Editor’s note: This alert has been updated to include a response from Hong Kong’s Immigration Department. New York, August 25, 2025—Hong Kong authorities should ensure the right of journalists to work freely and renew the work visa of Bloomberg reporter Rebecca Choong Wilkins, who is among at least eight journalists whose work visas and entry into the city have been…
New York, August 25, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Israeli strikes that killed five journalists in Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza and calls for the international community to hold Israel accountable for its continued unlawful attacks on the press. Journalist Hussam Al-Masri, a Reuters contractor; Al Jazeera camera operator Mohammed Salama; Mariam Abu…
Editor’s note: Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu signed the Maldives Media & Broadcasting Bill into law on September 18, 2025. New Delhi, August 21, 2025—Maldives president Mohamed Muizzu should reject a bill that was recently introduced in the country’s parliament that would dismantle press freedom and place the media under government control, the second such bill…
New Delhi, August 20, 2025—Two police branches in northeastern Indian state of Assam opened separate criminal investigations into Siddharth Varadarajan, editor for independent news website The Wire, its entire editorial team, including Hindi language editor Ashutosh Bhardwaj and contributor Karan Thapar, and the outlet’s parent company, the Foundation for Independent Journalism (FIJ). The investigations are…
Nairobi, August 20, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply alarmed by the abduction of Ethiopian newspaper editor Yonas Amare, the arbitrary detention of journalist Khadar Mohamed Ismael, and the incommunicado detention of radio host Abdulsemed Mohammed. On August 13, masked men reportedly wearing military uniforms abducted Yonas, who works with the privately owned Reporter newspaper, from…
Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, August 20, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Kurdish authorities to immediately release freelance Iraqi Kurdish journalist Sherwan Sherwani after an Erbil court handed him an additional four years and five months in prison. “Sentencing Sherwani for a third time on dubious charges and imposing the maximum penalty shows the authorities’ determination to silence his critical voice and keep him behind…
New York, August 19, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in Guinea-Bissau to rescind an August 15 order effectively suspending the work of the Portuguese state-owned news outlets LUSA and RTP and expelling Portuguese journalists working with them. Authorities ordered the immediate and indefinite closure of the LUSA and RTP offices and the discontinuation of…
Nairobi, August 19, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Malagasy authorities to retract threats of criminal prosecution directed at Gaëlle Borgia, a freelancer who contributes to TV5 Monde, and Radio France Internationale (RFI) correspondent Pauline Le Troquier, and to ensure that the press can cover matters of public interest without interference. According to the…
Washington, D.C., August 19, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the August 16 arrest of Yemen News Agency journalist Hamoud Hazz’a after security forces raided his home in Al-Jufaina camp, Marib Governorate, confiscated his mobile phone and laptop, and took him to an undisclosed location without legal justification. Before his arrest, Hazz’a warned in an August 16 Facebook post that security personnel…
Editor’s note: In a deferred hearing on August 20, the court upheld Kazakh authorities’ accreditation denial and ban against seven RFE/RL journalists; the appeal of a further nine journalists remains under consideration. RFE/RL said it would appeal the verdict. New York, August 18, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists urges Kazakh authorities to reinstate accreditation for 16 journalists with U.S. government-funded…