2021
Liberian journalists assaulted while covering senate election, sports tournament
On December 14, 2020, two supporters of Liberian senatorial candidate Botoe Kanneh beat up and threatened to kill Henry Bobo Gboluma, a reporter with the privately owned Local Voices Liberia news website, according to Gboluma, who spoke by phone with CPJ, and a report by his employer. Gboluma said he photographed the men at an…
Investigative journalist Visar Duriqi assaulted in Kosovo
Berlin, March 3, 2021 — Kosovo authorities should conduct a swift and thorough investigation into the assault of journalist Visar Duriqi and ensure his safety, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Shortly after midnight on February 25, three unidentified masked men attacked Duriqi, an investigative reporter for the local news website Insajderi, outside his…
At least 3 US reporters face court hearings on charges from 2020 coverage of protests and rallies
New York, March 3, 2021 – Local authorities in Iowa, Massachusetts, and North Carolina should drop all charges against journalists who were arrested while doing their jobs, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. This month, three journalists who are facing charges are scheduled to appear in court in relation to their coverage of protests…
CPJ Insider: March edition
CPJ Insider: March edition CPJ’s Sherif Mansour and his family harassed by Egyptian authorities Egyptian police first came for Sherif’s father when he was seven. They came again—this time for him—when he was 17. Today, Mansour, who serves as CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa program coordinator, lives in the United States, but that has…
Unidentified attackers shoot and kill 3 Enikass Radio and TV employees in Afghanistan
New York, March 2, 2021 — Afghan authorities should thoroughly investigate and hold to account the killings of three employees of Enikass Radio and TV and take steps to protect the station, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The shooting deaths followed the murder in December of a reporter at the broadcaster and her…
CPJ condemns sentencing of Belarus journalist Katsiaryna Barysevich to 6 months in jail
Vilnius, Lithuania, March 2, 2021 — In response to today’s sentencing of Belarusian journalist Katsiaryna Barysevich to six months in jail and a fine over her coverage of protests in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement: “Today’s sentencing of journalist Katsiaryna Barysevich is yet another example of how the Belarusian authorities will…
Brazilian journalist Patrícia Campos Mello sued President Bolsonaro’s son for moral damages – and won
In May of last year, Eduardo Bolsonaro, a Brazilian congressman and the son of President Jair Bolsonaro, made a series of searing accusations against journalist Patrícia Campos Mello on the YouTube channel of far-right media company Terça Livre. He claimed that Campos Mello, a reporter with Brazilian daily Folha de S.Paulo, had attempted to use sex to…
Myanmar police arrest at least 4 more journalists, injure Democratic Voice of Burma reporter during home raid
Bangkok, March 2, 2021 – Myanmar authorities must release all journalists arrested for covering anti-coup protests in the country, and drop any charges filed against them, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. At about 10:30 p.m. yesterday, police in the southern city of Myeik raided the home of Kaung Myat Hlaing, a reporter with…
Egyptian columnist Gamal al-Gamal arrested, charged with terrorism, false news
New York, March 1, 2021 – Egyptian authorities must immediately release journalist Gamal al-Gamal and drop all charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On February 22, authorities arrested al-Gamal, a freelance columnist who contributes to local and regional news websites, in Cairo International Airport upon his return from Turkey, where he…
Ethiopian military detains BBC reporter, translators for AFP and FT
Nairobi, March 1, 2021 – In response to Ethiopian military forces’ arrests of at least four journalists and media workers covering the conflict in the northern state of Tigray, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement: “The scarcity of independent reporting coming out of Tigray during this conflict was already deeply alarming. Now,…