CPJ joins call for Syria to drop charges against press freedom activists
The Committee to Protect Journalists has joined 16 other human rights and press freedom organisations calling on Syrian authorities to drop charges against Mazen Darwish, the founder of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, who was released from prison on August 10.
CPJ joins call for Bahrain to free blogger on hunger strike
The Committee to Protect Journalists, along with 40 human rights and press freedom groups, is calling on Bahrain to release Abduljalil Alsingace. The imprisoned blogger began waging a partial hunger strike on March 21, 2015 in protest at the maltreatment of prisoners after a riot in Jaw prison earlier that month, according to a campaign…
Silence in Burundi as violence forces independent press into exile
On June 24, a grenade was thrown through the window of Voice of America correspondent Diane Nininahazwe’s home. It was one of three cases CPJ has documented in recent months where grenades were thrown into the homes of journalists in Burundi’s capital, Bujumbura. Fortunately, there have been no fatalities, but there have also been no…
Criminal defamation thwarts critical reporting in Ayacucho
When Wilfredo Oscorima, the governor of the southern Peruvian state of Ayacucho, was sentenced in June to five years in prison for official misconduct, independent daily La Calle viewed the ruling as vindication for its vigorous investigations into his administration.
In Hong Kong, Kevin Lau’s resiliency reflected in new independent media
A Hong Kong court on Friday sentenced two men to 19 years in prison for the attack on journalist Kevin Lau Chun-to. The brutal knifing, of which the mastermind has still not been identified, came at a time when Beijing is increasingly bearing down on the island, and was seen by many as an attack…
Hasina government must do more to protect Bangladesh’s bloggers
Asif Mohiuddin’s stab wounds are still visible two years on. In January 2013, the outspoken Bangladeshi blogger narrowly escaped death after he was attacked near his office by knife-wielding assailants. His attackers stabbed him nine times on his neck, head, and back, narrowly missing his spine.
The murder of Mexican photographer Espinosa has touched a nerve
The July 31 murder of Mexican photographer Rubén Espinosa hit the press freedom community really hard. Espinosa, who was found in an apartment with four female victims–all of them shot in the head–had fled the state of Veracruz in June and sought refuge in Mexico City, where he thought he would be safe from threats…
Audio: James Foley on being a freelance war correspondent
In April 2012, Nicole Schilit, research associate in CPJ’s Journalist Assistance program, interviewed James Foley about his experience working as a freelance journalist in conflict zones. The interview took place in New York between reporting trips to Libya and Syria. Foley was murdered in Syria in August 2014.
A year after James Foley and Steven Sotloff murders, more awareness of risks
Journalists who regularly cover violence are considered a hard-boiled bunch. But a year ago this month, even the toughest were crying. There was no emotional body armor to deflect the horror of the beheading videos of freelancers James Foley, Steven Sotloff, and other Westerners held hostage in Syria by the self-styled Islamic State, also known…
Yemeni journalists: ‘Our mouths are gagged’
In March 2014, Sana’a University media student Hisham al-Yousifi stood next to Dar al-Hajar, a royal palace built on the precipice of a rock formation just outside the capital, and announced to the video camera, “Here, there are a lot of tourists!” But there were no tourists, just his friends barely failing to hold back…