Al Jazeera journalists Ismail Al Ghoul and Rami Al Refee killed in Gaza
The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Israel to explain the killing of Al Jazeera Gaza correspondent Ismail Al Ghoul and camera operator Rami Al Refee in an Israeli airstrike west of Gaza City on Wednesday. “CPJ is dismayed by the news that Al Jazeera TV reporter Ismail Al Ghoul and cameraman Rami Al Refee…
Iraqi Kurdistan court sentences Syrian journalist to 3 years
Update: Since publication of this alert, the Kurdistan Region Court of Appeals overturned Ahmed’s conviction on January 6, 2025, and ordered his immediate release. Following his release on January 20, Ahmed crossed the Iraqi Kurdistan border into Syria to see his family, according to his lawyers and family. In October 2024, United Nations experts sent…
Taliban morality police detain Kandahar radio presenter Mohammad Ibrahim Mohtaj
New York, July 29, 2024—Taliban authorities must immediately and unconditionally release journalist Mohammad Ibrahim Mohtaj, who was detained leaving his office on July 27 by agents of the Taliban’s provincial Directorate of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. Mohtaj, a broadcast manager and presenter with the independent…
Two years behind bars: CPJ calls for José Rubén Zamora’s immediate release
São Paulo, July 29, 2024—Marking the second anniversary of Guatemalan journalist José Rubén Zamora’s detention, the Committee to Protect Journalists renews its calls for President Bernardo Arévalo’s administration to free Zamora without further delay. “For two years now, José Rubén Zamora has been behind bars in horrific conditions, despite a court order for a retrial,”…
Somali police arrest journalist AliNur Salaad on ‘false reporting’ allegations
Kampala, July 26, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Somali authorities to immediately release journalist AliNur Salaad who was remanded in custody for 45 days on allegations of “immorality, false reporting, and insulting the armed forces.” “Somali authorities must immediately free journalist AliNur Salaad, drop all legal proceedings against him, and allow journalists to…
Sudanese military arrests journalist after he criticized governor on water crisis, sources say
New York, July 24, 2024—Sudanese authorities must immediately and unconditionally release freelance journalist Omar Mohamed Omar, who was arrested on July 17 by the General Intelligence Service of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), and allow members of the press to work safely and freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. “We are alarmed by…
Russia sentences journalist Mikhail Zygar to 8 ½ years in absentia on ‘fake’ news charges
New York, July 23, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned Tuesday’s sentencing of exiled journalist and writer Mikhail Zygar to 8 ½ years in jail in absentia, on charges of spreading “fake” information about the Russian military in Ukraine, and called on Russian authorities to stop harassing journalists in exile. “The punitive sentence handed down…
Turkish Kurdish photojournalist Murat Yazar detained for 8 days in Iraqi Kurdistan
Sulaymaniyah, July 23, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed that the prominent Turkish Kurdish photojournalist Murat Yazar was held in an Iraqi Kurdish security forces prison for eight days before his release on Sunday evening and calls on Iraqi Kurdish authorities to stop arresting journalists. “Iraqi Kurdish authorities have made a habit out of…
Egypt arrests 2 journalists in less than a week, refuses to disclose whereabouts
Washington, D.C., July 23, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Egyptian authorities to immediately release Ashraf Omar, a cartoonist for the independent news outlet Al-Manassa, and Khaled Mamdouh, a reporter for news website Arabic Post. “By arresting journalists Khaled Mamdouh and Ashraf Omar and subjecting them to enforced disappearance, the Egyptian regime has once…
US-Russian journalist Alsu Kurmasheva sentenced to 6½ years in secret trial
New York, July 22, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemns Friday’s sentencing of U.S.-Russian journalist Alsu Kurmasheva to 6½ years in prison on charges of spreading “fake” news about the Russian army. “Russia’s appalling assault on the media continues to escalate with the secret sentencing of Alsu Kurmasheva,” said CPJ Director of Advocacy and Communications Gypsy…