Malaysian journalist charged over coronavirus Facebook posts
Bangkok, February 6, 2020 — Malaysian authorities should immediately drop all charges against journalist Wan Noor Hayati Wan Alias and allow reporters to freely cover and comment on the coronavirus outbreak, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Pakistan broadcast regulator proposes sweeping control of internet news programs
Munizae Jahangir knew she’d be prevented from putting Mohsin Dawar on her nightly “Spotlight” talk show on Aaj TV, an Urdu-language Pakistani station. Dawar, an elected member of the national assembly, is a leading figure of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), which aims to boost the rights of the Pashtun people clustered in Pakistan’s western…
Journalists covering elections in Dhaka, Bangladesh attacked, harassed
New York, February 4, 2020—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by reports that several journalists were attacked, threatened, or had equipment taken while covering elections in Dhaka, Bangladesh’s capital, on February 1.
Kashmiri journalists, news outlets still offline after India partially restores internet
New York, January 28, 2020—Internet access was partially restored in most of Jammu and Kashmir on January 25, but service remained slow and social media platforms and many local news websites remain blocked, The New York Times and other outlets reported. In a statement circulated to CPJ and news outlets, the Kashmir Press Club said…
Cambodia upholds espionage investigations into ex-Radio Free Asia reporters
Bangkok, January 28, 2020–A Cambodian appeals court today rejected a request made by two former Radio Free Asia reporters for state prosecutors to drop a reinvestigation of espionage charges pending against them, according to a report by their former employer.
Journalists beaten, detained while covering protests in cities across India
Beginning in December 2019, hundreds of thousands of people across India protested against new laws that they allege discriminate against Muslims in the country, according to news reports. Demonstrators and police attacked journalists covering the protests, and authorities detained reporters covering them, according to news reports and journalists who spoke to CPJ.
Lawyer Mishi Choudhury on what India shutdowns ruling means for journalists
On January 14, the Jammu and Kashmir administration partially restored mobile internet in a handful of districts, according to news reports. The administration, which is directly controlled by the Indian government, had imposed a complete communication ban in the restive region after withdrawing its special status under the Indian constitution in August 2019, as CPJ…
India should restore internet in Kashmir as court orders shutdown review
New York, January 10, 2020–The Indian Supreme Court ordered a review of the legal process used to implement the ongoing shutdown in Indian-controlled Kashmir today. The ruling affirmed that freedom of speech “using the medium of internet is constitutionally protected.”
‘I feel like a weight has been lifted’ freelance journalist Santosh Yadav says as Chhattisgarh court ends four-year legal nightmare
On January 2, freelance journalist Santosh Yadav got his life back when the National Investigation Agency court in Jagdalpur acquitted him of charges of helping Maoists militants. The ruling marked the end of a legal nightmare that lasted over four years for Yadav, who says that he was threatened and beaten in custody, before being…