Case
2018
Prominent Syrian writer Yousph arrested in northeastern Syria, held for five days
Syrian writer Souleman Yousph, a contributor to several media outlets, including the Assyrian news website Ankawa, the independent Arabic news website Elaph, and the political and cultural online secular magazine Ahewar, was arrested and detained without charge on September 30, 2018, and held for five days. An eyewitness to the arrest who asked to remain…
Three journalists detained in Greece after minister files complaint
Athens police on September 22, 2018 detained three journalists from the daily newspaper Fileleftheros, for one day after Greece’s Defense Minister Panos Kammenos accused the paper of defaming him in an article that alleged mishandling of EU funds for migrant and refugee centers, the daily newspaper Ekathimerini reported.
Malian radio station suspended for 11 days for alleged incitement to revolt
Bamako’s governor, Colonel Déberekoua Soara, indefinitely suspended Renouveau FM, a privately owned radio station in Bamako, Mali’s capital, on August 1, 2018. The station was accused by Soara of alleged incitement to hatred and revolt on a popular current affairs show, the broadcaster’s director, Sidi Mohamed Dicko, told CPJ. The station was back on the…
Bulgarian police detain two investigative reporters
Bulgarian police on September 13, 2018 detained Attila Biro, editor of the Romanian investigative site Rise Project, and Dimitar Stoyanov, from Bivol, a Bulgarian investigative news website, according to reports. The investigative journalists were detained near Radomir, a town about 35 km west of the capital, Sofia, Bivol reported.
Iraqi authorities shut down internet, detain and assault journalists amid protests
Between July 14 and September 6, 2018, at least seven Iraqi journalists were assaulted or detained while covering protests over government corruption and the lack of basic services in several cities across Iraq, and the offices of two local media outlets were set on fire, according to news reports, the journalists’ employers, the local press…
In Burundi, three journalists attacked and prevented from covering protest
Police on August 27 allegedly attacked three journalists with the privately owned station Radio Culture and prevented them from reporting on a land dispute in Ngagara, a neighborhood in the capital, Bujumbura, according to two of the journalists and a Facebook post by SOS Médias Burundi, a collective of independent journalists that reports on the…
Nigeria’s Fresh FM radio station partially demolished following critical reporting
Fresh FM, a privately owned radio station based in Ibadan city, in Nigeria’s southwestern Oyo state, was partially demolished by bulldozer during the early hours of August 19, 2018, upon the order of the Oyo state government, Samson Akindele, head of news for Fresh FM, and David Ajiboye, station manager for Fresh FM, told CPJ.…
Ugandan police arrest and detain radio presenter overnight
Ugandan police on August 17, 2018 detained Samuel Kyambadde, a political show host and news presenter with the privately owned Metro FM, on allegations that he incited violence during his program, Kyambadde told CPJ on August 22. The journalist was released on bond the following day and is required to report daily to the Old…
In Mauritania, 2 journalists jailed for a week on criminal defamation complaint
The editor-chief and the publisher, respectively, of two independent Mauritanian news websites were arrested on August 8, 2018, and held for a week on criminal defamation charges, according to news reports. They were released on bail August 15, according to the reports.
Two Congolese journalists arrested for investigating land dispute
Two journalists, Yolande Kusaya and Cédrick Kidimbu, with the privately owned Radio Lisanga Télévision (RLTV) were arrested in Nsele municipality of Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on July 17, 2018, and detained for four days at the prosecutor’s office in Kinkole, a suburb northeast of the city, according to the…