February 2018 - Committee to Protect Journalists

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi speaks at the Military Academy in Cairo, Egypt, February 19, 2018. The Egyptian government has cracked down on the media ahead of a scheduled presidential elections next month, in which President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is running virtually unopposed, according to media reports. (Reuters/The Egyptian Presidency/Handout)

Egypt’s top prosecutor orders authorities to monitor media for “fake news”

February 28, 2018 4:58 PM EST

New York, February 28, 2018–Egyptian authorities should immediately cease their intimidation campaign against independent news outlets, and let journalists report freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

A poster in Khom, a village in China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, shows President Xi Jinping chatting with Xinjiang minority people. Authorities have detained several relatives of RFA Uighur service journalists in recent months. (Reuters/Jason Lee)

China detains relatives of RFA Uighur service journalists

February 28, 2018 2:46 PM EST

Taipei, February 28, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today said it is alarmed by news that Chinese authorities have detained at least nine relatives of four U.S.-based journalists for Radio Free Asia’s Uighur service.

A bird's-eye view of ships along the coast in Singapore in July 2017. Singapore's parliament is considering draft legislation that would prevent journalists from reporting on what was happening terror attacks.(Reuters/Jorge Silva)

Singapore draft law aims to censor reporting on terror attacks

February 28, 2018 10:23 AM EST

Bangkok, February 28, 2018–Draft anti-terrorism legislation under consideration in Singapore would imperil press freedom by banning journalists from covering terror attacks, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

A beach in Casablanca in July 2012. Moroccan police on February 23, 2018 arrested Taoufik Bouachrine, a columnist and the publisher of Akhbar al-Youm, at the newspaper's headquarters in Casablanca. (Reuters/Youssef Boudlal)

Critical Moroccan journalist arrested on several charges

February 27, 2018 5:25 PM EST

Moroccan police on February 23, 2018 arrested Taoufik Bouachrine, a columnist and the publisher of Akhbar al-Youm, at the newspaper’s headquarters in Casablanca on charges including human trafficking, sexual assault, rape, prostitution, and harassment, according to his lawyers, outlets, and news reports.

A news stand in Abuja, Nigeria in October 2014. A Nigerian court is scheduled to arraign brothers Timothy and Daniel Elombah, editor and chief executive respectively, of the independent Elombah news website, on cybercrime and terrorism-related offenses on March 1, 2018.(Reuters/ Stringer)

Two Nigerian journalists charged with cybercrime

February 27, 2018 2:09 PM EST

Lomé, February 27, 2018–Nigerian authorities should immediately drop plans to charge Timothy and Daniel Elombah, editor and chief executive respectively, of the independent Elombah news website, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

CPJ expresses concerns with proposed changes to Canada’s Access to Information Act

February 27, 2018 10:47 AM EST

The Committee to Protect Journalists writes to Canadian MP Scott Brison to express concerns with proposed changes to Canada’s Access to Information Act.

Belarusian police beat, detain journalist

February 27, 2018 10:06 AM EST

Four Belarussian police officers on February 18, 2018, attacked Andrus (Andrey) Kozel, a cameraperson for the independent TV station Belsat, while he was live streaming to Facebook from inside a polling station in central Minsk, media reported.

Military police ride on the back or a patrol truck as they secure a road where people held a ceremony commemorating the anniversary of the 2011 uprising that toppled Yemen's former president Ali Abdullah Saleh in Taiz, Yemen in February 2018. Yemeni authorities detained Awad Kashmeem, the former governor of the board of directors for the government-aligned newspaper November 30, in Mokalla, Hadramout Province, according to news reports. (Reuters/Anees Mahyoub)

Yemen journalist arrested by government military forces

February 26, 2018 4:55 PM EST

New York, February 26, 2018–Yemeni authorities should immediately release Awad Kashmeem and stop arbitrarily detaining critical journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Authorities on February 21 detained Kashmeem, the former governor of the board of directors for the government-aligned newspaper November 30, in Mokalla, Hadramout Province, according to Yemeni Journalists Syndicate co-chair Nabeel…

Policemen stand guard at the crime scene where Slovak investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his girlfriend were murdered in Velka Maca, Slovakia, on February 26, 2018. (AFP/Vladimir Simicek)

Slovak investigative journalist, girlfriend found shot to death

February 26, 2018 11:31 AM EST

Berlin, February 26, 2018 –The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in Slovakia to quickly and effectively investigate the killing of Slovak investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and hold all the perpetrators to account. Kuciak and his girlfriend, Martina Kušnířova were on Sunday found shot to death in his house in Velká Mača, Slovakia, local…

Darren Walker of the Ford Foundation joins CPJ’s board of directors

February 26, 2018 10:00 AM EST

New York, February 26, 2018–Ford Foundation President Darren Walker has joined the Committee to Protect Journalists’ board of directors, the organization said today.