2017
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of January 8
Erdoğan praises Trump for ‘beating down’ CNN reporter Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan praised U.S. President-elect Donald Trump for “beating down” (“benzetmek”) CNN senior White House correspondent Jim Costa in a January 11 press conference, according to media reports and video widely distributed on the internet. Trump refused to take a question from CNN at…
CPJ Safety Advisory: The Mosul offensive and psychological injury
The military campaign to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul from the Islamic State (IS) group, known as the Mosul offensive, has resumed with Iraqi forces engaged in a second phase attempting to take further neighborhoods in eastern parts of the city. A number of journalists, freelancers and staffers, remain in Northern Iraq and travel…
Gunmen shoot at home of Mexican reporter
Unidentified assailants attacked the home of Mexican journalist Gabriel Valencia Juárez at about 10:15 p.m. on December 31, 2016, according to media reports. Valencia, who was inside at the time of the attack, was only a meter from where one of the 9mm caliber bullets struck a piece of furniture, the reports said.
Gambia orders three radio stations to cease broadcasting
Lagos, Nigeria, January 5, 2017–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Gambian authorities to allow three independent radio stations to resume full broadcasting. Taranga FM, Hilltop Radio, and Afri Radio stopped broadcasting on January 1 on the orders of national security agents, who did not give any explanation for the measure, according to news…
Transition to Trump: Why U.S. needs to be global leader in protecting strong encryption
As a new presidential administration prepares to take over the U.S., CPJ examines the status of press freedom, including the challenges journalists face from surveillance, harassment, limited transparency, the questioning of libel laws, and other factors.
Journalist Jovo Martinović released in Montenegro pending trial
New York, January 5, 2017–A Montenegro court last night released independent journalist Jovo Martinović, pending the outcome of his trial, the journalist told the Committee to Protect Journalists today. The court ordered Martinović, who spent more than 14 months in prison on charges of drug smuggling, to check in with police twice a month, and…
Two Radio Bilal journalists sentenced in Ethiopia on terror charges
New York, January 4, 2017–The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the prison sentences handed down to two journalists from the Ethiopian faith-based station Radio Bilal. Khalid Mohamed and Darsema Sori were sentenced yesterday to prison terms of five years and six months and four years and five months respectively, the independent news website Addis…
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of January 1
Jailed investigative journalist held in isolation Investigative journalist Ahmet Şık has been kept in isolation in prison and denied basic rights since his arrest last week, according to reports that cited his lawyer. Sık, who was detained December 29 on allegations of spreading terrorist propaganda, was kept at Metris Prison in Istanbul for three days…