New York, November 30, 2018–The Canadian Supreme Court today upheld a lower court ruling that Vice Media reporter Ben Makuch should hand over his communications with a source. In a 9-0 decision, the court dismissed an appeal from Vice Media Canada Inc. and Makuch that challenged a Royal Canadian Mounted Police order requiring Makuch to…
Miami, November 29, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today expressed concern over the detention in Venezuela of German freelance journalist Billy Six. Venezuelan counterintelligence agents detained Six in the northwestern state of Falcón on November 17, according to his parents and news reports.
Court upholds Özgür Gündem sentences A local appeals court in Istanbul on November 29 upheld the earlier prison sentences handed to five of the participants of a solidarity campaign with the daily Özgür Gündem, the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya Agency reported.
Bangkok, November 29, 2018–Philippine prosecutors have in recent days filed five separate tax cases against critical news site Rappler, including criminal charges that may allow for the arrest of the site’s founder and editor Maria Ressa, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the escalated campaign of legal harassment and calls on…
Washington, D.C., November 28, 2018–Police in Xinjiang detained Lu Guang, an award-winning, New York-resident, freelance photographer whose work has focused on environmental and social issues in China, in early November, according to media reports. Lu’s family lost contact with him on November 3 and later confirmed his arrest with authorities in Xinjiang, according to a…
Beirut, November 26, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the imprisonment without charge of Abdel Hafez al-Houlani, a correspondent for the Syrian pro-opposition news website Zaman al-Wasl in the northeastern Lebanese city of Arsal, and called on Lebanese authorities to immediately disclose charges against him or set him free.
Beirut, November 26, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the assassination of prominent radio host Raed Fares and photographer Hamoud al-Jnaid and urged local authorities in the northwestern Syrian city of Kafranbel to investigate the murder and bring those responsible to justice.
On November 20, 2018, five police officers seized a desktop computer, mobile devices, and laptops from the Singapore home of Terry Xu, chief editor of the independent news website The Online Citizen, according to news reports. Xu was summoned to the city-state’s Cantonment Complex at 3pm that day, where authorities interrogated him for over eight…
New York, November 21, 2018–One year after freelance journalist Azory Gwanda disappeared in Tanzania, the Committee to Protect Journalists reiterated its call for a credible investigation and public accounting of his fate.