Singapore High Court rules that The Online Citizen bloggers defamed prime minister
Bangkok, September 3, 2021 – The Committee to Protect Journalists today expressed alarm at the Singapore High Court’s ruling awarding Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong more than US$156,500 in damages in defamation suits against bloggers Terry Xu and Rubaashini Shunmuganathan. The High Court on September 1 ruled that Xu, chief editor of The Online Citizen news blog,…
Ecuadorian journalist Virginia Suárez receives death threats
Bogotá, September 2, 2021 – Ecuadorian authorities must investigate death threats made against journalist Virginia Suárez and hold the perpetrators to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Suárez, who covers politics in the central town of Ventanas for her twice-weekly live news program called “Tus noches con Virginia” (Your nights with Virginia) on…
Iran arrests financial reporter Amir-Abbas Azarmvand on security charges
Washington, D.C., September 1, 2021 — Iranian authorities should immediately release journalist Amir-Abbas Azarmvand, drop the charges against him, and let him work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Today, Azarmvand, a financial reporter for the state run Iranian economic newspaper SMT, was arrested at 8:30 a.m. at his parents’ home in Tehran…
Peruvian journalist Carlos Yofré López convicted in one criminal defamation case, on trial in another
Bogotá, August 31, 2021 – Peruvian authorities should drop criminal defamation charges against journalist Carlos Yofré López and prosecutors should not contest López’s appeal of his conviction in a separate criminal defamation case, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Both cases allege criminal defamation due to the journalist’s investigative work. In one case, López,…
Zimbabwe journalist Elizabeth Mashiri detained, charged for filming police clash with vendors
Lusaka, Zambia, August 30, 2021—Zimbabwean authorities must drop all charges against journalist Elizabeth Mashiri, stop arbitrarily arresting journalists, and allow them to work without interference, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On August 17, police in Gweru, the capital of Midlands Province, arrested Mashiri, an assistant editor and Midlands bureau chief for privately owned…
Sri Lankan journalist Keerthi Ratnayake detained under anti-terror act
Washington, D.C., August 27, 2021–Police in Sri Lanka should immediately release journalist Keerthi Ratnayake and halt further investigations into him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Ratnayake, a former army intelligence officer and regular freelance contributor to the London-based, Sri Lanka-focused news website Lanka-e-News, was summoned to the Kollupitiya Police Station in Colombo in western…
Nicaraguan authorities charge journalist Carlos Fernando Chamorro with financial crimes
Guatemala City, August 27, 2021 — Nicaraguan authorities should immediately drop criminal charges against journalist Carlos Fernando Chamorro and stop using the country’s justice system to harass and silence the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On August 24, the Nicaraguan attorney general’s office published an official statement announcing criminal charges against Chamorro,…
Taliban fighters beat and whip journalists in Afghanistan
Washington, D.C., August 26, 2021– The Taliban must immediately cease using violence against journalists and allow them to cover the critical news from Afghanistan freely and without fear, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Yesterday at approximately 10:30 a.m., Taliban fighters assaulted Ziar Khan Yaad, a reporter with the privately owned broadcaster TOLO News,…
Chinese journalist Zhang Zhan hospitalized after her health declines in prison
Taipei, August 26, 2021 – Chinese authorities must release imprisoned journalist Zhang Zhan immediately and ensure that she receives proper medical care, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Zhang, an independent video journalist, was arrested last May and sentenced to four years in prison in December for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” after she…
Sri Lanka police repeatedly interrogate journalist Punniyamoorthy Sasikaran
Washington, D.C., August 25, 2021 — Police in Batticaloa, in eastern Sri Lanka, should stop harassing journalist Punniyamoorthy Sasikaran and let him work without interference, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On August 23, officers from the Batticaloa police superintendent’s Special Crime Branch interrogated Sasikaran, a freelance Tamil journalist who is also the treasurer…