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New York, June 27, 2020 — Bulgarian authorities should immediately drop the charges against publisher Ivo Prokopiev, which are retaliatory in nature and intended to stifle critical reporting, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.  Tomorrow, Prokopiev, who owns the independent news website Dnevnik and business weekly Capital, is set to appear before a criminal…

Rio de Janeiro, June 26, 2020 — Brazilian authorities should drop a criminal investigation into journalist Rafael Ventura and refrain from investigating reporters for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On April 1, police in Ribeirão Pires, in São Paulo state, opened a criminal slander and defamation inquiry into Ventura, editor of…

New York, June 26, 2020 – In response to yesterday’s enactment of a new penal code in Honduras that maintains criminal penalties for so-called “crimes against honor,” including insult and slander, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement: “Honduran lawmakers and President Juan Orlando Hernández had plenty of time to do the right…

Miami, June 26, 2020 – Authorities in Barbados must thoroughly investigate the killing of photojournalist Christoff Griffith and ensure those responsible are held to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Griffith is the first journalist CPJ has recorded as killed in relation to his work in Barbados. On June 22, in St. Michael,…

Berlin, June 26, 2020 — Slovak authorities should conduct a quick and thorough investigation into threats to journalist Peter Sabo and ensure his safety, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Yesterday, Sabo, a reporter for online news site Aktuality.sk, found a pistol cartridge in his mailbox in Bratislava, according to a report from his…

Following the U.S. State Department’s decision to classify four more Chinese media organizations as “foreign missions” on Monday, CPJ called on the two countries to resolve their differences in negotiations. The organizations join five other Chinese state-funded news agencies that were reclassified as “foreign missions” by the U.S. government in February, a designation typically used…

Nairobi, June 26, 2020 – Tanzanian authorities should immediately restore Tanzania Daima’s license and allow all newspapers to publish freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. In a June 23 statement, Tanzania’s Information Services Department, which registers print media, announced it would revoke Tanzania Daima’s distribution and publication license as of June 24, according…

New York, June 25, 2020 – Kyrgyzstan President Sooronbay Jeenbekov should reject recently proposed legislation that would mark a serious step toward curtailing press freedom in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Today, the country’s parliament held the second and third readings of proposed legislation called “On Manipulating Information” and passed it…

Miami, June 25, 2020 — Venezuelan authorities should immediately drop all charges against journalists María Luisa “Mimi” Arriaga and Marco Aurelio Antoima, and stop using the country’s anti-hate law to persecute the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On June 18, agents from the Venezuelan judicial police raided Arriaga’s home in the El…

Since the beginning of June, Iranian authorities have sentenced at least five journalists to prison sentences for their work, according to news reports and social media posts by the journalists. On June 1, Branch 46 of Tehran’s Court of Appeals sentenced Majid Motalebzadeh, editor of the state-run Sedaye Eslahat newspaper, and Hadi Kasaeizadeh, the former…