New York, August 26, 2025—Taliban authorities must immediately release Afghan journalist Shikib Ahmad Nazari, who has been detained by Taliban since July after a raid at his office in the latest crackdown on journalists reporting for overseas media, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. Nazari, who reports for Japan’s Nippon TV News among others, was detained on July…
New York, August 26, 2025—A Belarusian court convicted freelance journalist Aleh Supruniuk on charges of participating in an “extremist” group” and sentenced him to three years imprisonment on August 8. His sentencing was made public August 25 by the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), an advocacy and trade group operating from exile. “The sentencing of journalist Aleh Supruniuk to three years in…
Bangkok, August 26, 2025—Security personnel, police officers, and community members attacked a group of eight journalists covering an environmental inspection at the PT Genesis Regeneration Smelting facility in Serang, a city west of the capital Jakarta, on August 21. At least one journalist sustained injuries that required medical attention. “Indonesian authorities must identify, arrest, and…
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…