Asia

  
On June 5, Pakistan’s Supreme Court (pictured) issued show-cause notices to 34 news channels, asking them to explain, within two weeks, why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against them for airing press conferences by two parliamentarians who criticized the judiciary. (REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro)

Pakistan province enacts harsh defamation law, Supreme Court presses legal action against 34 media outlets 

New York, June 11, 2024 – The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed alarm on Tuesday that Pakistan’s east Punjab province hastily enacted a defamation law that is likely to greatly restrict press freedom, and the country’s Supreme Court issued notices to 34 media outlets in connection with their programming. On Saturday, June 8, acting Punjab…

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Headshots of The Caravan journalists Prabhjit Singh (left) and Shahid Tantray.

Journalists with The Caravan face retaliatory police investigation in India

June 10, 2024, New Delhi—The Committee to Protect Journalists on Monday called on Delhi Police to drop its retaliatory investigation into three journalists from The Caravan magazine and instead prosecute those who assaulted them during the 2020 Delhi riots. Shahid Tantray, Prabhjit Singh, and an unnamed female colleague, who were attacked almost four years ago,…

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Taliban orders shutdown of broadcaster Tamadon TV

New York, June 7, 2024 — The Taliban must reverse its order to shut down private broadcaster Tamadon TV and end its ongoing, unprecedented suppression of Afghan media, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. On Thursday, the Taliban’s Ministry of Justice announced the closure of Tamadon TV, alleging that the broadcaster was affiliated with…

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Truong Huy San, a well-known political commentator and author, was apprehended by the police on June 1 in the capital Hanoi while traveling to an event where he was scheduled to speak, according to news reports. (Screenshot: YouTube/RFI)

Prominent journalist Truong Huy San not heard from since arrest

Bangkok, June 6, 2024—Vietnamese authorities must reveal the whereabouts of independent journalist Truong Huy San, release him, and drop any pending charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. San, a well-known political commentator and author also known by his pen names Huy Duc and Osin, was apprehended by the police on June…

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Pakistan remains politically volatile after a February election led to the formation of a coalition government. Pictured here on February 17, 2024, supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan's party chant slogans as they gather during a protest demanding free and fair results of the elections, outside the provincial election commission office in Karachi. (Photo: REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro)

Shooters attack three Pakistani journalists in two separate incidents

New York, June 4, 2024— Pakistan authorities must immediately investigate the attacks against journalists Haider Mastoi, Khan Muhammad Pitafi, and Chaudhry Ikhlaq, hold those responsible to account, and take steps to end the intensifying wave of violence against journalists in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On May 29, an unknown number of…

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On May 21, Awami Awaz newspaper reporter Nasrullah Gadani suffered critical gunshot wounds after an attack in Pakistan's Kori Goth area of the Ghotki district in Sindh province. Gadani died May 24 in a Karachi hospital, and he is the fourth journalist to be killed in the country this month. (Screenshot Awaz TV News/YouTube)

4 journalists killed in Pakistan, others attacked, in May

New York, May 29, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply alarmed by the continued killings of journalists in Pakistan, including four in May so far, and calls on Pakistan authorities to immediately investigate these incidents, hold those responsible to account, and end the wave of violence against journalists in the country. The killings represent…

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Indonesian President Joko Widodo

Proposed broadcast law amendments threaten press freedom in Indonesia

Bangkok, May 29, 2024—Proposed amendments to Indonesia’s broadcasting law represent a clear and present danger to press freedom and should be scrapped immediately to uphold and protect democracy, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. According to multiple press reports citing a leaked draft of the broadcast bill, electronic and television broadcasts of “exclusive investigative journalism” would be restricted…

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Journalist missing after being seized outside his Pakistan home

New York, May 23, 2024 — Pakistan authorities must immediately reveal the whereabouts of freelance Kashmiri journalist Syed Farhad Ali Shah, who was taken from his home at night by unidentified men over a week ago, and stop intimidating the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. At about 1 a.m. on May 15,…

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On May 21, four plainclothes police officers entered the KMG headquarters in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu and arrested Kailash Sirohiya for alleged citizenship irregularities. (Photo: Courtesy of The Kathmandu Post)

Chair of Nepal’s largest media group arrested after publication of reports alleging fraud

New York, May 23, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists on Thursday expressed alarm over the arrest of Kailash Sirohiya, chair of the Kantipur Media Group, and called on Nepali authorities not to harass or intimidate the leadership or staff of the country’s largest media group in retaliation for its reporting. On Tuesday, May 21, four…

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Central News Agency journalists Judy Tseng and Tien Hsi-ju were denied press accreditation to cover the World Health Assembly underway at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. (Photo: Reuters/Denis Balibouse)

UN asks Taiwanese journalists for Chinese passports to attend WHO assembly

Taipei, May 22, 2024 – The World Health Organization should allow all journalists to cover the organization’s annual decision-making meeting, the World Health Assembly, and issue press accreditation to Taiwanese media outlets, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On May 9 and 10, after submitting a request for press accreditation to cover the World…

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