HernándezGrupo de Trabajo DecoroIMPRISONED: March 19, 2003Ruiz Hernández, a reporter for theHavana-based independent newsagency Grupo de Trabajo Decoro inthe province of Villa Clara, was arrestedon March 19, 2003, during themassive crackdown on the island’sdissidents and independent press. Hewas sentenced in April to 18 years inprison for acting “against the independenceor the territorial integrityof the state” under Article 91 of theCuban penal code.The reporter, 62, was being held inNieves Morejón Prison in the centralprovince of Sancti Spíritus, 40miles (65 kilometers) from his home,his wife, Bárbara Maritza Rojo Arias,told CPJ. He shared quarters with 11prisoners in a small barracks, she said.The quarters, which he was rarely permittedto leave, had no ventilation andpoor lighting. Rojo Arias said other livingconditions—including his meals—improved at the prison over the courseof 2009. He was allowed a family visitof two hours every two months, hiswife told CPJ.Ruiz Hernández suffered from depressionand loss of eyesight. He wasalso diagnosed with high blood pres-sure, circulatory problems, and chronicgastrointestinal ailments. Rojo Ariastold CPJ that her husband was beingtreated by prison doctors and that shewas allowed to provide him with additionalmedication.Oscar Sánchez Madan, freelanceIMPRISONED: April 13, 2007thorities. As further retaliation, thereporter was sent to solitary confinementfor weeks at a time, according toSigler.Albert Santiago Du Bouchet HernándezHavana PressIMPRISONED: April 18, 2009Police arrested Du Bouchet Hernández,director of the Havana-basedindependent news agency HavanaPress, while he was visiting relativesoutside Havana. Officers alleged thatthe journalist was shouting antigovernmentslogans in the street.In May, Du Bouchet Hernándezwas convicted in a summary trialon charges of “disrespect” and distributionof enemy propaganda, andsentenced to three years in prison.Elizardo Sánchez Santa Cruz, presidentof the Cuban Commission onHuman Rights and National Reconciliationin Havana, told CPJ that thejournalist was not allowed a defenselawyer. Miriam Herrera, an independentjournalist based in Havana, toldCPJ that Du Bouchet Hernándezhad reported on social issues, whichcould have upset local authorities.In 2005, Du Bouchet Hernández hadbeen jailed on “disrespect” charges andsentenced to one year in prison after heenraged authorities with his coverage ofthe Assembly to Promote Civil Society.The two-day gathering, unprecedentedin Cuba, brought together 200 oppositionactivists and guests in May 2005to discuss ways to create democracy inCuba. Du Bouchet Hernández was releasedin August 2006 after completinghis sentence.EGYPT: 3Abdel Karim Suleiman(Karim Amer), freelanceIMPRISONED: November 7, 2006Suleiman, known online as KarimAmer, was arrested on the orders ofthe Prosecutor General’s office in thenorthern city of Alexandria in connectionwith his critical online writings. InFebruary 2007, a criminal court in Alexandriafound him guilty of insultingIslam and President Hosni Mubarak.He was sentenced to a four-year jailterm, making him the first Egyptianblogger to be sentenced explicitly forhis work.Suleiman had been a student atCairo’s Al-Azhar University. He wasexpelled in 2006 because he frequentlycriticized the state-run religiousuniversity, which he accused of promotingextremist ideas, and Mubarak,whom he referred to as a dictator.Mosad Suleiman(Mosad Abu Fagr), freelanceIMPRISONED: December 26, 2007Suleiman, known online as Mosad AbuFagr, wrote about social and political issuesaffecting the Bedouin communityin Sinai on his blog, Wedna N’ish (WeWant to Live). He is also a novelist and320321