Features & Analysis

  

CPJ dismayed after Romanian authorities close investigation into harassment and smear campaign against journalist Emilia Șercan

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined nine other press freedom groups on Tuesday in expressing disappointment after Romania’s prosecutor’s office at the Bucharest Court of Appeal decided to close the investigation into the harassment and smear campaign against investigative journalist Emilia Șercan. Since January 2022, Șercan has received threatening emails and social media messages, and several…

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In Haiti, murders of journalists go unpunished amid instability and gang violence

Dumesky Kersaint never flinched when it came to investigating violence in his gang-controlled suburb of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince. On the morning of April 16, the 31-year-old radio reporter left before dawn to cover a previous night’s shooting near his home in Carrefour-Feuilles. He never came back.  Several hours after setting out, Kersaint’s body was found…

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This photo of Hugo Bustíos Saavedra was taken minutes before he was killed. Daniel Urresti Elera has been on trial for his alleged role in the murder. (Caretas)

Timeline: The 35-year road to justice for murdered journalist Hugo Bustíos Saavedra

When Hugo Bustíos Saavedra was killed in 1988, Peru’s government was embroiled in conflict with leftist guerilla groups, many civil liberties had been suspended, and efforts to seek justice in the journalist’s death seemed futile. CPJ and other press freedom groups unsuccessfully tried for years to pressure Peru’s government to investigate Bustíos’ murder, including by asking…

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Faces of impunity across the world

CPJ’s 2023 Global Impunity Index lists the top 12 countries where the murderers of journalists go free. But impunity knows no borders. The mosaic below shows the faces of slain journalists around the world. Beneath each journalist’s photo is the location of their death. Click the images for more details about these unsolved cases. (Photo grid by Geoff McGhee)

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Press freedom activists hold a candlelight vigil in front of the Saudi Arabian embassy in Washington, D.C. to mark the first anniversary of the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. (Reuters/Sarah Silbiger)

Mahoney: Biden’s Saudi policy stymies quest for Khashoggi justice

From pariah to potential partner. That’s how far Saudi Arabia has come for President Joe Biden in the five years since Riyadh sent a death squad to butcher journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The administration’s ongoing rehabilitation of the petrodollar kingdom and its de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, widely known as MBS, seems to…

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Mercenary leader’s death sparks hope for new leads in 3 Russian journalist murders

The August 2023 death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the Russian mercenary Wagner Group, made headlines around the world amid speculation that President Vladimir Putin was behind it. But to press freedom observers, the death was notable for another reason: It may have signaled a new era in long-stalled efforts for justice for three Russian…

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CPJ joins call for Turkey to ensure safety of threatened journalist Alican Uludağ

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined five press freedom groups on Friday in a joint statement calling on the authorities in Turkey to ensure that journalist Alican Uludağ is safe, as he has been receiving online threats since he was publicly targeted by two politicians from the government-allied Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) because of his…

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Tipping the scales: Journalists’ lawyers face retaliation around the globe

The smears began the day Christian Ulate began representing jailed Guatemalan journalist José Rubén Zamora: tweets accusing the lawyer of being a leftist or questioning his legal credentials. He began to fear he was being surveilled.  Ulate had taken over the case in August 2022 from two other lawyers, Romeo Montoya García and Mario Castañeda,…

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CPJ, partners call on Latvia to reconsider proposed ban of Russian-language content on public service media

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined six other press freedom groups on Friday in calling on Latvia’s government to reconsider their proposal to ban the broadcast of Russian language content on Latvian public service media, and to launch an open debate in the interests of safeguarding media freedom. The groups say they are “extremely concerned”…

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CPJ joins mission, press conference calling for decisive action to protect journalists in Greece

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined seven other international press freedom organizations on Wednesday to call on Greek authorities to make a clear demonstration of political commitment to improve press freedom in the country and take specific measures in compliance with European standards to renew the trust of the media community. The groups’ press conference…

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