Blogger in Singapore faces financial ruin following defamation suit
“If we want our freedom, we have to fight for it,” wrote blogger Roy Ngerng last year after he was sued for defamation by Singapore’s prime minister. The case was sparked by a blog post in which Ngerng allegedly suggested Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had misappropriated funds in a state pension system. In November,…
In India, second journalist killed, burned in two weeks
New York, June 22, 2015–The burned body of a journalist was found in the Indian state of Maharashtra on Saturday, the day after he had been kidnapped, according to news reports. The murder of Sandeep Kothari is the second such one of a journalist in India in less than two weeks.
Thai junta bans FCCT event on lese majeste law
New York, June 16, 2015–Thailand’s ruling military junta has banned an event on Wednesday by the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand to discuss the country’s draconian lѐse majesté law, news reports said. This is the second ban this month of an FCCT event that was scheduled to discuss the country’s declining human rights situation.
Dieu Cay on solitary confinement, hunger strikes, and his fight for press freedom
EDITOR’S NOTE: Held in solitary confinement and stripped of his human rights, Vietnamese blogger Nguyen Van Hai suffered greatly during his six and a half years in prison. The 63-year-old outspoken critic of the repressive Vietnamese government was granted early release from a 12-year sentence last year, thanks in part to campaigning by CPJ. Hai,…
Indian journalist beaten and dragged behind motorbike
New York, June 15, 2015–An Indian journalist was beaten by a group of men and dragged behind a motorcycle in Uttar Pradesh state on June 13, in apparent reprisal for his critical reporting, according to reports. The attack comes days after freelance journalist Jagendra Singh was killed in the same state in a case that…
Pajhwok Afghan News agency targeted in bomb blast
New York, June 11, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists is greatly concerned by a bomb attack on the Pajhwok Afghan News agency’s Jalalabad office in Nangahar province on Wednesday night. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, according to media reports.
CPJ calls for investigation into journalist’s burning death; police accused
New York, June 10, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for an independent investigation into the death of Jagendra Singh, an Indian freelance journalist who died from burn injuries in a hospital in Lucknow on Monday, the Press Trust of India reported. Before he died, Singh alleged that police set him on fire, according to…
Jailed Vietnamese blogger Ta Phong Tan on hunger strike over mistreatment
Incarcerated blogger Ta Phong Tan has been on hunger strike since May 13 to protest the mistreatment of political prisoners at the prison where she is being held in Vietnam’s central Thanh Hoa province, according to news reports. It is believed to be the third time Tan has fasted in protest at poor prison conditions…
In Indonesia, promising steps on Papua access but more work needed
Last month Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo, known as Jokowi, announced his intention to allow international journalists access to restive regions including Papua and West Papua–an issue the Committee to Protect Journalists has long advocated for.