Freedom of the Press Committee Report September 29, 2009

Afghanistan, Mexico, Slovenia, Zambia, Venezuela all lead the pack of this month's activity on the Freedom of the Press Committee for the OPC, plus a committee change announcement.

A Reporter's Murder in the Afghan Hornets' Nest

As the NATO powers debate their futures in Afghanistan, an indication of the hornets’ nest they’re in was the murder in August of Janullah Hashimzada, an Afghan journalist known for his critical reporting on the Taliban. It appears that Hashimzada, bureau chief in Peshawar for Afghanistan’s Shamshad Television, was singled out for assassination because he was too well informed about the activities of Taliban militants and Pakistani intelligence agencies. He was traveling from the Afghan border back to Peshawar when his vehicle was intercepted by masked assailants who forced his van to a stop and fired at Hashimzada with assault rifles, shooting him at least six times. Another employee of the station was seriously injured in the attack. Hashimzada was dead on arrival at a regional hospital and the other man was placed under medical care.

According to Shamim Shahid, president of the Peshawar Press Club, “This was purely a targeted killing. He had too much information regarding the militants, the Taliban and the intelligence agencies.” As we told Pakistan’s president, Asif Ali Zardari, it would be reassuring to know that his government is, at the very least, investigating this crime with a view to bringing Hashimzada’s killers to justice. To date we’ve had no reply, and no evidence of any investigation.

Mexico, of course, continues to be a situation of perpetual concern to the Committee. The world knows that the threat of assassination by criminal gangs is the principal danger facing Mexican journalists today. Recently, however, we drew the Mexican government's attention to the fact that journalists are often threatened by the very people who should be protecting them -- the police, the judiciary and local officials. In just the first two weeks of September, six Mexican journalists were threatened, beaten, detained or, in some cases, all three for reporting stories that put local officials in an awkward light. It is clear, as we observed to President Felipe Calderon, that many local officials in Mexico share the sense of impunity that drug gangs feel when they attack journalists. We can only wonder at the courage of Mexican journalists who continue to try to report the truth, when the truth can get them killed by criminals and at the same time abused -- if not physically attacked -- by officials who should be protecting them.

The Committee also connected with the editors of the Slovenian daily, Dnevnik to assure them of the Club’s support in the paper’s efforts to publish news of a corruption scandal involving an Italian businessman who became a major owner of a Slovenian beverage group last year. Dnevnik has not only been prohibited from publishing anything at all about the story while the businessman’s libel case against Dnevnik wends through the courts; but indeed, anything about the libel trial itself. Of wider concern to us is that the action against Dnvenik takes place against what appears to be the recent deterioration of press freedom in Slovenia. In July, the Slovenian judiciary charged a Finnish journalist, Magnus Berglund, of Finnish broadcaster, YLE, with two counts of criminal defamation in connection to a documentary he produced that tied the former prime minister, Janez Jansa, to an alleged arms deal scandal. Berglund, who has left the country, now faces up to six months in a Slovene jail at the urging of Jansa’s lawyer. Coincidentally, that same lawyer is also reportedly representing Pierpaolo Cerani, the Italian accused by Dnevnik of corruption.

The Committee also took up the criminal cases against journalists in Zambia and The Gambia in the past month. (We are pleased to report that the six journalists hauled into court in the Gambian case have all been released.)

Finally,in Venezuela, the situation remains as bad as ever. Just in the month of August:

The independent television broadcaster Globovision had its offices literally invaded by an estimated 30 left-wing activists on motorcycles tossing tear gas.

The government abruptly shut down 34 radio stations without prior warning, charging that they failed to keep their paperwork up to date with the Ministry for Public Works and Housing.

On the legislative front the National Assembly has just approved a new “law on education” allowing the government to shut down media whose reporting threatens the “stability of state institutions, mental health or public ethics,” among other things.

We were unusually blunt in addressing President Hugo Chavez, whose government has created an atmosphere in which journalists cannot report honestly and impartially without fearing the consequences, an atmosphere in which the government’s supporters feel free to attack journalists physically.

We are heartened,” we told President Chavez, “to see some room still remaining for free expression in Venezuela, especially among the country’s daily newspapers. But how long will that last? The events of August make us fearful that it will not last long.”

Finally, a note about your committee. After fifteen years on the job, Larry Martz is taking a one-year furlough as co-chair. Kevin McDermott and Norman Schorr continue to serve as co-chairs, though Norman's health problems in the past year have curtailed his activities. Jeremy Main has agreed to take over Larry's administrative duties as co-chair, monitoring press freedom abuses and assigning letters to be written. Larry will continue to write letters as assigned, and will take part in long-term planning and strategy for the committee.

-- Submitted by Kevin McDermott