Colombia sentences two ex-paramilitary fighters for 2000 attack on Jineth Bedoya
Miami, May 8, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the sentencing on May 6 of former paramilitary fighters Alejandro Cárdenas Orozco and Jesús Emiro Pereira Rivera for the kidnapping, rape, and torture of Colombian journalist Jineth Bedoya Lima in 2000.
Former Colombian President Uribe and allies file defamation suits against Daniel Coronell
New York, May 8, 2019 — The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by civil defamation lawsuits filed in the U.S. state of Florida against journalist Daniel Coronell by former Colombian president Álvaro Uribe Vélez, now a senator, and his allies, which could have a chilling effect on reporting on the Colombian politician.
Egypt tests new censorship law with handling of al-Mashhad website block
Magdy Shandi, editor-in-chief of the Cairo-based independent newspaper al-Mashhad, planned to send 30 journalists to report from polling stations while votes were being cast in Egypt’s constitutional referendum between April 20 and April 22. He ended up ordering them to stay away, he told CPJ in a telephone interview in May. The state’s media regulator…
CPJ Insider: May edition
CPJ celebrates World Press Freedom Day Thank you to all of you who donated to CPJ on World Press Freedom Day! We certainly couldn’t do it without you. Your support has helped CPJ win convictions in journalist murders and the release of hundreds of journalists worldwide, including, just today, the two Reuters journalists who have…
Azerbaijani journalist Sevinc Osmanqizi faces harassment, threats to leak intimate photos
Washington, D.C., May 7, 2019 — Azerbaijani authorities should swiftly investigate the harassment and attempted extortion of exiled journalist Sevinc Osmanqizi by pro-government broadcaster Real TV, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo freed by pardon in Myanmar
Bangkok, May 7, 2019– Reuters’ journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were released today from a Yangon prison in Myanmar as part of a presidential pardon, after spending more than 500 days behind bars, Reuters reported. The journalists were released in a mass amnesty of prisoners granted today by President Win Myint, according to…
Bulgaria’s press navigate harassment, threats in pursuit of stories
In October 2018, Viktoria Marinova, a host for TVN, was raped and murdered near the station’s studios. When CPJ’s Europe correspondent, Attila Mong, spoke with her colleagues and other journalists during a trip to Bulgaria last month, they said that while they don’t believe the attack is linked to Marinova’s work, it has highlighted the…
Telésforo Enríquez, founder of Mexican community radio station, shot dead in Oaxaca
Mexico City, May 6, 2019–Mexican authorities must immediately and transparently investigate the killing of journalist and political activist Telésforo Santiago Enríquez, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Enríquez was found shot dead the afternoon of May 2 just outside the city of Juchitán, in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, according to news reports.
Iran jailing 2 journalists since May Day demonstration
Washington, D.C., May 6, 2019 — Iranian authorities should immediately release Kayvan Samimi, editor-in-chief of Iran-e-Farda magazine, and Marzieh Amiri, economics reporter at Tehran-based newspaper Shargh Daily, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.