2021
To police, ‘the camera is like a red cloth to a bull’: four journalists on covering Russia’s pro-Navalny protests
On January 23, Russia erupted in nationwide demonstrations against the January 17 arrest of Alexei Navalny. The opposition leader was taken into custody at a Moscow airport when he flew home after five months in Berlin, where he was undergoing medical treatment after having been poisoned. (He alleges the Russian government is responsible; Russian president…
Cuban internet access cut amid free expression protest; journalist harassed
Miami, January 29, 2020 — Cuban authorities should stop disrupting internet access in the country and allow journalists to cover protests freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On January 27, starting at around 3:30 p.m. internet access was shut down on the island for approximately two hours, according to news reports and several local journalists posting on Twitter. To get…
Times of India parent company sues media watchdog Newslaundry for $13.7 million
New Delhi, January 29, 2021 – The Indian media conglomerate Bennett, Coleman, and Company Limited (BCCL) is undermining its own integrity with a defamation suit against the news website and media watchdog Newslaundry, and should withdraw the suit immediately, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On January 19, BCCL filed a civil defamation suit…
Kurdish Syrian journalist Fanar Mahmoud Tami abducted
New York, January 29, 2021 – The Committee to Protect Journalists today expressed alarm over the abduction of Syrian journalist Fanar Mahmoud Tami, and called on all parties in northeast Syria to ensure his safety. In the evening of January 23, masked assailants driving a white jeep abducted Tami, a freelance journalist who publishes news…
Russian journalist Ruslan Totrov beaten in North Ossetia
Vilnius, Lithuania, January 28, 2021 — North Ossetia authorities should investigate the attack on journalist Ruslan Totrov and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On January 21, two men entered Totrov’s office in Vladikavkaz, the capital of North Ossetia, and attacked the journalist while he was in a studio recording…
Journalists attacked, harassed, and threatened while covering Liberian senate election
In the days leading up to and following senatorial elections in Liberia on December 8, 2020, security forces and civilians attacked, harassed, and threatened members of the press, according to journalists who spoke with CPJ and a statement shared on Facebook by the Press Union of Liberia, a local trade group. On November 30, in…
Malawian police beat journalist Henry Kijimwana Mhango for reporting on COVID-19
Abuja, January 28, 2021 — Malawian authorities should investigate the police attack on journalist Henry Kijimwana Mhango, and ensure that those responsible are held to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On January 22, a group of at least seven police officers in the Old Town area of Lilongwe, the capital, attacked Mhango,…
Moroccan journalist Maati Monjib sentenced to 1 year in prison
New York, January 28, 2021 – The Court of First Instance in Rabat, Morocco, yesterday convicted Maati Monjib, co-founder of the Moroccan Association for Investigative Journalism, of fraud and endangering state security, and sentenced him to one year in prison and a fine of 10,000 dirhams (US$1,116), according to news reports. “The Moroccan government has…
Reporter Dawit Kebede Araya shot and killed in Ethiopia
Nairobi, January 28, 2021 — Ethiopian authorities must conduct a thorough and independent investigation into the killing of journalist Dawit Kebede Araya, determine if it was motivated by his work, and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. In the evening of January 19, unidentified attackers shot and killed Dawit,…
Pakistan Supreme Court orders release, issues acquittals in Daniel Pearl murder case
Washington, D.C., January 28, 2021–The Supreme Court of Pakistan today ordered the release of Ahmad Omar Saeed Sheikh, who was previously convicted in the 2002 murder of Wall Street Journal correspondent Daniel Pearl, and acquitted him and three others of the murder charges, according to news reports. “We are deeply disappointed that Pakistan’s Supreme Court…