Syrian militia hold two media activists in Idlib
The Syrian militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham took captive two media activists, Hossam Mahmoud and Amjed al-Maleh, in the northwestern Syrian city of Idlib in December 2017, according to news reports, the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, and the Syrian Journalists’ Association.
International press freedom groups to visit U.S. on unprecedented mission
Trip comes amid concern about climate for media in US Washington, D.C., January 10, 2018–CPJ and IFEX will lead a delegation of global press freedom groups on an unprecedented mission to the United States, reflecting concerns about threats to journalists and heightened anti-press rhetoric. The mission will coincide with the one-year anniversary of President Trump’s…
Yemeni authorities force local Al Jazeera station to close
New York, January 10, 2018–The Yemeni government should allow the Qatari broadcaster Al-Jazeera to immediately reopen its Taiz office, and permit journalists in Yemen to do their jobs unencumbered, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Soldiers acting on orders from the Taiz Governorate Security Committee closed the office yesterday, according to Saeed Thabit Saeed,…
Dijlah TV: Unknown assailants set fire to Baghdad bureau
The satellite news channel Dijlah TV said in a report that unknown assailants set fire to its Baghdad bureau, located in the Al-Rusafa neighborhood, on the afternoon of January 2, 2018. No one was injured in the blaze, according to the report.
Myanmar charges two Reuters reporters under Official Secrets Act
Bangkok, January 10, 2018–Prosecutors in Myanmar today charged two Reuters reporters with violating the Official Secrets Act, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemned the criminal indictment and called on the authorities to drop the charges and release the reporters.
Attackers run Brazilian freelance reporter off road and shoot at him
São Paulo, January 9, 2018–Brazilian authorities should swiftly and credibly investigate an attack on Gabriel Barbosa da Silva, a part-time freelance reporter, cartoonist, and photographer for the São Paulo publication VerboOnline, and bring his attackers to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Police file complaint against journalist and newspaper following data breach exposé
New Delhi, January 9, 2018–Indian authorities on January 5 filed a criminal complaint against the English-language daily The Tribune and its reporter Rachna Khaira, a day after the paper published Khaira’s report exposing a possible vulnerability in the country’s vast national identity system, according to news reports.
Lots of talk but little progress in Sri Lanka over journalist murders
It was the police line-up from hell. Forget all those “Law and Order” scenes where a victim stands anonymously behind a one-way mirror. Sri Lankan journalist Namal Perera had to stand eyeball-to-eyeball with 42 army intelligence officers in April, each of whom, Perera explained to me while demonstrating his fiercest tough-guy glare, faced him with…
Appeal hearing for Niger journalist postponed
New York, January 9, 2018–An appeals court in Niger’s capital, Niamey, yesterday postponed a hearing for Baba Alpha until March 12, the broadcast journalist’s lawyer, Amadou Boubacar Mossi, told CPJ. Alpha, a reporter for the privately owned radio and television news agency Bonferey, is serving a two-year sentence for using false documents, in what his…