Bangkok, October 31–A court in Hanoi sentenced Duong Van Thai, an independent Vietnamese blogger who went missing in Thailand and was later in Vietnamese custody in April 2023, to 12 years in prison and three years’ probation on Wednesday on charges of anti-state propaganda. “Vietnam’s harsh sentencing of blogger Duong Van Thai is grotesque and an outrage, particularly amid allegations he…
Hope for justice in journalist murders is dim across the world, but especially in Pakistan, which has appeared on CPJ’s Global Impunity Index every year since the list’s inception in 2008. This year, the South Asian country ranks twelfth out of the 13 worst offenders. CPJ’s impunity index lists countries where perpetrators who kill journalists…
New York, October 28, 2024—On October 13, the Taliban banned television operations and the filming and photographing of people in public spaces in northeast Takhar province according to a local journalist who spoke to the Committee to Protect Journalists under the condition of anonymity, fearing reprisal from the Taliban, and media reports. “The Taliban’s latest ban on…
New York, October 28, 2024—Sri Lankan police must cease harassing journalists Selvakumar Nilanthan and Tharindu Jayawardhana, following their reporting on alleged government misconduct, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. “With a new president, Sri Lanka has an opportunity to improve press freedom,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi. “Police should drop their…
Bangkok, October 23, 2024—Philippine authorities must launch a swift and thorough investigation into the killing of radio anchor Maria Vilma Rodriguez, who was shot three times on Tuesday evening in a store near her home, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. “The killing of radio reporter Maria Vilma Rodriguez shows that the murderers of journalists…
Bangkok, October 22, 2024 – Myanmar’s Kachin Independence Army (KIA) must account for and release Red News Agency reporter Ta Lin Maung and freelancer Naung Yoe who were arrested by the rebel group’s forces on September 29 and 30 respectively, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. “All combatants in Myanmar’s civil war have a…
New York, October 10, 2024—Pakistani authorities ordered a raid of the home and a 30-day detention of journalist Ihsan Naseem on Sunday, October 6, in Battagram district in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, on accusations of endangering public safety and encouraging members of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) to protest. “The detention of journalist Ihsan Naseem…
New Delhi, October 8, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of Kashmiri journalist Sajad Gul on bail — after more than two years of arbitrary detention on multiple charges — and calls on authorities in the Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir to immediately end all prosecution against him. “The release of Kashmiri journalist Sajad Gul on bail…
New York, October 8, 2024—Taliban authorities should immediately and unconditionally release journalists Hekmat Aryan and Mahdi Ansary, who were detained by General Directorate of Intelligence agents in Afghanistan’s southern Ghazni province and the capital Kabul, respectively, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. “Taliban intelligence must release journalists Mahdi Ansary and Hekmat Aryan immediately and…
Bangkok, October 1, 2024—Cambodian authorities must release and drop criminal incitement charges against investigative journalist Mech Dara, who was arrested Monday by military police at an expressway toll booth near the coastal city of Sihanoukville, the Committee to Protect Journalists said. “Journalist Mech Dara’s arrest and detention shows just how far Cambodia’s government is willing to go to…