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Paul Salopek (b. February 9, 1962 in Barstow, California) is a Pulitzer Prize winning writer. He was raised in central Mexico. He has reported for the Chicago Tribune since 1996, writing about Africa, the Balkans, Central Asia and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He worked for National Geographic from 1992-1995, visiting Chad, Sudan, Senegal, Niger, Mali, and Nigeria. The October 1995 cover story for National Geographic was Salopek's piece on Africa's mountain gorillas. He reported on U.S.-Mexico border issues for the El Paso Times. In 1990, he was Gannett News Service's bureau chief in Mexico City.

Salopek received a degree in environmental biology from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1984. Salopek has worked off and on as a commercial fisherman, most recently with the scallop fleet out of New Bedford, Massachusetts in 1991. His career in journalism began in 1985 when his motorcycle broke in Roswell, New Mexico and he took a police-reporting job at the local newspaper to earn repair money.

In 1998 he won the Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for two articles profiling the Human Genome Diversity Project. Columbia University President George Rupp presented Salopek with the prize again in 2001, "for his reporting on the political strife and disease epidemics ravaging Africa, witnessed firsthand as he traveled, sometimes by canoe, through rebel-controlled regions of the Congo."

Salopek was a general assignment reporter on the Tribune's Metropolitan staff, reporting on immigration, the environment and urban affairs. He spent several years as the Tribune's bureau chief in Johannesburg. Salopek reported from Sudan for a 2003 National Geographic story, "Shattered Sudan: Drilling for Oil, Hoping for Peace." He co-wrote "Who Rules the Forest?" from Africa for National Geographic in September 2005, examining the effects of war in Central Africa.

Detainment in Sudan
Salopek was detained in Darfur, Sudan by Sudanese government officials on August 6, along with his Chadian interpreter and driver, while on a freelance assignment for National Geographic magazine. When Salopek failed to show at a long-scheduled appointment on August 17, National Graphic became concerned. His last contact with his wife had been on August 5. On August 26, 2006 Salopek was charged with espionage, passing information illegally, writing "false news," and entering Sudan without a visa, in a Sudanese court in al-Fashir, North Darfur.

Press release
Chris Johns, National Geographic's editor in chief, said Salopek "had no agenda other than to fairly and accurately report on the [Sahel]. He is a world-recognized journalist of the highest standing, with a deep knowledge and respect for the continent of Africa and its people." The Chicago Tribune released a "Statement from Tribune Editor and Senior Vice President Ann Marie Lipinski Regarding Paul Salopek," saying, "Our colleague and dear friend, Paul Salopek, is one of the most accomplished and admired journalists of our time. He is not a spy. Our fervent hope is that the authorities in Sudan will recognize his innocence and quickly allow Paul to return home to his wife, Linda, and to his colleagues. "Paul has been a reporter for the Chicago Tribune for more than a decade. He has an impeccable reputation for integrity and for serious work dedicated to the dignity and worth of people everywhere. He began a scheduled leave of absence from the newspaper earlier this month and was traveling in Chad reporting a freelance assignment for National Geographic magazine before he was detained. Since we learned of Paul's detention in Sudan, we have been working diligently to seek his release. Paul's work in Chicago and around the world has been extraordinary. He has won two Pulitzer Prizes for the Tribune, the first in 1998 for his brilliant reporting on the Human Genome Diversity Project. His second Pulitzer was awarded in 2001 in recognition of his compassionate eyewitness reporting on the lives of the people of Africa. We are deeply worried about Paul and his well being, and appeal to the government of Sudan to return him safely home."

Hearing
Defense attorney Omer Hassan requested a three-week trial delay, but was given only a two-week continuance, after a 40-minute hearing, delaying the trial until September 10. Hassan argued that the three men could not get a fair trial because the governor of North Darfur called Salopek a criminal. The judge ordered an end to prejudicial remarks. Salopek recited his name, age and marital status during the hearing. Salopek had traveled in Chad near the border with Sudan. When he was arrested he was carrying two U.S. passports and satellite maps of the conflict area in Darfur, printed from the internet. Sudanese officials view the passports and maps as evidence against Salopek. Chris Johns, Editor in Chief and photographer for National Geographic magazine, said, "As one who has worked in Africa for more than 15 years, I have two passports. There are many reasons for that. For example, during apartheid days, if I needed to cover South Africa, it was not in my best interest [when entering black-controlled African countries] to have a South Africa stamp in my passport.

Shays delegation
Salopek telephoned National Geographic and Tribune editors. He was visited by a congressional delegation led by U.S. Representative Christopher Shays. Shays, in an interview given on August 26, said Salopek "did a very foolish thing coming into the country without a visa and he knows that... He knew he made a mistake. But it's not in anybody's interest--in their or our governments--to have this blown out of proportion. This is a reporter doing what reporters do. They don't have any designs against the government. They're just reporting what they see. He had a very gentle presence and he was very appreciative of our being there. We just told him we would pass on to his wife that he loved her very much and he was looking forward to seeing her. We were deeply concerned that they had arrested someone and held him so long without letting his family know about it.

Two U.S. congressmen visited Salopek on August 22 for an hour at a police station in al Fashir. Salopek said he was being held in a 20-foot-by-20-foot cell with 15 others and no toilet facilities. Salopek was later moved to better quarters. Representative Brian Higgins, and Cameron Hume, the U.S. charge d'affaires to Sudan, also attended the meeting. U.S. Senator Barack Obama, in Africa on a two-week tour, is monitoring the situation in conjunction with the U.S. State Department.

Previous cases
The presiding judge in Salopek's case previously sentenced Slovenian writer and activist Tomo Kriznar on August 14, to two years in prison on charges of spying and publishing false information. Kriznar admitted entering the country without a visa but denied spying on the Sudanese government. The judge also ordered the deportation of an American citizen who the U.S. embassy in Sudan described as a college student doing research.