Asia

New York, February 6, 2024—Pakistani authorities must allow journalists to work freely and safely in the run-up to elections on February 8, allow nationwide access to the internet, and unblock the investigative news website FactFocus, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. Internet services will be temporarily restricted in “sensitive” polling booths across Pakistan’s southwestern…

Taipei, February 5, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a Chinese court’s decision to hand Australian blogger and writer Yang Hengjun a suspended death sentence, and urges the Chinese authorities to free him immediately and unconditionally. “The suspended death sentence for Yang is completely unacceptable, revealing the arbitrary nature of the Chinese legal system,” said…

Taipei, February 1, 2024— A Hong Kong court found journalists Wong Ka-ho and Ma Kai-chung guilty of unlawfully entering the legislative council on July 1, 2019, during a protest where demonstrators stormed the parliament in opposition to an extradition bill that would have allowed authorities to send Hong Kong citizens to mainland China for trial,…

On Sunday, January 7, 2024, at least 18 journalists were assaulted or harassed while covering alleged election irregularities and violence as Bangladeshis headed to the polls, according to multiple news reports and reporters who spoke to CPJ.  Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of the ruling Awami League party returned to power for her fifth term amid…

“I don’t know how long it will take, but I will get justice for my Prageeth,” Sandya Ekneligoda, wife of abducted Sri Lankan journalist and government critic Prageeth Ekneligoda, told CPJ via video call. It has been 14 years since Prageeth’s disappearance. Prageeth, a then 50-year-old cartoonist and columnist for the news website Lanka e…

New York, January 22, 2024—Taliban authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Afghan journalist Ehsan Akbari and stop harassing and detaining members of the press for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On January 17, the Taliban’s Government Media Information Center (GMIC) summoned Akbari, the assistant bureau chief of Japanese media outlet Kyodo…

New York, January 19, 2024— Pakistan authorities must immediately investigate the attack against Suno News journalist Shoaib Burni, and hold the perpetrators accountable, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. On January 14, an unknown number of unidentified gunmen on a motorbike shot Burni, who is the TV station’s bureau chief in Karachi, in the…

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) joined 58 organizations on Friday in calling on Sri Lankan Minister for Public Security Tiran Alles to withdraw the proposed Online Safety Bill and conduct sustained multi-stakeholder consultations, including with civil society and human rights experts. The latest version of the bill empowers a five-member commission appointed by the…

Taipei, January 12, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the 15-year prison sentence issued to Chinese journalist Shangguan Yunkai and calls on the authorities to release him immediately. A district court in the central city of Ezhou handed down the sentence on January 5 after Shangguan was convicted for selling fake medicine, picking quarrels and…

Bangkok, January 5, 2023—Vietnamese authorities should immediately release journalist Le Huu Minh Tuan from jail on humanitarian grounds, amid reports that his health has deteriorated, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. Tuan, who is serving an 11-year sentence for “opposing the state” under Article 117 of the criminal code, told his family during a…