2020
Rio de Janeiro Military Police publish video criticizing, insulting journalist Rafael Soares
In the evening of December 8, 2020, the Military Police of Rio de Janeiro published a video on its website and official YouTube and Twitter accounts in response to an article that Rafael Soares, a security reporter for national newspapers O Globo and Extra, had published previously that day. Soares’ article concerned a Military Police…
CPJ testifies to US Congress, calls for more effort to fight restrictions on press
Journalists working around the world continue to face a wide variety of challenges, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the U.S. government must redouble its efforts to defend press freedom, CPJ Advocacy Director Courtney Radsch said during testimony to the U.S. Congress today. Addressing the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and…
BBC correspondent describes staying safe, finding journalistic camaraderie during Nagorno-Karabakh’s 6-week war
Journalists who covered the recent six-week-long conflict between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh faced violence to get the story of the region’s latest bloody chapter to the world. At least six journalists were injured in shelling attacks in Nagorno-Karabakh and two were assaulted when a mob descended on a broadcaster in Armenia to oppose its reporting on…
FPU, RSF and CPJ to launch ambitious joint project to get justice for murdered journalists
The Hague, 9 December 2020 – Leading press freedom organisations come together to launch an international online campaign to pursue justice for murdered journalists worldwide. A Safer World For The Truth is a collaboration between Free Press Unlimited (FPU), Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) focused on the persistent issue…
Indian government gives go ahead for contempt proceedings against cartoonist
New Delhi, December 8, 2020 — The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed alarm over a petition to the Indian Supreme Court calling for it to initiate criminal contempt proceedings against political cartoonist Rachita Taneja for her comics about the judiciary. On December 5, Aditya Kashyap, a law student and member of the student union associated…
Iranian journalist Kayvan Samimi begins 3-year prison sentence over protest coverage
Washington, D.C., December 8, 2020 — Iranian authorities must release journalist Kayvan Samimi from prison and cease jailing members of the press for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Yesterday, authorities arrested Samimi at the Evin Prison Sentence Enforcement Office, in Tehran, and took him to serve a three-year sentence at Evin…
Mexican journalists shot, beaten as police disperse protest in Cancún
In the evening of November 9, 2020, at least two reporters received gunshot wounds and at least two others were beaten, as state police dispersed a protest the reporters were covering in the city of Cancún, in Quintana Roo state in southern Mexico. The police used live ammunition to shoot in the air, according to…
Iraqi Kurdish security forces raid NRT headquarters, suspend broadcasts
New York, December 8, 2020 – Kurdish Iraqi authorities must reverse their suspension of local broadcaster NRT and allow the outlet to reopen its office and work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Early yesterday morning, security forces affiliated with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan political party raided NRT’s headquarters in the northeastern…
Two journalists detained in Mali for weeks over criticism of judiciary
New York, December 8, 2020 — Malian authorities should immediately and unconditionally release journalists Adama Diarra and Seydou Oumar Traoré from custody and allow them to report freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On October 20, Diarra, also known as Vieux Blen, received a summons from Mali’s Judicial Investigations Brigade, a local law…
Two men threaten to kill journalists at Croatian outlet over coverage of wedding amid coronavirus
Berlin, December 8, 2020 — Croatian authorities must quickly and thoroughly investigate the threats made to journalists at the Zadarski.hr website and Slobodna Dalmacija newspaper, and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. At about noon on December 1, in the coastal city of Zadar, two men wearing surgical masks…