CPJ launches 2018 Free the Press postcard campaign

Five imprisoned journalists highlighted

New York, April 2, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today launched its annual Free The Press campaign to raise awareness of journalists imprisoned worldwide. This year, the campaign highlights five journalists jailed for their work. Supporters are encouraged to send physical or digital postcards so that the journalists know they are not forgotten and the governments jailing them know that the world is watching.

The 2018 #FreeThePress journalists are:

Blogger Alaa Abdelfattah, jailed in Egypt in 2014.

Zehra Doğan, from the all-women’s Jin News Agency (JİNHA), jailed in Turkey in 2017.

Internet reporter Azimjon Askarov, jailed in Kyrgyzstan in 2010.

Ghys Fortuné Dombé Bemba, editor of the privately-owned newspaper Talassa, imprisoned in the Republic of Congo in 2017.

Ding Lingjie, editor of the human rights news website Minsheng Guancha, imprisoned in China in 2017.

“These intrepid journalists come from different backgrounds and covered a variety of beats, but they were all jailed simply for doing their job,” said CPJ Advocacy Director Courtney Radsch. “CPJ demands that they be released immediately and that the governments holding them rescind the harsh laws that led to the journalists’ imprisonment.”

CPJ documented a record 262 journalists behind bars globally in its most recent prison census, the highest number since it started keeping records in the early 1990s.

Join #FreeThePress and stand up for press freedom. Click here to learn more about each of the journalists featured in this year’s campaign and ways you can take action. Send a digital postcard to a journalist in prison and learn more about hosting your own #FreeThePress postcard event.

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CPJ is an independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide.

Media contacts:

Bebe Santa-Wood

Communications Associate

[email protected]

212-300-9032