2026

Berlin, April 1, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists and partner organizations raised serious concerns on Wednesday about the safety of independent journalists in Serbia, citing a deepening press freedom crisis marked by rising violence, threats, impunity, and tight political control. The warnings follow a two-day visit to Belgrade on March 26–27, where a coalition of…

Kinshasa, April 1, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for the release of Congolese community radio director Espoir Mbata, who was detained by M23 rebels on Sunday over his WhatsApp post about their potential withdrawal from an eastern town.   “Working conditions have becoming increasingly hazardous for journalists in the eastern Democratic Republic of the…

Berlin, April 1, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Hungarian authorities to immediately drop all espionage charges against investigative journalist Szabolcs Panyi, and ensure that journalists can cover national security issues without intimidation or threats of imprisonment. On March 26, Gergely Gulyás, chief of staff to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, announced that the government had filed criminal charges against…

Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, April 1, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists urges Iraqi authorities to take all necessary measures to secure the release of U.S. journalist Shelly Kittleson, who was kidnapped in the capital Baghdad on Tuesday. “The abduction of Shelly Kittleson in broad daylight reflects an alarming breach of journalists’ safety in Iraq that highlights the…

The Committee to Protect Journalists has endorsed an updated reporter privacy protection bill that would strengthen and modernize journalist protections against unreasonable government searches and seizures in connection with their reporting. Introduced in the U.S. Congress by Sen. Ron Wyden and Rep. Becca Balint on March 27 as S.4268 and H.R. 8093, the Privacy Protection…

Bola Ahmed TinubuPresident of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Sent via email Dear President Tinubu, We, the undersigned Nigerian and international press freedom organizations, write to express alarm over Vice President Kashim Shettima Mustapha’s recent remarks suggesting that no journalists have been harassed in Nigeria since you took office. This mischaracterization conveys a grave indifference…

Jakarta, April 1, 2026—Malaysian authorities in the northwestern state of Kedah should drop the trespass charge pending against journalist Kalidas Subramaniam and stop weaponizing criminal laws to silence legitimate journalism, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. Kalidas, a reporter with Tamil-language news site Thinathanti, was detained by Kulim district police about midday on March…

Washington, D.C., March 30, 2026—Israeli soldiers detained and assaulted a CNN crew on March 26 in the village of Tayasir in the northern West Bank, where the journalists had arrived to document settler violence and the establishment of a new illegal settler outpost.  Within minutes, Israeli soldiers pointed their rifles at the crew of media…

Kampala, March 30, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Ugandan authorities to immediately disclose whether they have detained journalist and activist Arnold Anthony Mukose and to ensure his safe return, following his forcible disappearance in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, on Sunday. “The brazen seizure of Arnold Anthony Mukose in broad daylight, outside a radio…

Sharmelí Bustíos Patiño was only 14 when her father, 38-year-old Peruvian journalist Hugo Bustíos Saavedra, was killed on November 24, 1988, while covering the war between the Peruvian army and Shining Path fighters in a violent ambush near the town of Huanta. After nearly four decades of fighting to find her father’s killer, Sharmelí found justice in 2023…