Azerbaijan: CPJ condemns shocking sentences handed down in Toplum TV case
New York, July 28, 2026 – The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the extremely harsh prison sentences of up to 15 years handed down on July 27 to journalists and other individuals associated with leading Azerbaijani news outlet Toplum TV on charges related to receipt and use of foreign funds. “The shockingly heavy sentences meted…
Brazilian journalist is assaulted, threatened after alleged public funds embezzlement exposé
São Paulo, July 27, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemns the reported assault and threatsagainst Brazilian journalist Chico Melo, director of independent media group Integração, at Cruzeiro do Sul, in the northern state of Acre, and calls on authorities to swiftly and comprehensively investigate the attack and bring those responsible to account. Melo, 54, was…
Bangladesh charges journalists Farzana Rupa, Mozammel Babu with crimes against humanity
New Delhi, July 27, 2026—Bangladeshi authorities should immediately drop the charges of crimes against humanity against journalists Farzana Rupa and Mozammel Babu and release them without delay, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. Prosecutors at Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) on Monday submitted a formal charge sheet naming the two journalists and 39 other…
Philippine journalist Marchel Espina charged with unjust vexation over opinion article
Bangkok, July 24, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists on Friday called on the Iglesia Ni Cristo religious group to drop its criminal complaint of unjust vexation against journalist Marchel Espina over an opinion piece published by a community news site. On July 17, Espina, former editor-in-chief of the local SunStar Cebu, voluntarily surrendered to the…
Cuban journalist threatened, interrogated by state security over newsletter
Miami, July 21—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) calls on the Cuban government to end its harassment of journalist Austin Llerandi of Amanecer Habanero, a non-state media newsletter. Llerandi told CPJ that state security agents came looking for him at his father’s house on July 13 in Havana, demonstrating invasive knowledge of his personal life…
Cambodia jails journalist Luot Sophal for 2 years over report on soldiers’ water shortages
Bangkok, July 21, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the two-year prison sentence given to Cambodian journalist Luot Sophal on incitement charges and calls for his immediate and unconditional release. Sophal, a reporter with the independent local news site Srotop Yuvakvey, was convicted on July 14 by the Oddar Meanchey Provincial Court on charges of…
Zambian journalist detained for audio leak under cyber laws weeks before elections
Lusaka, July 20, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Zambian authorities to immediately release journalist MacPherson Mukuka after four days in detention and not to criminalize journalism carried out in the public interest. Mukuka, a journalist with state-owned Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC), has been detained at Kabwata Police Station in the capital Lusaka…
UPDATE: Sports journalist Luca Esposito killed in Italy
[Editor’s Note: On July 24, 2026, Italian police arrested a man in connection with the killing and local reports said the evidence gathered so far suggests the motive was not related to Esposito’s journalism.] Berlin, July 20, 2026—Italian authorities must conduct a swift and thorough investigation into the killing of sports journalist Luca Esposito, whose charred body was found on a farm in southern Italy on…
Mexican journalist Josué Martínez shot dead in Puebla, fourth killed in over a month
Mexico City, July 17, 2026—Mexican authorities must swiftly and credibly investigate the killing of 39-year-old Josué Martínez Contreras, who is the fourth Mexican journalist to be killed in the country in just over a month, said the Committee to Protect Journalists on Friday. Martínez, the founder and general director of the Facebook-based news site Noticias…
Hong Kong arrests 2 journalists in latest sedition case targeting independent bookstores
New York, July 16, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Hong Kong authorities to immediately release freelance journalists and booksellers Sum Wan-wah and Mandy Lau and end their escalating crackdown on independent publishing in the city, following the second such incident in less than a month. On July 15, Hong Kong police said its…