2017
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of March 12
Editor sentenced to nine years in prison The 7th Court for Serious Crimes in the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakır yesterday sentenced Aydın Atar, former news editor for the shuttered Kurdish-language daily newspaper Azadiya Welat, to nine years, four months, and 15 days in prison on charges of “propagandizing for a [terrorist] organization,” the news…
Brazilian reporter’s car set on fire
Someone set veteran Brazilian political reporter Rodrigo Lima’s car on fire outside his office at the daily newspaper Diario da Região on March 3, 2017, according to the journalist, witnesses, and video of the incident. The reporter, who has worked at the newspaper for 17 years, told the Committee to Protect Journalists that he believed…
Syrian journalist killed by airstrike in Daraa
Washington, D.C, March 13, 2017–Yesterday’s death of freelance journalist Mohamed Abazied in an airstrike on the southwestern Syrian city of Daraa highlights the dangers that journalists and all civilians face in Syria’s long-running conflict, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Abazied was killed while reporting on Russian and Syrian military airstrikes on the city…
CPJ calls on Homeland Security secretary to reject password proposal
The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly’s suggestion to a committee hearing that the U.S. could request social media profile and password information as a condition to entering the country. Such requirements would have an impact on journalists by undermining their ability to protect sources and work product,…
Indian court orders website to take down two articles on lawmaker
A city civil court in the southern Indian city of Bangalore on March 2, 2017, ordered the news website The Wire to take down two articles critical of Rajeev Chandrasekhar, a member of India’s upper house of parliament, according to one of the website’s founding editor and news reports.
Journalist severely beaten, hospitalized in Albania
New York, March 9, 2017–Albanian authorities should thoroughly investigate yesterday’s attack on investigative journalist Elvi Fundo and swiftly bring those responsible to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Two unidentified assailants beat Fundo, who runs the news website Citynews.al and Radio Best, with crowbars near a train station in the capital, Tirana.
Russian security services detain journalists in border city, order them to leave
New York, March 7, 2017–Russian security services should stop harassing and obstructing journalists and should allow them to work unimpeded, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Security services have detained at least three journalists who had traveled to report from the northwestern city of Svetogorsk, on Russia’s border with Finland, in the past two…