201

The intersection of organized crime, corruption and politics in Albania is impacting the country’s press. During a joint mission by a coalition of press freedom organizations to Tirana in June, CPJ Europe Correspondent Attila Mong spoke with journalists about challenges including threats, attacks, political interference, and legal harassment.

New York, July 3, 2019 — Mauritanian authorities should immediately release journalists Seydi Moussa Camara and Ahmedou Ould al-Wadea, restore internet access throughout the country, and allow journalists to report on the results of the country’s presidential elections without fear of reprisal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

New York, July 3, 2019 — Burkina Faso authorities should prevent the enactment of revisions of the penal code that criminalize false news and reporting on terrorism or security operations, and ensure laws do not permit jail time for reporters, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

On June 18, more than 400 people converged in Mexico City for CPJ’s Mexico Press Freedom Summit. Energized by a sense that the country is at a point of profound political change under the government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the conference delved into the threats for Mexican journalists.

Since 2017, U.S. legislators and the Department of Justice have required multiple foreign-funded news organizations to register under the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA), a law designed to compel transparency from agents of foreign entities operating inside the United States, according to news reports, public records, and letters from the Department of Justice.

Taipei, July 2, 2019 — Authorities in Hong Kong should swiftly investigate the vandalism of the Citizens’ Radio office and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Beirut, July 2, 2019 — Iraqi authorities should investigate the armed raid against the Baghdad offices of Al-Journal and 7C TV and determine if the perpetrators were acting on behalf of a member of parliament, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

In the early morning of June 23, 2019, a small improvised bomb exploded at the home of Brazilian radio reporter Francisco José Jorge de Sousa in Ipu, Ceará state, the journalist told CPJ via phone. No one was injured in the explosion, de Sousa said.

CPJ joined seven other human rights and freedom of expression groups in writing a letter, made public today, calling on the government of Kyrgyzstan to release journalist and rights advocate Azimjon Askarov.

In the lead up to South Africa’s elections in May, the Electoral Commission of South Africa accredited CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Angela Quintal as an international observer, monitoring press freedom. Quintal found that unlike 1994–when she covered the violence of the country’s first democratic elections–journalists in 2019 cited online harassment and threats as the biggest…