2015

New York, June 30, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities to immediately release Zimbabwean journalist Patrick Chitongo who, according to reports, was sentenced to one year in prison on June 23 for publishing an unregistered newspaper.

New York, June 30–Moroccan journalist Hamid al-Mahdaoui was handed a four-month suspended prison sentence by a Casablanca court on Monday and ordered, along with a co-defendant named in the case, to pay a combined 100,000 Moroccan dirhams ($10,290) in damages for criminal defamation, according to the journalist’s website and other news outlets.

New York, June 30, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes today’s decision by the Swaziland Supreme Court to release from prison Bheki Makhubu, the editor of The Nation, who has been in jail since March 2014 along with human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko, after the crown prosecution said it would not defend an appeal against…

Myanmar’s parliament yesterday voted against several constitutional amendments that keep the military’s veto power intact, dealing a blow to hopes for fuller democracy, according to the BBC. And outside the legislature authorities are accelerating the pace at which they undoing democratic reforms.

Istanbul, June 26, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the insult charges filed against a Turkish reporter and calls on Turkish authorities to drop them immediately. The charges against Canan Coşkun, a reporter for the daily newspaper Cumhuriyet, were first reported by the Turkish media on Wednesday.

Beirut, June 26, 2015–An Al-Jazeera cameraman was killed today while covering clashes between regime forces and rebels in the southern Syrian province of Daraa, the pan-Arab broadcaster reported. Mohammed al-Asfar is the second Al-Jazeera journalist to be killed in the province since December.

Abuja, Nigeria, June 26, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Chadian authorities’ ejection this week of a French journalist. Laurent Correau, reporter for Radio France Internationale, was assaulted by police alongside an international human rights defender before being expelled, according to news reports.

New York, June 25, 2015 – The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about growing violence against journalists in Burundi and calls on the authorities to investigate all attacks and protect media workers.  

Bogotá, June 25, 2015 – A Colombian court sentenced the mastermind of a journalist’s murder to 36 years in prison on Wednesday in a landmark conviction that followed years of lobbying for justice by local journalists.