Nearly 20,000 call to free Kyrgyz, Tibetan journalists
“I remain hopeful that I will one day see the sun once more–not through the barred window of my prison cell but as a free man.” -Azimjon Askarov Today, on International Human Rights Day, CPJ and close to 20,000 supporters are calling on the governments of China and Kyrgyzstan to release two journalists imprisoned for…
Photographer arrested during protests in Mexico
Mexico City, December 7, 2012–Mexican authorities must immediately release a freelance Romanian photojournalist who was detained on Saturday while covering a protest related to the presidential inauguration, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
News anchor shot dead in Russia’s North Caucasus
New York, December 6, 2012–Authorities should immediately investigate Wednesday’s murder of a journalist in Russia’s volatile North Caucasus and ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.Two unidentified men shot Kazbek Gekkiyev, 28, in the head three times while he was returning home from work with his friend at…
Kazakh court bans broadcaster, suspends news website
New York, December 6, 2012–A court in Kazakhstan has banned an independent news outlet on charges of extremism, a ruling that comes within weeks of the country’s election to the U.N. Human Rights Council, according to news reports. Dozens of other independent and opposition news outlets face similar charges that could result in their being…
Speak Justice campaign fights impunity in press murders
The tortured and decapitated body of 39-year-old María Elizabeth Macías Castro was found on a Saturday evening in September 2011. It had been dumped by the side of a road in Nuevo Laredo, a Mexican border town ravaged by the war on drugs. Macías, a freelance journalist, wrote about organized crime on social media under…
In Kazakhstan, news outlets face charges of extremism
New York, November 28, 2012–The politicized prosecution of dozens of independent news outlets in Kazakhstan is at odds with the country’s commitment to press freedom and deeply stains its recent election to the U.N. Human Rights Council, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. CPJ calls on Kazakh authorities to dismiss the case and allow…
To fight impunity, cycle of fear, silence must be broken
Three years ago, on November 23, 2009, 30 journalists and two media workers were brutally killed in the southern Philippine city of Maguindanao while travelling in a convoy with the family and supporters of a local politician. To this day, not a single suspect has been convicted, though local authorities have identified close to 200.…
Awardees say indignation trumps intimidation
The battle for a free press sometimes feels like a war between indignation and intimidation. Journalists learn of abuses of power, crime, or corruption, and–indignant–they speak out. In response, the perpetrators of those abuses–be they government officials or criminals–try to intimidate the journalists into silence with threats, lawsuits, jail, or even murder. Last night, the…
Turkey, jailer of journalists, hedges bets on democracy
More reporters are jailed in Turkey than in any other country in the world. According to CPJ’s recent survey, at least 61 are imprisoned directly for their work, representing the second biggest media crackdown in the 27 years we have been documenting such records. (Only Turkey itself has rivaled the extent of this crackdown, when…