2015
Exile the price of freedom for Vietnamese blogger Ta Phong Tan
Nearly two months after her early release from a decade-long prison sentence, Vietnamese blogger Ta Phong Tan is settling into life in exile in the U.S. Hers was the latest in a series of U.S. State Department-negotiated releases of political prisoners held on anti-state charges on condition they promptly leave Vietnam, removed from their families,…
China, Egypt are worst jailers of journalists worldwide
Total number imprisoned globally falls slightly, CPJ finds New York, December 15, 2015–China is holding 49 journalists behind bars, the highest number ever recorded there, making it the worst jailer of journalists worldwide for the second year in a row, the Committee to Protect Journalists has found. The number of journalists jailed in Egypt and…
The EU must engage with Turkey on press freedom
CPJ joins calls for Brussels to push for release of jailed journalists Brussels, December 15, 2015–The European Union must not allow the challenges of the refugee crisis to deter it from confronting Turkey about its poor press freedom record, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters Without Borders, and the European Federation of Journalists said at…
“EU must stop its double standards with Turkey”
Press freedom groups to hold press conference in Brussels New York, December 11, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists will take part in a joint press conference on Turkey’s press freedom record, alongside Reporters Without Borders and the European Federation of Journalists. The press conference, “EU must stop its double standards with Turkey,” will be held…
CPJ urges South Africa to revise cybercrime bill that limits press freedom
New York, December 10, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the South African government to revise provisions in the proposed Cybercrimes and Cybersecurity Bill that would limit journalists’ ability to work. Under the bill, journalists and members of the public could be prosecuted for possessing or disclosing state information, reports said.
CPJ calls on Egypt’s prosecutor general to support request to free Shawkan
Dear Prosecutor General Nabil Sadiq. The Committee to Protect Journalists is writing to you because of our deep concern for photojournalist Mahmoud Abou Zeid, known as Shawkan, who is due to stand trial in Cairo Criminal Court on December 12, 2015. Shawkan’s lawyers told CPJ they will ask the court to release him from custody We request that you support this request. Shawkan was at Rabaa Al-Adawiya in August 2013 not as a protester or a criminal, but as a journalist.
CPJ to release annual list of journalists imprisoned worldwide
New York, December 8, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists will release its annual census of journalists imprisoned worldwide on December 15, 2015. The census catalogs journalists imprisoned as of midnight on December 1, 2015 and indicates the country where held, charge, and medium of work for each imprisoned journalist. It does not include the many…
CPJ alarmed by Russia’s harassment of Dozhd TV
New York, December 7, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Russian authorities to allow Dozhd TV to broadcast without fear of harassment. Today, prosecutors in Moscow carried out an audit of the independent station to check for purported violations of Russia’s laws on extremism, anti-terrorism, labor, and licensing, according to an official notice the…
CPJ joins calls for Azerbaijan to release Khadija Ismayilova
In a statement to mark the one-year anniversary of the imprisonment of Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova, Sport for Rights –a coalition of international press freedom groups that includes the Committee to Protect Journalists–called for the immediate and unconditional release of Ismayilova and all other journalists and rights activists jailed in Azerbaijan for their work. The…