2017
German reporter denied Bahrain visa to cover FIFA congress
New York, May 10, 2017–Bahraini immigration authorities should grant freelance journalist Robert Kempe a visa and ensure that journalists are able to cover international events in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Kempe told CPJ that Bahrain denied him a visa to cover FIFA’s 2017 Congress, which is being held in the…
Journalist arrested in West Virginia while questioning cabinet official
New York, May 10, 2017–The arrest of a journalist in the U.S. state of West Virginia while asking a question of Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price yesterday is an affront to press freedom, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Ukraine expels Russian journalists trying to cover Eurovision contest
Ukraine’s state border service blocked Maria Remizova and Elena Boduen, correspondents of the Russian daily Komsomolskaya Pravda, and Ramil Sitdikov, a photojournalist of the Moscow-based pro-Kremlin broadcaster RT (formerly Russia Today), from entering the country, according to reports. The journalists were traveling to Ukraine to cover the Eurovision song contest, which is being hosted in…
Attackers beat TV journalist at his home in India’s Andhra Pradesh state
New Delhi, May 8, 2017–Authorities in India must investigate and bring to justice those responsible for an attack on freelance journalist Rama Reddy, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Reddy, a TV reporter, was attacked in apparent retaliation for his reporting on illegal sand mining, according to a report in The New Indian Express.
In Egypt retrial, 2 journalists acquitted, 3 others’ sentences reduced
New York, May 8, 2017–The Committee to Protect Journalists today welcomed the verdict by the Giza Criminal Court acquitting Egyptian journalists Hany Salah-el-Deen and Mosad Al-Barbary, and called on authorities to immediately free Abdullah al-Fakharany, Samhi Mustafa, and Mohamed al-Adly, whose sentences were reduced to five years from 25 years. The rulings came in a…
More than 100 journalists face threats or injury covering Venezuela protests
More than 100 journalists and media workers have been threatened, harassed, detained, injured, or otherwise obstructed from doing their work in Venezuela since mass protests erupted against the government of President Nicolás Maduro there at the beginning of April 2017, according to media reports, the affected journalists, and Venezuelan press freedom groups.
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of May 7
Editor detained at courthouse Police in Istanbul’s Çağlayan Courthouse today detained Çağlar Özbilgin, an editor for the leftist news website sendika.org, his employer reported. Özbilgin was there to attend a hearing of his trial on charges of “insulting the president,” but police detained him for a separate criminal investigation into him on suspicion of “provoking…
Expanded surveillance powers could threaten work of journalists in UK
Brussels, May 5, 2017–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by news reports that the U.K. government wants to push telecommunication companies to introduce real-time surveillance and the removal of encryption. On Thursday, The Register published leaked draft regulations detailing how telecommunications operators would be required to grant real-time access to individuals under warrant within…