Attacks on the Press - Committee to Protect Journalists

attacks on the press in 2009journalists in prison: mauritaniaJassam, a freelance photographerworking for Reuters, was detainedby U.S. and Iraqi forces during a raidon his home in Mahmoodiya, southof Baghdad, Reuters reported. Atthe time of the arrest, a U.S. militaryspokesman told CPJ that the journalistwas deemed “a threat to the secueMelli, the newspaper owned by defeatedpresidential candidate MahdiKarroubi.Nafiseh Zare Kohan, freelanceIMPRISONED: November 4, 2009Kohan wrote political commentaryon her blog Roozmaregiha and contributedarticles to Rooz Online, aFarsi- and English-language reformistnews Web site. She was arrested alongwith her husband, Hojjat Sharifi, anactivist with a university student association.After her original blog, Roozmaregiha,was blocked by the government,she started a new one, Roozmaregiha2,in 2008.Kohan and her husband were transferredto an undisclosed facility. Shewas allowed to contact her sister oncefor a few minutes, according to the reformistnews Web site Mowj-e Sabz.No formal charges had been disclosedby late year.Hasan Asadi Zeidabadi, freelanceIMPRISONED: November 4, 2009Zeidabadi contributed political commentaryto Rooz Online, Etemad e Melli,and other reformist publications.The news Web site Bamdad Khabarreported that his wife was allowedto visit him briefly at Evin Prison inmid-November. He told his wife hewas being kept in solitary confinement.She said he had been charged,but she could not disclose the details.Zeidabadi is also a member of AdvarTahkim Vahdat, a politically activealumni organization that has been vocalin condemning recent governmentactions.Sassan Aghaee, freelanceIMPRISONED: November 22, 2009Security forces raided the home ofAghaee, a seasoned journalist whocontributed to a number of newspapers,including Farhikhtegan, Etemad,Tose’eh, Mardom Salari, and Etemad eMelli. He was also author of the blogFree Tribune.Aghaee was being held at EvinPrison, according to news accounts.No formal charges had been disclosedby late year. In a letter the journalistasked to be opened in case of his arrest,Aghaee said any confessions hemight make in custody should be disregardedas coerced, according to thereformist Web site Jaras.IRAQ (in U.S. custody): 1Ibrahim Jassam, freelanceIMPRISONED: September 2, 2008rity of Iraq and coalition forces.”In November 2008, the Iraqi CentralCriminal Court ruled that therewas no evidence to hold Jassam andordered the U.S. military to releasehim, Reuters reported. U.S. militaryauthorities rejected the court order,saying that he “continued to pose a seriousthreat to the security and stabilityof Iraq.”The military has disclosed no evidenceagainst Jassam, and he has neverbeen charged with a crime.U.S. troops have detained dozens ofjournalists—mostly Iraqis—since thewar in Iraq began in March 2003, CPJresearch found. In at least 13 cases,journalists were held for prolongedperiods without charge or due process.In all other cases, the journalistswere freed without charges ever beingsubstantiated.KAZAKHSTAN: 1Ramazan Yesergepov, Alma-Ata InfoIMPRISONED: January 7, 2009Kazakh security service (KNB) agentsseized Yesergepov from a hospital bedin Almaty in early January, and placedhim in detention in the southern cityof Taraz on charges of disclosing statesecrets. Yesergepov, editor of Alma-Ata Info, had published two internalKNB memos alongside an article allegingthat the regional KNB tried toinfluence a prosecutor and judge in acriminal tax evasion case.The KNB classified his case as a statesecret, which meant his family and colleaguescould not access the case file orattend hearings, according to RozlanaTaukina, head of the Almaty-basedJournalists in Danger Foundation.The lawyer who initially defended Yesergepovresigned from the case in Junewithout explanation and left Kazakhstan,Taukina told CPJ.In August, a Taraz City Court judgesentenced Yesergepov to three years inprison on the charge of “collection ofclassified information.” Raushan Yesergepova,the journalist’s wife, told theKazakh service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that a state-appointeddefense lawyer did not attend Yesergepov’sfinal hearing, and that armedpolice officers prevented her and herhusband’s supporters from enteringthe court.On October 22, a regional court inTaraz rejected Yesergepov’s appeal, accordingto local news reports.MAURITANIA: 1Hanevy Ould Dehah, TaqadoumyIMPRISONED: June 18, 2009Ould Dehah, founder and managerof Taqadoumy, an independent newsWeb site, was arrested in connectionwith a defamation complaint filed byIbrahima Moctar Sarr, head of theAlliance for Justice and Democracy/Movement for Renewal, an oppositionparty, according to local news reports.334335