CPJ Reports

  

Guinea Bissau president swears at journalist as media freedom declines

New York, August 29, 2024—Amid political tension in Guinea-Bissau following President Umaro Sissoco Embaló’s dissolution of parliament in December, it was only natural for radio journalist Ussumane Mané to ask the West African leader a question that was on everyone’s lips: will there be a presidential election this year? Embaló, a former army general who…

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Zambian journalist Thomas Allan Zgambo faces prison over his reporting despite President Hakainde Hichilema, pictured here on August 16, 2021, vowing that 'the media will be freed' when he took office in 2021. (Photo: AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

Yet again, Zambian journalist Thomas Allan Zgambo faces prison over reporting

Lusaka, August 21, 2024—Zambian journalist Thomas Allan Zgambo is facing up to seven years in prison for his reporting on corruption and poor governance in the southern African nation. It is at least the third time that Zgambo has risked imprisonment for his online journalism, a growing threat for journalists in many African countries. On August 6, Zgambo…

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Samuel Bondjock

In Cameroon, long-running defamation case highlights vexatious suits against journalists

Dakar, August 20, 2024—Cameroonian journalist Samuel Bondjock has had to appear in court more than 30 times in almost 30 months to face criminal defamation charges that could put him in jail — even though the country’s media regulator dismissed the complaint against him in 2022. His next appearance in the capital Yaounde is scheduled…

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Selina Cheng, a former reporter at the Wall Street Journal speaks to media in Hong Kong on Wednesday, July 17, 2024.

CPJ calls for support for Hong Kong journalists amid growing pressure, trial delays 

New York, August 12, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Hong Kong authorities and news organizations to protect the rights of journalists to report freely and defend their profession at a time the media are facing growing pressure in the city. “There is no journalism without press freedom,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Beh…

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Anti-quota protesters clash with police and supporters of the ruling Awami League supporters in the Rampura area of Dhaka, Bangladesh, on July 18, 2024. At least three journalists have been killed covering the protests. (Reuters/Mohammad Ponir Hossain)

Bangladeshi journalists killed in quota protests as reporters attacked, internet blocked

Update: Since publication of this report, CPJ has learned that Md. Shakil Hossen was killed while attending a Dhaka student rally in his personal capacity, not reporting on a Gazipur protest as initial reports indicated. New York, July 26, 2024– The Committee to Protect Journalists has called on Bangladesh authorities to investigate the killings of…

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Russia seeks to arrest, prosecute, fine, and restrict 13 exiled journalists

Berlin, July 25, 2024—Russian authorities have targeted more than a dozen exiled journalists over the last month as part of their escalating campaign of transnational repression of independent voices. Authorities sought the arrest of one exiled journalist and added two to their wanted list of suspects sought on criminal charges. More than 95,000 people are…

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Toplum TV founder Alasgar Mammadli (second from right), enters Baku's Khatai District Court for a hearing on July 3, 2024. Mammadli is one of 11 Azerbaijani journalists held in pretrial detention on charges of currency smuggling. (Photo: Farid Ismayilov)

Azerbaijan extends pretrial detentions of journalists facing currency smuggling charges

Stockholm, July 11, 2024 – Azerbaijani authorities have extended the pretrial detentions of 11 journalists in recent weeks as part of an ongoing crackdown on the country’s few remaining independent media outlets. The journalists are among 13 media workers from four independent outlets charged since November with currency smuggling related to alleged receipt of Western…

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