CPJ calls for Morocco to release journalist Taoufik Bouachrine 5 years after his arrest
CPJ has joined 41 other rights groups urging Moroccan authorities to immediately release journalist Taoufik Bouachrine, former editor-in-chief of local independent newspaper Akhbar al-Youm, on the fifth anniversary of his arrest in 2018. Bouachrine is serving a 15-year prison sentence on sexual assault charges that were brought in retaliation for his reporting. The joint statement…
CPJ Insider: March 2023 edition
Covering the Russia-Ukraine war one year on: A Q&A with Europe and Central Asia Researcher Anna Brakha In the year since it started, Russia’s brutal, full-scale invasion of Ukraine has taken a painful toll on the press. At least 13 journalists have been killed covering the war and CPJ is investigating whether the deaths of…
CPJ appalled by killing of journalist reporting on Florida shootings
On Wednesday, Spectrum News 13 reporter Dylan Lyons was shot and killed in Orange County, Florida, while covering a separate fatal shooting earlier in the day. Another member of the news crew, photographer Jesse Walden, was critically injured in the shooting, which also killed a 9-year-old girl and injured her mother. Police arrested a 19-year-old…
Protesters surround homes of Peruvian journalists Gustavo Gorriti and Rosa María Palacios
Bogotá, February 22, 2023 – Peruvian authorities must investigate the harassment of journalists Gustavo Gorriti and Rosa María Palacios and take steps to protect members of the press covering political protests and corruption scandals, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On Tuesday, February 21, at least 20 protesters gathered in front of the homes…
Malawi police detain, charge journalist Dorica Mtenje over story she did not write
Lusaka, Zambia, February 22, 2023—Malawian authorities should immediately drop defamation and cyber-related charges against Maravi Post journalist Dorica Mtenje and allow her to report free from legal harassment, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On February 8, police in the capital Lilongwe summoned Mtenje via phone to appear the following day for questioning over…
Bangladesh shutters newspaper run by political opposition party
New York, February 21, 2023–Dainik Dinkal, the newspaper of Bangladesh’s main opposition party, was forced to close on Monday after its printing license was canceled in what the outlet’s managing editor, Shamsur Rahman Shimul Biswas, said were invalid grounds. Dainik Dinkal suspended operations on February 20 after the Bangladesh Press Council, a quasi-judicial, government-funded body…
Newly released from Turkish prison, Kurdish journalist Nedim Türfent reflects on sham prosecution
Nedim Türfent knows why he spent six and a half years of his life behind bars as a convicted terrorist in Turkey. The court that sentenced him explained the verdict in official documents: Because he writes “exaggerated and disturbing news stories” about the state. After his prison term ended in November 2022, “It was…
Slovakia press freedom delegation demands justice for Ján Kuciak
The Committee to Protect Journalists joined a delegation in Slovakia on Tuesday marking the fifth anniversary of the murder of Slovak investigative journalist, Ján Kuciak. The organizations renewed calls for full justice for Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kušnírová who were both killed five years ago today, on 21 February 2018, and called on the…
Authorities in Ethiopia’s Somali region suspend 15 media outlets, revoke media association’s license
Nairobi, February 17, 2023— Authorities in Ethiopia should reverse the recent suspensions of more than a dozen news outlets and let members of the press and journalist advocacy groups work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. Since late January, authorities have suspended 15 foreign media outlets operating in Somali Regional State, and also…