Asia

Washington D.C., May 10, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Pakistani authorities to withdraw all charges against journalist Shabbir Siham, who is appealing a sentence of 22 years in prison and a 500,000 rupee (US$4,300) fine by an anti-terrorism court in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region.

Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo have spent nearly five months in detention in Myanmar, on charges of violating a colonial-era Official Secrets Act. At the time of their arrest in Yangon on December 12, the reporters were investigating a mass killing of Rohingya men by Buddhist villagers and Myanmar troops that took…

Taipei, May 9, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Chinese authorities to immediately release Guo Yuzhen, a dairy farmer in Shanxi province whom police detained after she wrote an article alleging that one of the country’s largest dairy producers exploited farmers.

New Delhi, May 2, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomed a Mumbai court’s convictions today of nine people, including the mastermind of the murder of investigative journalist Jyotirmoy Dey nearly seven years ago. A court that hears organized crime cases found crime boss Rajendra Sadashiv Nikhalje, alias Chhota Rajan, guilty of ordering Dey’s murder because…

Bangkok, May 2, 2018–A Filipino journalist died today of injuries sustained in a shooting attack on April 30 in Dumaguete City in the island nation’s central region, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the shooting and called on authorities to identify those responsible and swiftly bring them to justice.

News editor Somyot Prueksakasemsuk was released from Bangkok Remand Prison in the Thai capital on April 30, 2018 after serving a sentence for lèse majesté, according to news reports. Reports said that Somyot was greeted by a small group of family and supporters and appeared to be in good spirits.

New York, April 30, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned multiple attacks in Afghanistan that killed at least 10 journalists in one of the deadliest days CPJ has recorded for the country’s press.

Bangkok, April 30, 2018–In a verdict with grave implications for press freedom, a Malaysian court today handed down the nation’s first conviction under its recently enacted “fake news” law, according to press reports.

Washington, D.C., April 30, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemned today’s double suicide bombing attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, in which at least 25 people were killed, including at least eight journalists, according to media reports. The second blast, about 30 minutes after the first, appeared targeted at journalists who arrived to cover the first…

New Delhi, April 26, 2018–Indian authorities must immediately conduct a swift and thorough investigation into threats against the investigative freelance journalist Rana Ayyub, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Ayyub began receiving an onslaught of anonymous, graphic threats via social media after a parody Twitter account on April 22 falsely stated that Ayyub was…