2014
Iran arrests journalist covering acid attacks on women
New York, October 29, 2014–Iranian authorities have detained for almost a week a journalist affiliated with the semi-official Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA), a media outlet that has covered a series of acid attacks on women in the country, according to news reports. Four other staff members affiliated with the agency were arrested on Monday…
Mission Journal: In Zambia, Sata never fulfilled promise of greater transparency
“We’ll see for ourselves on Friday,” was a refrain on the lips of most journalists I met in Lusaka in mid-September, as they speculated on the health of President Michael Sata ahead of their country’s opening of parliament, where the leader was due to speak.
For journalists coming into US, policies border on the absurd
I was only supposed to be in Miami for the briefest of layovers. I was en route to San Francisco from São Paulo in Brazil, where I had participated in the NETMundial Conference on Internet governance along with hundreds of members of civil society, technology executives, journalists, and government officials. It was going to be…
Journalist arrested in Sudan, held without charge
New York, October 28, 2014–The National Intelligence and Security Services in Sudan arrested a journalist on Thursday in Khartoum and has held him without charge since, according to news reports. Al-Nour Ahmed al-Nour is the Sudan correspondent for the pan-Arab London-based newspaper Al-Hayat and also works as a columnist for the Sudanese independent daily Al-Taghyeer.
BBC’s Rwanda documentary leads to illogical, illegal suspension
When the BBC released in early October its televised documentary “Rwanda’s Untold Story,” which questioned official accounts of the 1994 genocide, a massive outcry inside and outside Rwanda’s borders ensued. Locals and foreigners alike protested the documentary’s findings, parliamentarians demanded a ban and legal action, and authorities summarily suspended BBC’s vernacular Kinyarwanda news service, the…
Governments fall short in efforts to combat impunity in journalists’ murders
Ninety percent of murderers walk free, threatening press freedom, CPJ report finds New York, October 28, 2014–Despite increased international attention to the murder of journalists, governments have failed to take meaningful action to reduce the high rates of targeted violence and impunity, the Committee to Protect Journalists found in a new report released today.
Don’t let al-Sisi’s government have Egypt’s last word
“I want to send a message to the world; there is no need for defending honorable Egyptian journalists.” That’s what Egyptian Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb said on World Press Freedom Day this year, speaking at Al-Ahram state newspaper. The same day, Al-Jazeera English Bureau Chief Mohamed Fahmy was roaring in an Egyptian court: “I want…
Ethiopian court sentences journalist to three years in prison
Nairobi, October 27, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns today’s sentencing of Ethiopian journalist Temesghen Desalegn to three years’ imprisonment on charges of defamation and incitement that date back to 2012. A court in Addis Ababa, the capital, convicted Temesgen on October 13 in connection with opinion pieces published in the now-defunct Feteh news magazine,…
Two French journalists convicted, sentenced in Indonesia
New York, October 24, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns today’s conviction and sentencing to prison of French documentary filmmakers Thomas Dandois and Valentine Bourrat on charges of breaking immigration laws in Indonesia. The two were sentenced to two months and 15 days in prison and are expected to be released next week because of…
Journalist killed in military custody in Burma
Bangkok, October 24, 2014–Burma’s army shot dead freelance reporter Aung Kyaw Naing while the journalist was in military custody, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the journalist’s killing, the first in Burma since 2007.