Asia

May 27, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists joined Reporters Without Borders and two other partner organizations in a joint advocacy statement calling on Vietnam to release journalist Pham Doan Trang. Trang, who is serving a nine-year sentence on anti-state charges, received CPJ’s 2022 International Press Freedom Award for her courage in the face of persecution. Tuesday’s statement…

New York, May 22, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply alarmed by multiple reports of “unreasonable” tax audits targeting at least six Hong Kong independent media outlets and around 20 journalists and their families, and calls on the Hong Kong government to end its weaponization of financial and tax measures against the press. The Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP),…

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined CamboJA and other partner organizations in a joint advocacy statement on May 22 urging Cambodia to free Ouk Mao, also known as Uk Mao, an environmental reporter with the local Intriplus News website. Plainclothes officers arrested Mao without a warrant on May 16. He is being held in pre-trial detention…

Bangkok, May 19, 2025—Cambodian authorities must immediately release Ouk Mao, an environmental reporter with the local Intriplus News, and drop any pending charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. Plainclothes officers, who did not produce an arrest warrant, handcuffed Mao on Friday at his home in northeastern Stung Treng province and took…

New York, May 16, 2025—Pakistani authorities must immediately restore access to exiled investigative journalist Ahmad Noorani’s YouTube channel in Pakistan and stop law enforcement agencies harassing him and his family, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. “Blocking journalist Ahmad Noorani’s YouTube channel and filing a criminal case against him is indicative of Pakistan’s relentless…

New York, May 14, 2025—CPJ and 58 other press freedom and human rights groups condemned the Chinese government’s ongoing arbitrary detention of independent journalist Zhang Zhan and called for her immediate release on the fifth anniversary of her arrest. Zhang was first detained on May 14, 2020, while reporting on the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, China. Zhang completed a four-year prison sentence for…

New York, May 12, 2025—Taliban authorities in southeastern Ghazni Province must immediately and unconditionally release journalist Sulaiman Rahil, who was detained on May 5 by intelligence agents, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. “Sulaiman Rahil is the latest of many Afghan journalists to be swept up by the notorious General Directorate of Intelligence without…

New Delhi, May 9, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the nationwide block on access to The Wire independent news site as the latest act of media censorship following a militant attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir last month.     “Facts must not be the casualty in any conflict,” said Beh Lih Yi, CPJ’s Asia program…

New Delhi, May 6, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply alarmed by a series of incidents in India involving the silencing, assault, and legal harassment of journalists and political commentators following the April 22 deadly attack in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir that left 26 tourists dead. “CPJ urges Indian authorities to ensure that responses…

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined PEN America and other partner organizations in a joint letter Tuesday urging U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to pressure Vietnam to release all imprisoned journalists in the country, including 2022 International Press Freedom Award winner Pham Doan Trang.   The joint action specifically requests Rubio to call on Vietnam…