In Focus

New York, May 9, 2025— After 18 months, Azerbaijan’s vast media crackdown shows no signs of abating, as police arrested two independent journalists, Ulviyya Ali and Ahmad Mammadli, on the night of May 6-7. The arrests bring the total number of journalists and media workers jailed in Azerbaijan since late 2023 to at least 25,…

New York, May 8, 2025—As the third anniversary of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh’s murder nears, a documentary offering new evidence about her killing highlights the failure of American and international authorities in investigating the case and securing justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. The documentary “Who Killed Shireen?”, produced by U.S.-based media…

New York, April 8, 2025 —Moldova’s unrecognized Moscow-backed breakaway state of Transnistria is considering legislation that could add to an increasingly hostile atmosphere for media there, the Committee to Protect Journalists said. Journalists in Moldova and its breakaway republic have faced a slew of challenges this year, including detentions, violence and online harassment as tensions…

Istanbul, April 2, 2025—In the weeks since the March 19 detention of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, a potential challenger to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the next presidential race, along with other members of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), civil unrest has erupted in western Turkey. The government, controlled by Erdoğan’s Justice and…

Kampala, Uganda, March 27, 2025—After two weeks of attacks by masked anti-terrorism agents, police, and soldiers on Ugandan journalists covering an upcoming by-election, voting day proved even worse — forcing three major media houses to pull their reporters from the day’s top story. “We have taken the difficult decision to temporarily withdraw our @Daily Monitor…

Lusaka, March 27, 2025—“I have learnt that free speech, free talk, is not free,” Zimbabwean journalist Blessed Mhlanga wrote in a letter from prison, which was made public on February 28, his fourth day behind bars. Mhlanga, who works with the privately owned broadcaster Heart and Soul TV, was arrested on February 24 and charged with…

Sulaymaniyah, March 14, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by multiple attacks on journalists reporting on Syria’s worst clashes since the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad, including bullets being fired at two news teams’ cars, with one journalist shot in the leg, and the assault and detention of a third crew.  “We are appalled by the…

New York, February 14, 2025— Six months after a mass uprising ousted the increasingly autocratic administration of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladeshi journalists continue to be threatened and attacked for their work, along with facing new fears that planned legislation could undermine press freedom. Bangladesh’s interim government — established amid high hopes of political…

Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, February 13, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by Kurdistan security forces’ assault on 12 news crews covering a February 9 protest by teachers and other public employees over unpaid salaries, which resulted in at least 22 journalists teargassed, two arrested, and a television station raided. “The aggressive treatment meted out to…

Berlin, February 11, 2025—After a year that saw Russia increase its pressure on independent media and journalists, authorities are seeking to tighten the squeeze on dissenting voices from March 1 by blocking those designated as “foreign agents’” from access to their earnings. The 2025 law requires those listed by the justice ministry as “persons under…