Azimjon Askarov
On July 25, 2020, journalist Azimjon Askarov died in prison from health complications that his family suspect to be COVID-19. Authorities refused to administer a test to Askarov, who had been sick with a fever for weeks, according to his wife. Askarov, a contributor to independent news websites including Voice of Freedom, was imprisoned in…
Freelancer Vladimir Sevrinovsky on covering COVID-19 in the North Caucasus: ‘The main misinformation I fight is from the state’
Vladimir Sevrinovsky is a Moscow-based freelance journalist and documentary photographer who has covered social and cultural issues in Russia for independent news site Meduza, independent weekly Russkii Reporter, and Kavkaz.Realii, a regional service of the U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, among others. Sevrinovsky’s most recent assignment was to report from Russia’s North Caucasus…
Mohamed Monir’s death of COVID-19 is a warning sign for journalists held in Egypt’s prisons
“I am very sick! I need oxygen therapy. Someone help me! Someone please help me get admitted to the Moneera hospital! I am very sick! Please do something before I completely run out of breath!” The Egyptian journalist Mohamed Monir panted, short of breath, as he made a plea from his home over Facebook Live on July 7….
Cuban security forces detain Yadisley Rodríguez Ramírez, interrogate her about news agency director
Miami, August 5, 2020 — Cuban authorities should stop harassing and threatening journalist Yadisley Rodríguez Ramírez, and cease persecuting independent journalists in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On July 27, at around 10:00 p.m. police and security forces broke into the home of Rodríguez Ramírez in Camaguey in central Cuba without…
Mexican journalist Pablo Morrugares killed in Iguala
Mexico City, August 4, 2020 – Mexican authorities must immediately and credibly investigate the murder of reporter Pablo Morrugares and bring the attackers to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Morrugares was shot and killed in the city of Iguala in early hours of August 2, according to news reports and officials. Morrugares…
Libyan National Army ‘sentences’ freelance photojournalist Ismail Abuzreiba al-Zway to 15 years
Washington, D.C., August 4, 2020–The Libyan National Army should immediately release photojournalist Ismail Abuzreiba al-Zway, and stop prosecuting journalists in secret trials and in military courts, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. In a secret trial proceeding held in May 2020, a military court in Benghazi, a city in eastern Libya controlled by the…
Kashmiri journalists describe new government tactics to control the narrative
In April, after Srinagar-based senior journalist Peerzada Ashiq published an article about the families of two militants who wanted to exhume their bodies to perform funeral rites, police in Kashmir launched an investigation and accused him of publishing “fake news.” Ashiq told CPJ that he had sought official comment on multiple channels, but never received…
Journalist Setoute Yvens survives shooting attempt, another reporter receives death threats in Haiti
Miami, August 4, 2020 — Haitian authorities should swiftly and thoroughly investigate the shooting attack on journalist Setoute Yvens and the death threats to journalist Pradel Alexandre and identify and prosecute those involved, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On July 28 around 8:45 p.m. in the Drouillard neighborhood of the Cité-Soleil commune in Port-au-Prince, Yvens, a…
Benin regulator orders online media ‘without authorization’ to halt publication
New York, August 4, 2020 — Benin’s media regulator should lift its ban on unauthorized online media and refrain from censoring news websites, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On July 7, Rémi Prosper Moretti, the president of Benin’s High Authority for Broadcasting and Communication (HAAC), the country’s media regulator, issued an order demanding…
Guinea-Bissau broadcaster Radio Capital FM vandalized
New York, August 3, 2020 — Authorities in Guinea-Bissau should investigate the vandalism of broadcaster Radio Capital FM and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. In the early morning of July 26, unidentified armed men in uniforms of Guinea-Bissau’s national guard smashed equipment and other property at the office…