2025
New charge against killer of Turkish journalist Hrant Dink dropped over statute of limitations
Istanbul, January 15, 2025—Turkish authorities should not stop their efforts to find those behind the conspiracy to murder Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On January 9, an Istanbul court reached a verdict in the latest of many trials over Dink’s 2007 fatal shooting in Istanbul. Dink, managing editor of…
Journalist Nurgeldi Halykov barred from leaving Turkmenistan
New York, January 14, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Turkmen authorities’ decision to place a travel ban on Nurgeldi Halykov, a freelance correspondent for the independent Netherlands-based news website Turkmen.news, who was released from prison in June 2024 after serving a four-year sentence on retaliatory charges. On January 12, border guards at Ashgabat International…
Tanzanian journalist Maria Sarungi Tsehai briefly abducted in Kenya
Nairobi, January 14, 2025– CPJ calls on the Kenyan government to conduct a comprehensive investigation after four unknown men assaulted and abducted prominent Tanzanian journalist and human rights activist Maria Sarungi Tsehai for about four hours on Sunday in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi. “With attacks on dissidents living in exile in Nairobi and a…
Russia labels news outlets ‘terrorist organizations’ for the first time
Berlin, January 14, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Russian authorities to stop persecuting the regional news site Komi Daily and the independent media outlet Asians of Russia, which the Federal Security Service (FSB) added to its list of “terrorist organizations.” This marks the first time media publications have been labeled as such in Russia, according…
Tajik journalist Ahmad Ibrohim sentenced to 10 years in prison
New York, January 13, 2025—A court in Tajikistan’s southern city of Kulob on January 10 sentenced Ahmad Ibrohim, chief editor of the independent weekly newspaper Payk, to 10 years in prison on charges of bribery, extortion, and extremism. The closed-door trial was held in the city’s pretrial detention center, with authorities reportedly classifying the case…
CPJ to release annual report of journalists imprisoned globally
New York, January 13, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) will release its 2024 annual census of journalists imprisoned worldwide on January 16, 2025. The census covers all countries that have imprisoned journalists globally in 2024, as well as providing background information on each imprisoned journalist. It also provides recommendations on what needs to be…
CPJ, partners urge new Sri Lankan president to protect press freedom
The Committee to Protect Journalists on Monday, January 13 joined 24 civil society organizations in urging recently elected Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to uphold press freedom. CPJ has documented a persistent pattern of impunity for murders and attacks against journalists in Sri Lanka, including dozens that occurred during and in the aftermath of the country’s 26-year civil war that ended in…
Singapore ministers threaten legal action against media outlets, government demands ‘corrections’
New York, January 10, 2025— Singapore Minister for Manpower Tan See Leng and Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam should withdraw threats of legal action against media outlets over their public interest reporting, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. “The threats of legal action by Singapore ministers against media outlets, as well as…
CPJ signs joint statements in support of disappeared Venezuelan journalist Carlos Correa
On January 8, CPJ joined 29 press freedom and advocacy organizations in a statement demanding the immediate release of Venezuelan journalist Carlos Correa, director of Caracas-based press freedom group Espacio Público, who was forcibly disappeared the previous day in the capital. On January 9, CPJ signed another joint statement along with six organizations urging the…
José Rubén Zamora could be sent back to jail on January 13
São Paulo, January 10, 2025—Guatemalan journalist José Rubén Zamora could go back to jail this Monday if the country’s Supreme Court doesn’t agree to hear an appeal made by his defense, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Friday. Zamora, 67, spent 813 days in prison, accused of money laundering, until he was granted house…