US STUDENTS RAISE FUNDS FOR BHEKI MAKHUBU, 8 JOURNALISTS

SITEKI - Incarcerated The Nation magazine editor Bheki Makhubu will have his name emblazoned on thousands of bracelets that will be sold worldwide as a fund-raising effort by journalism students from the University of Maryland in the USA.

The Associate Press reported last Friday that University of Maryland students were currently raising money to produce at least 10 000 bracelets emblazoned with names of nine journalists who are currently held (arrested) in nine countries around the world.

According to the publication, one of the journalists who will have his name emblazoned on the bracelets is Makhubu, who is currently serving a two-year sentence for contempt of court.

The contempt of court charges emanated from articles Makhubu wrote in the February and March 2014 issues of the magazine.
“Under the direction of Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reporter and journalism Professor Dana Priest, a group of university of Maryland journalism students are currently fund-raising to launch ‘Press uncuffed’. The line includes nine different bracelets, each with the name of a jailed journalist on it,” the publication reported.

The publication reported Rosemary Ostmann, a University of Maryland Alumni and spokeswoman for the project, to have said that 100 per cent of the proceeds from the sales of the bracelets would be donated to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

“In addition to raising money and helping the 221 journalists imprisonmed, Dana and the rest of the team are hoping it will raise awareness of what it takes to report a story, and how important that truth is for a free and prosperous society,” Ostmann was quoted by the publication to have said.

According to the Associate Press, the nine journalists who will have their names emblazoned on the bracelets are; Ammar Abdulrasool, Mahmoud Abou Zeid, Reeyot Alemu, Khadija Ismayilova, Bheki Makhubu, Ta Phong Tan, Jason Rezaian,Yusuf Ruzimuradov and Ilham Tohti.

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