2019
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of January 28, 2019
Düzkan starts jail term for Özgür Gündem campaignJournalist Ayşe Düzkan started serving an 18-month prison sentence in Bakırköy Women’s Prison in Istanbul on January 29 over her participation in a solidarity campaign with the daily newspaper Özgür Gündem, the independent news website Bianet reported. A court sentenced Düzkan in November. Before turning herself in, Düzkanb…
Mexican reporter assaulted with baseball bats in Baja California Sur
Mexico City, January 31, 2019–Mexican authorities should immediately undertake a credible and thorough investigation into an assault on January 29 against journalist Martín Valtierra García and guarantee his safety, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Valtierra was beaten by two unknown assailants outside his home in Comondù, in the northern Mexican state of Baja…
US court: Syria ‘planned, executed extrajudicial killing’ of Marie Colvin
New York, January 31, 2019–A U.S. federal court in Washington, D.C., late yesterday found the Syrian government culpable in the 2012 killing of Marie Colvin, a correspondent for the U.K. newspaper Sunday Times, and ordered the government to pay US$302.5 million to her family, AFP reported today. According to the opinion, the court found that…
CPJ concerned by report that UAE ‘Project Raven’ surveilled journalists
New York, January 30, 2019–At least four journalists were surveilled under Project Raven, a United Arab Emirates (UAE) cybersurveillance and hacking operation, Reuters reported today. The UAE hired former U.S. National Security Agency employees to assist in deploying a surveillance tool called Karma that exploited a vulnerability in the iPhone’s messaging application, according to a…
From fake news to enemy of the people: An anatomy of Trump’s tweets
Since announcing his candidacy in the 2016 presidential elections to the end of his second year in office, U.S. President Donald Trump has sent 1,339 tweets about the media that were critical, insinuating, condemning, or threatening. In lieu of formal appearances as president, Trump has tweeted over 5,400 times to his more than 55.8 million…
Taiwan accuses Beijing-sponsored Hong Kong newspapers of disseminating misinformation, opens immigration investigation into journalists
On January 17, 2019, Taiwan’s presidential office issued a statement on Facebook accusing Ta Kung Pao, a Hong Kong newspaper funded by Beijing, of fabricating a story alleging that Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen secretly sent an envoy to advise three Hong Kong independence activists. The Taiwan government is currently investigating whether the journalists violated immigration…
Q&A: Rodney Sieh on how Liberia’s press is faring under Weah presidency
Rodney Sieh, editor-in-chief and publisher of Liberian investigative outlet FrontPageAfrica, knows first-hand the harassment and risks critical journalists in his country face. In 2013, CPJ documented how he was sentenced to prison over unpaid fines in a criminal defamation case.
Two Cameroonian journalists detained while covering opposition gathering
Abidjan, January 29, 2019–Authorities in Cameroon should immediately release journalists Théodore Tchopa and David Eyengue Nzima, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The two journalists, from privately owned daily newspaper Le Jour, were arrested yesterday while covering an opposition gathering in Douala, Denis Nkwebo, their deputy editor in chief and the president of the…
Surveillance tops foreign correspondents’ concerns in China, FCCC finds
Working conditions for foreign correspondents in China further deteriorated in 2018, according to the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China annual survey. The report, “Under Watch: FCCC Annual Working Conditions Report 2018,” highlights growing digital and human surveillance, as well as government interference in reporting in China.