Bangladeshi journalists face physical attacks, legal cases, and detention amid COVID-19 pandemic
Between March 10, 2020, and May 21, 2020, authorities detained at least six journalists in Bangladesh and opened investigations into at least nine more under the country’s Digital Security Act, according to news reports and CPJ interviews with journalists. At least seven other journalists were assaulted by both the authorities and political figures, according to…
Canadian private investigative firm compiled reports on journalists
Information and Systems Networks Corporation (ISN), a Canadian private investigative firm, conducted background checks on two journalists at the behest of a law firm, according to one of the journalists, Jesse Brown, the publisher of the Canadaland news website and podcast, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview and shared one page of the…
Venezuelan authorities charge 2 journalists, imprison 1, under ‘anti-hate’ law
Miami, July 21, 2020 – Venezuelan authorities should immediately drop all charges against journalists Otilio Rodríguez and Nicmer Evans, release Evans immediately, and stop using the country’s anti-hate law to persecute the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On July 13, at about 2 p.m., police and counterintelligence agents raided Evans’ Caracas home…
Journalist Matiullah Jan abducted in Pakistan 1 day before Supreme Court hearing
New York, July 21, 2020 – Pakistan authorities should conduct a thorough and transparent investigation into the disappearance of journalist Matiullah Jan and ensure his safety, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. This morning, several unidentified men intercepted Jan’s car in Islamabad’s G-6 Sector, forced him into another vehicle, and drove away, according to…
Journalist Patricia Devlin on working in Northern Ireland: ‘I feel vulnerable and I feel threatened’
Over the past two years, crime and paramilitary and sectarian attacks have risen in Northern Ireland, fueled by economic stagnation, a power vacuum in the regional government, and the fallout from Brexit, according to news reports. In this climate, journalists are also increasingly at risk: freelance reporter Lyra McKee was killed in April 2019, and…
#HoldTheLine Coalition calls for criminal tax charge to be dropped as Maria Ressa returns to court
The #HoldTheLine Coalition demands the Philippines authorities drop a barrage of bogus tax and foreign ownership cases against internationally celebrated journalist Maria Ressa and Rappler – the news organisation she founded. “The prosecution of baseless financial charges and cases represents an attempt to use tax law and foreign ownership regulations as another weapon to criminalise…
Ukrainian journalist Katerina Sergatskova in hiding amid threats, doxing
New York, July 20, 2020 — Ukrainian authorities should ensure journalist Katerina Sergatskova’s safety and investigate the threats against her, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On July 11, Roman Skrypin, a local journalist, posted on Facebook–where he has more than 130,000 followers–a photo of Sergatskova, chief editor of independent news site Zaborona, along…
Prospects bleak for recovery of US media presence in China
The slugfest between China and the U.S. over the treatment of media workers in each country appears to have paused. Rather than expel each other’s journalists, as they did a few months ago, each side in early July imposed registration and reporting requirements on those remaining—still many more Chinese in the U.S. than Americans in…
Honduran journalist David Romero dies after contracting COVID-19 in jail
Managua, Nicaragua, July 19, 2020–Honduran journalist David Romero Ellner died yesterday around 7 a.m. of respiratory failure after contracting COVID-19 while imprisoned at the Támara National Penitentiary, according to newspaper La Prensa. Authorities had transferred Romero to the National Cardiopulmonary Institute on July 5, according to newspaper El Heraldo. “We are shocked and saddened by…
Reporters Committee, NPPA, CPJ to host training series for journalists covering 2020 political conventions
New York, July 17, 2020–The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the National Press Photographers Association, and the Committee to Protect Journalists will lead a series of training sessions from July 28–August 7 for journalists covering the 2020 national political conventions. The Democratic National Convention is scheduled for Aug. 17–20, 2020 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin,…