Four Iranian journalists detained after newsroom raid, detention of 30 employees
Washington, D.C., February 13, 2024—Iranian authorities must immediately release four journalists from the FardayeEghtesad news site who have been detained since February 5, drop any charges against them, and answer for the raid on their outlet and mass detention of 30 staff, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. Around 2 p.m. on February 5,…
Al-Jazeera reporter, cameraman, critically injured by Israeli drone strike in Rafah
Beirut, February 13, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply alarmed by an Israeli drone strike in Gaza that seriously injured two Al-Jazeera journalists near the southern city of Rafah on Tuesday and calls for an independent investigation into whether the reporters were targeted. Al-Jazeera Arabic reporter Ismail Abu Omar and freelance camera operator and…
Iranian reporter Mehdi Afshar-Nik held incommunicado since January 31
Washington, D.C., February 6, 2024—Iranian authorities should immediately release investigative journalist Mehdi Afshar-Nik, whose whereabouts remain unknown since his arrest, and drop any charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. Around midnight on January 31, two plain-clothed agents of the Iranian security forces raided Afshar-Nik’s home, ransacked his apartment, confiscated his personal…
Iranian journalist Nasrin Hassani begins 7-month prison sentence
Washington, D.C., February 6, 2024—Iranian authorities must release journalist Nasrin Hassani from prison immediately and cease jailing members of the press for doing their jobs by reporting on events of public interest, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On Sunday, Hassani, a reporter for the state-run local newspaper Etefaghyeh, and editor-in-chief of the social…
CPJ alarmed by extended communications blackout in Sudan
New York, February 5, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by reports of an ongoing communications blackout across most of Sudan since Friday and urgently calls for an immediate restoration of telecoms and internet networks across the country, where a nearly 10-month conflict has displaced millions. Since February 2, mobile and internet services provided…
CPJ calls for an investigation into the targeting of journalists with Pegasus spyware in Jordan
Beirut, February 1, 2024 – The Committee to Protect Journalists is highly alarmed by the targeting of journalists with Pegasus spyware in Jordan and repeats its calls for an immediate moratorium on the sale, transfer, and use of such surveillance technologies, as well as a ban on spyware and its vendors that facilitate human rights…
Iranian journalist starts serving 6-month sentence; others face raids, legal threats
Washington, D.C., January 31, 2024—Iranian authorities must immediately release Iranian Kurdish journalist Arsalan Rasouli Amarlooi and end its campaign of harassment and legal threats against journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On January 24, security forces arrested Rasouli and took him to a prison work camp in the northern city of Kelardasht to…
Canadian-Palestinian journalist disappears in Gaza; reports allege eyewitnesses saw IDF arrest
Update: On Tuesday, February 6, Mansour Shouman posted a new video from southern Gaza, saying he had been on the run for two weeks to avoid Israeli tanks and sniper fire. Washington, D.C., January 30, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists expresses deep concerns over the reports that Canadian-Palestinian citizen journalist Mansour Shouman went missing on his way…
CPJ, partners, call on EU to help journalists in Israel-Gaza war
The Committee to Protect Journalists on Wednesday joined 17 other partner organizations in sending a letter to Josep Borrell, the High Representative for the European Union on Foreign and Security Policy, urging him to call for press freedom and journalists’ rights to be respected during the Israel-Gaza war. The unprecedented killing of so many journalists…
CPJ calls for immediate release of Sudanese journalist Haitham Dafallah and his brother
New York, January 22, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists is shocked by reports that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a Sudanese paramilitary group, arrested journalist Haitham Dafallah and his brother Omar Dafallah, and calls for their immediate release. On Friday, RSF soldiers arrested Dafallah, editor-in-chief of local independent news website al-Maidan, and his brother from their…