Asia

  
Police patrol Bangkok's main airport, December 23, 2016. (Athit Perawongmetha)

Journalists arrested at Bangkok airport for carrying safety equipment

Bangkok, May 30, 2017–Thai authorities should drop all charges against two journalists arrested at Bangkok’s main airport today for carrying protective gear and should amend laws to allow journalists to carry potentially lifesaving, protective equipment, the Committee to Protect Journalists said.

Read More ›

A security official looks through binoculars from the roof of the High Court in Islamabad, April 12, 2013 (Reuters/Milan Kursheed)

Pakistani security forces harass journalist, despite court order

New York, May 26, 2017–Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency should stop harassing Taha Siddiqui, Pakistan bureau chief for World Is One News, a New Delhi-based news website, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Officials from the FIA last night delivered a summons ordering the journalist to appear today for questioning at its counter-terrorism department, despite…

Read More ›

Protesters battle police in Kolkata, India, May 22, 2017. Dozens of journalists were injured as police forcibly cleared demonstrations. (AP/Bikas Das)

Police beat Indian journalists protesting assault

New Delhi, May 22, 2017–Police officials should identify and discipline the officers who assaulted dozens of journalists in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata today, the Committee to Protect Journalists said. Journalists at the scene said police assaulted dozens of reporters covering a protest, then forcibly cleared a demonstration the journalists staged to protest their…

Read More ›

Bangladeshi embassies told to monitor journalists traveling abroad

Washington, D.C., May 19, 2017–The Bangladeshi Foreign Ministry should immediately and publicly rescind its instructions to the country’s embassies to monitor journalists traveling abroad, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Read More ›

Journalists crowd around Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen in the province of Kandal, September 1, 2016, as he registers to vote in local elections scheduled for June 4, 2017. (Reuters/Samrang Pring)

Cambodian minister threatens to close media outlets that defy sweeping election rules

Bangkok, May 19, 2017–Cambodian authorities should allow media outlets to cover local elections freely and without fear of closure for running afoul of overly broad guidelines restricting election coverage, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Cambodian Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith last week threatened to shutter media outlets that disobey guidelines for covering the…

Read More ›

At least six killed in attack on Afghanistan television station

New York, May 17, 2017–The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemns today’s attack on a state television station in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. The four-hour attack on the Jalalabad office of National Radio Television of Afghanistan (RTA) killed at least six people and injured at least 18 others, according to media reports.

Read More ›

India's Supreme Court, shown here in a February 2, 2016, photo, yesterday ordered news media not to report any further statements from a judge. (AP/Tsering Topgyal)

India’s Supreme Court bans reporting judge’s statements

New Delhi, May 10, 2017–An Indian Supreme Court order banning news media from quoting a judge who accused other senior judges of corruption is a troubling blow to freedom of the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Read More ›

Attackers beat TV journalist at his home in India’s Andhra Pradesh state

New Delhi, May 8, 2017–Authorities in India must investigate and bring to justice those responsible for an attack on freelance journalist Rama Reddy, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Reddy, a TV reporter, was attacked in apparent retaliation for his reporting on illegal sand mining, according to a report in The New Indian Express.

Read More ›

Sina Weibo's booth is pictured at the Global Mobile Internet Conference in Beijing on April 28, 2017. China announced regulations govern websites, apps, microblogs, and, instant messaging. (REUTERS/Jason Lee)

China’s latest internet controls to stifle free expression

Washington, D.C., May 3, 2017–The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemns China’s move on Tuesday to impose yet more stringent controls on the media and free expression by requiring strict licensing requirements for virtually all forms of news distribution.

Read More ›

Garment workers protest for higher wages near Cambodia's National Assembly in Phnom Penh, May 1, 2017. As the government clamps down on opposition ahead of local elections scheduled for June, a Radio Free Asia journalist has fled the country upon learning of a court summons. (AP/Heng Sinith)

Radio Free Asia journalist flees Cambodia under legal threat

Bangkok, May 3, 2017–Cambodian authorities should immediately drop all charges against Radio Free Asia journalist Huot Vuthy, also known as Chun Chanboth, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Read More ›