News fixer deported from Thailand to Cambodia on ‘false news’ accusation
Bangkok, December 13, 2018–A Cambodian news fixer who helped to produce a documentary on sex trafficking for Russian government-funded international news network Russia Today, or RT, was deported yesterday from Thailand to Cambodia on accusations of abetting the production of false news, according to news reports.
Hundreds of jailed journalists the new norm, CPJ census finds
Turkey, China, and Egypt responsible for jailing more than half of all journalists New York, December 13, 2018–For the third consecutive year at least 251 journalists are behind bars for their work, as authoritarian regimes increasingly use imprisonment to silence dissent, the Committee to Protect Journalists found.
Hundreds of journalists jailed globally becomes the new normal
For the third year in a row, 251 or more journalists are jailed around the world, suggesting the authoritarian approach to critical news coverage is more than a temporary spike. China, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia imprisoned more journalists than last year, and Turkey remained the world’s worst jailer. A CPJ special report by Elana Beiser
Serbian investigative journalist targeted with arson attack
New York, December 12, 2018–Serbian authorities must ensure the safety and well-being of investigative journalist Milan Jovanović and bring those responsible for today’s arson attack on his property to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Journalists fleeing threats at home trapped in ICE detention over US asylum seeker policy
When Cuban police escorted Serafín Morán Santiago on to a plane to Guyana in 2016, they warned the journalist he could be jailed for 15 years if he tried to return. Authorities there had already detained and tortured him for his reporting. But when he was attacked in Guyana and then threatened in Mexico, Morán…
Militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham threatens to execute Syrian journalist Amjed al-Maleh
Beirut, December 11, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today expressed grave concern about the fate of Syrian journalist Amjed al-Maleh. According to news reports, Syrian militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham threatened to execute al-Maleh, a Syrian freelance journalist and media activist from the southwestern Syrian city of Madaya whom the group had been holding captive…
Israel raids Palestinian news agency, detains journalist in the West Bank
Washington D.C., December 10, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed concern at today’s raid on the offices of the Palestinian News and Information Agency (WAFA) by Israeli forces in the West Bank city of Ramallah and the detention of Al-Quds News Network writer and Quds Radio Tulkarm correspondent Sameh Manasra by Israeli authorities.
Major setback for press freedom in Canada
Canada’s Supreme Court upholds a lower court ruling that Vice Media reporter Ben Makuch should hand over his communications with a source. CPJ joins eight other organizations in condemning the lack of justice in the murder of Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, one year after three arrests were made in connection with the case….
