Ahead of elections, Brazil’s police announce plan to crackdown on ‘fake news’
In November last year, Brazilian police stopped a truck on a highway in the center of the country and, after a thorough search, discovered more than six tons of marijuana stashed in false compartments. The truck had the name Romanelli on the side, but police said it was a label designed to confuse and that…
Mexico’s special prosecutor says FEADLE is improving, but impunity continues
For approximately two months, Mexico’s office of the Special Prosecutor for Attention for Crimes Against Freedom of Expression (FEADLE) led a nomadic existence after its building was damaged in a September 19 earthquake that killed almost 400 people in and around Mexico City. The agency now has a new home, but the natural disaster served…
Reporters harassed, verbally assaulted covering Czech presidential election
Journalists covering election night at the Czech presidential campaign headquarters in a Prague hotel on January 27, 2018, were verbally assaulted, shoved, and prevented from filming, according to reports and videos posted to social media.
Russian authorities arrest Sochi blogger on extortion charges
New York, January 26, 2018–Russian authorities should immediately drop the charges against journalist Aleksandr Valov and release him from custody, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Authorities on January 19 detained Valov, the editor-in-chief and founder of a local news site BlogSochi, and, two days later, charged him with extortion, according to media reports.
DRC journalist detained, accused of “compromising” president over bread truck photos
New York, January 25, 2018–Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo should investigate and bring to justice those responsible for the harassment and detention of Willy Akonda, a reporter with the privately owned ACTUALITE.CD news outlet, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Why release of two journalists in Ethiopia does not signal end to press crackdown
On January 10, radio journalists Darsema Sori and Khalid Mohammed were released from prison after serving lengthy sentences related to their work at the Ethiopian faith-based station Radio Bilal. Despite their release and Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn’s promise earlier this month to free political prisoners, Ethiopia’s use of imprisonment, harassment, and surveillance means that the…
Benin media regulator threatens to prosecute online outlets over registration
Benin’s media regulator, the High Authority for Broadcasting and Communication (HAAC), on December 21, 2017, threatened to shut down online publications that did not have authorization to distribute content, according to an HAAC press statement and the news website Beninwebtv.
Journalists detained after criticizing Turkey’s Syria incursion
Istanbul, January 23, 2018 –The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the detention of at least four journalists in Turkey after they criticized its incursion into northern Syria, and urged Turkish authorities to release the journalists and allow the media to report without fear of reprisal.
How US vote to extend NSA program could expose journalists to surveillance
The U.S. Senate last week approved a six-year extension to Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Amendments Act (FISA), in a move that could put journalists at risk. Because people targeted by Section 702 are often of interest to the press as well as the NSA, journalists are more likely than most to have…