Paris, December 15, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of Belarusian journalist Maryna Zolatava, who was among 123 prisoners freed on Saturday as part of a deal in which the United States announced it was lifting sanctions on Belarus’s potash exports. All were pardoned by Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko. “We are relieved that journalist Maryna Zolatava is finally free,…
New York, December 14, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a Hong Kong court’s conviction of Jimmy Lai, founder of the defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, in a landmark national security trial and calls on authorities to immediately free the 78-year-old British citizen. “This sham conviction is a disgraceful act of persecution,” said CPJ Asia-Pacific…
New York, December 12, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Azerbaijan to drop all charges and release 12 journalists as the trial against Germany-based Meydan TV began Friday in the capital, Baku. “The sorry sight of 11 journalists and a respected journalism teacher on trial in the case against award-winning Meydan TV only underscores the vast…
New York, December 12, 2025—Ahead of Monday’s expected verdict in the national security trial of Jimmy Lai, founder of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, the Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Hong Kong authorities to drop all charges against the 78-year-old publisher and release him immediately and unconditionally. Lai, whose health has worsened after spending…
Kinshasa, December 10, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to release Ali Male, a reporter with the privately owned En Quete News site and Kinshasa-based Kin24 TV, who was arrested on December 8 over a report about an army colonel. “DRC authorities must release Ali and…
Nairobi, December 10, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Ethiopian authorities to immediately release journalist Eyob Shimelis, who has been in detention since December 1 on accusations of spreading false information and defamation. Police arrested Eyob, founder and reporter of TikTok-based Sidama News, which reports on corruption in Ethiopia’s southern Sidama state, at around…
Update: The total number of journalists and media workers killed in 2025 is now 127, exceeding the 2024 record. New York, December 10, 2025一With more than three weeks still to go to the end of the year, the number of journalists and media workers killed worldwide in 2025 already equals 2024’s record figures, data gathered…
Mexico City, Dec. 9, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Honduran authorities to swiftly and impartially investigate journalist Henry Torres’ attack in the western municipality of San Marcos Ocotepeque and fully hold those responsible to account. Around 10:45 a.m. on December 4, Mayor Gerardo Antonio Mejía and his cousin and municipal employee, Jester Cardona…
Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, December 9, 2025 — The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Iranian authorities to immediately release Iraqi Kurdish reporter Omer Ahmed and his crew, who were arrested on December 3 in the city of Sardasht in West Azerbaijan province while covering a cultural festival. “The arrest of Omer Ahmed and his crew shows…
New York, December 8, 2025—Algerian authorities must cease their legal attacks on the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Monday, as a seven-year prison sentence was upheld against French journalist Christophe Gleizes, and convictions issued against Algerian columnist Saad Bouakba and Vision TV director Abderrahim Harraoui. On Wednesday, December 3, the Tizi Ouzou…