CPJ condemns new prison sentence for Algerian journalist Mustapha Bendjama
New York, November 8, 2023 – The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the additional six-month prison sentence issued to Algerian journalist Mustapha Bendjama on Tuesday, November 7. “Imposing a new prison sentence on journalist Mustapha Bendjama just when he was due to be released shows how determined the Algerian government is to keep independent journalists…
Iranian journalist Negar Ostad Agha detained reporting on girl’s funeral
Washington, D.C., November 6, 2023—Iranian authorities must immediately release female journalist Negar Ostad Agha and cease jailing members of the press for reporting the news, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On October 29, Ostad Agha, a journalist and senior editor at Etemad Online, was arrested in a cemetery in Iran’s capital, Tehran, while…
CPJ condemns strike on AFP bureau in Gaza
New York, November 3, 2023— The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the November 2 strike on a building housing the Gaza City bureau of international news agency Agence France-Presse and calls on authorities to release any available information about the attack. “Journalists and media offices must be respected and protected,” said CPJ President Jodie Ginsberg….
Syrian journalist missing after arrest on Iraqi Kurdistan border
Beirut, November 1, 2023—Iraqi Kurdish authorities should immediately reveal the whereabouts of Syrian journalist Sleman Mohammed Ahmed, unconditionally release him, and stop harassing journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On October 25, Ahmed—an Arabic editor for the local news website RojNews—was arrested by Iraqi Kurdish authorities at the northern Faysh Khabur border and…
Egypt bans Mada Masr website for 6 months over report on Israel-Gaza war
New York, October 31, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Egypt’s Supreme Council for Media Regulation (SCMR) to revoke its six-month ban on the independent news website Mada Masr over its reporting on the Israel-Gaza war and to reverse its decision to refer the outlet for prosecution. On Sunday, the SCMR announced that, after…
Haiti joins list of countries where killers of journalists most likely to go unpunished
By Arlene Getz/CPJ Editorial Director The persistent lack of justice for murdered reporters is a major threat to press freedom. Ten years after the United Nations declared an international day to end impunity for crimes against journalists – and more than 30 years after CPJ began documenting these killings – almost 80% of their killings…
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)
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…
CPJ statement on news blackout in Gaza
Update: News reports late Saturday, October 28, indicated the blackout was easing, but communications have yet to be fully restored. New York, October 27, 2023 – The Israel-Gaza war has entered a new stage with intensified bombing and ground operations by Israeli forces. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is highly alarmed by widespread reports of…
Iranian journalists Niloofar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi sentenced
Washington, D.C., October 22, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the decision to sentence journalists Niloofar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi to 13 and 12 years in jail respectively, and reiterates its call for their immediate release. Hamedi, a reporter with the state-run Shargh Daily, and Mohammadi, head of the social issues desk at the reformist…