2020
CPJ joins call for release of 4 Iwacu journalists one year after arrest in Burundi
The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 64 other press freedom and human rights organizations today in a statement calling for the immediate and unconditional release of four journalists with the independent Burundian outlet Iwacu, who were arrested one year ago. The statement called the journalists’ detention a “stark reminder” of Burundi’s “little tolerance for independent…
Unidentified attackers open fire on journalist Shkumbin Kajtazi’s car in Kosovo
Berlin, October 22, 2020 — Kosovo authorities must conduct a swift and thorough investigation into the shooting attack on the car of journalist Shkumbin Kajtazi and ensure his safety, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On October 18, just after midnight, unidentified attackers shot five or six times at the car of Kajtazi, a…
Q&A: Financial Times reporters Dan McCrum and Stefania Palma on Wirecard and pressures on business journalists
Dan McCrum and Stefania Palma, business reporters for the Financial Times, spent years investigating German payments company Wirecard and revealed in a series of articles that the darling of the stock markets and the German tech scene faked its accounts. When it filed for insolvency in June 2020, Wirecard owed creditors billions of dollars, and…
Indian authorities seal Kashmir Times office in Srinagar
New Delhi, October 21, 2020–The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the ongoing harassment of the Kashmir Times and its editor, Anuradha Bhasin, by the Jammu and Kashmir administration and called on authorities to immediately reopen and allow staff to work from its Srinagar office. On October 19, officials from the Estates Department of the…
Argentine court charges journalist Daniel Santoro with illicit association, espionage
New York, October 21, 2020 — The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Argentine authorities to drop criminal charges against journalist Daniel Santoro and ensure criminal investigations do not threaten journalists’ ability to work. In a decision released this morning, Judge Alejo Ramos Padilla of the Federal Court of Dolores, in Buenos Aires province,…
CPJ calls for journalists’ safety to be protected amid Nigeria protests
New York, October 21, 2020–Nigerian authorities should ensure that journalists are able to do their jobs freely and safely while covering protests against police brutality in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. In recent days, local media have reported violence against protesters and journalists during the demonstrations in Nigeria, which began as…
Hungarian court gags investigative report, citing EU data protection law
Berlin, October 21, 2020—A gag order issued by a Hungarian court has cited European Union data privacy rules to prevent the weekly Magyar Narancs newspaper from publishing an article on Budapest-based soft drinks company Hell Energy and its owners, according to the article’s author, Ákos Keller-Alánt, and local news reports. The court in Budapest issued…
Journalist Sergey Plotnikov abducted, beaten, then released in Russia’s far east
New York, October 20, 2020 – Russian authorities should immediately and transparently investigate the kidnapping of journalist Sergey Plotnikov, and ensure that the press in Russia can work safely and freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On October 15, at about 8 p.m., seven unidentified masked men abducted Plotnikov on the street near…
CPJ to release annual Global Impunity Index
New York, October 19, 2020–The Committee to Protect Journalists will publish its annual list of countries where journalists are murdered regularly and their killers go free on October 28, 2020. The launch of the report, “Getting Away with Murder: CPJ’s 2020 Global Impunity Index” will mark the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against…
Swedish authorities charge documentary filmmakers Henrik Evertsson and Linus Andersson for MS Estonia film
Berlin, October 19, 2020 — Swedish authorities should immediately drop criminal charges against Swedish documentary filmmakers Henrik Evertsson and Linus Andersson, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On June 30 prosecutors in Sweden charged Evertsson, a journalist, and Andersson, a cameraman, with violating the burial site of MS Estonia, a ferry ship which sunk…