2017
Myanmar officials pledge to reform law used to jail journalists
မြန်မာဘာသာ Yangon, Myanmar, June 9, 2017–Legislation to remove criminal penalties from a law used to imprison journalists on defamation charges will soon be introduced in Myanmar’s legislature, a senior official of the Ministry of Information told a visiting delegation from the Committee to Protect Journalists yesterday.
Kenyan journalist threatened and assaulted
New York, June 8, 2017–Kenyan authorities should credibly investigate and swiftly bring to justice those responsible for attacking and threatening Emmanuel Namisi, a broadcast journalist for the Royal Media group, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Amid Gulf tensions, press is used as a political pawn
Today Bahrain became the latest Gulf nation to put pressure on news outlets amid political tension, when its Interior Ministry announced that anyone publishing support or sympathy for Qatar faces up to five years in prison. The announcement came the day after the United Arab Emirates used the threat of prison to demarcate how journalists…
UAE threatens 15 years in prison for expressions of ‘sympathy’ with Qatar
New York, June 7, 2017–Authorities in the United Arab Emirates should clearly and immediately repudiate Emirati Attorney General Hamad Saif al-Shamsi’s threats to imprison and fine anyone who criticizes the United Arab Emirates’ stance toward Qatar or who expresses any “sympathy” for Qatar, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
CPJ joins call for Georgia to investigate case of exiled journalist forcibly taken back to Azerbaijan
The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 22 international rights organizations in calling on Georgia’s Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili to ensure that the case of Afgan Mukhtarli, an Azerbaijani journalist living in exile in Tbilisi who is now in custody in the country’s capital, Baku, is fully investigated. CPJ documented last month how Mukhtarli was abducted…
Saudi Arabia orders Al-Jazeera bureau closed
New York, June 7, 2017–The Saudi Ministry of Media should immediately reverse its order to close the office of Qatari broadcaster Al-Jazeera and allow the satellite channel and all news media to operate freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The Saudi government on June 5 revoked the broadcaster’s license to operate in Saudi…
Óscar Martínez: Trust and safety for journalists and sources is vital in El Salvador
Óscar Martínez knows first-hand the dangers of reporting on crime and gang violence. The co-founder of Sala Negra (Black Room)–an investigative reporting project run by the El Salvadoran new outlet El Faro–says he and his colleagues have been threatened and harassed for their hard-hitting coverage. But, Martínez says, their sources are equally at risk of…
India’s Central Bureau of Investigation raids broadcaster NDTV
Officers of India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on June 5, 2017, searched the New Delhi home of Prannoy Roy, the co-founder and executive chair of NDTV New Delhi Television, one of India’s oldest private media companies, and three other premises in the cities of Mussoorie and Dehradun, CBI spokesman RK Gaur told CPJ, declining…
Jordan revokes Al-Jazeera license amid Qatar tensions
New York, June 6, 2017–Jordan’s Ministry of Information today revoked the license for Qatar broadcaster Al-Jazeera and said it will close the broadcaster’s Jordanian office. In an announcement reported by the state-run Petra News Agency, the ministry said its actions came after “reviewing the crisis” between Qatar and neighboring Gulf states Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and…