Asia

New York, January 28, 2025—Pakistan’s Senate on Tuesday passed controversial amendments to the country’s cybercrime laws, which would criminalize the “intentional” spread of “false news” with prison terms of up to three years, a fine of up to 2 million rupees (USD$7,100), or both.  The amendments to the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) were…

New York, January 22, 2025—Pakistani authorities must stop deporting and harassing Afghan journalists who have fled Afghanistan because of threats to their lives, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. During the first week of January 2025, Pakistani security forces detained two Afghan journalists and their families before deporting them to Afghanistan, according to a…

New York, January 17, 2025—A Taliban court in the capital Kabul on January 1 sentenced Afghan News Agency reporter Mahdi Ansary to 18 months in prison on charges of disseminating anti-Taliban propaganda. “Mahdi Ansary’s unjust sentence is indicative of the Taliban’s continued brutality and suppression of press freedom in Afghanistan,” said Beh Lih Yi, CPJ’s…

The Committee to Protect Journalists on Monday, January 13 joined 24 civil society organizations in urging recently elected Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to uphold press freedom. CPJ has documented a persistent pattern of impunity for murders and attacks against journalists in Sri Lanka, including dozens that occurred during and in the aftermath of the country’s 26-year civil war that ended in…

New York, January 10, 2025— Singapore Minister for Manpower Tan See Leng and Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam should withdraw threats of legal action against media outlets over their public interest reporting, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. “The threats of legal action by Singapore ministers against media outlets, as well as…

New Delhi, January 9, 2025—Indian authorities must ensure justice for murdered Indian journalist Mukesh Chandrakar, whose body was found in a septic tank on January 3, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. Mukesh Chandrakar, a freelance reporter, was last seen in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh on January 1. His brother reported him…

New York, January 9, 2025—Sri Lankan authorities must conduct a swift and impartial investigation into the December 26 assault and attempted kidnapping of Murukaiya Thamilselvan, a freelance journalist of Sri Lanka’s ethnic Tamil minority, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. “Sri Lankan authorities must take immediate steps to ensure the safety of journalist Murukaiya…

Haitian journalist Jean Marc Jean was covering an anti-government protest in Port-au-Prince in February 2024 when he was struck in the face by a gas canister fired by police into the crowd. One of at least five journalists injured while covering civil unrest in the country that month, Jean arrived at the hospital with a…

New Delhi, December 20, 2024—Indian journalist Anand Mangnale is the target of an online smear campaign that began on December 5 when Nishikant Dubey, a parliament member with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), linked Mangnale to an effort to “derail” the Indian government through foreign funding in Parliament. “Investigative journalism is crucial for uncovering…

New York, December 17, 2024—Pakistani authorities must stop harassing broadcast journalist Harmeet Singh, who has been summoned to appear for questioning on December 24 to the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Cyber Crime Reporting Center in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on allegations he engaged in “negative rhetoric against state institutions,” according to a copy of the summons…