Erdoğan threatens Cumhuriyet, editor-in-chief over arms smuggling report
Istanbul, June 1, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s legal threats against pro-opposition daily newspaper Cumhuriyet and Can Dündar, its editor-in-chief, whom the president accused of espionage during a live broadcast Sunday night on state-run television.
Freelance journalist Casey Coombs released by Yemen rebels
New York, June 1, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release today of American freelance journalist Casey Coombs, who had been held by Houthi rebels for two weeks. Coombs, who has written for publications including Time and The Intercept, has arrived safely in Oman, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters. Details of…
In Venezuela, online news helps journalists get their voices back
When Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez was rumored to be gravely ill four years ago, his socialist government was tightlipped about the diagnosis. Then in June 2011 a source in Havana, Cuba, where Chávez was being treated, told Nelson Bocaranda, a veteran columnist for the Caracas daily El Universal, that the president had cancer.
Status update: Facebook users now have access to PGP encryption
Today Facebook announced on its blog a new set of features adding support for the PGP email encryption system. The changes allow users to post their public email encryption key to their Facebook profile, inviting others to encrypt future emails. In a move that significantly bolsters security, it is also now possible to request that…
CPJ welcomes Facebook move to add PGP encryption features
San Francisco, June 1, 2015–Facebook today announced that it would offer users a field to post PGP encryption keys on their profiles, and that it will use the encryption standard to protect the contents of notification emails. The improvements were announced on the social network’s security blog and will gradually be rolled out to all…
Chinese cartoonist Rebel Pepper struggles to survive in self-imposed exile
When calls for Wang Liming to be arrested were made on a forum hosted by China’s state-controlled press last year, the satirical cartoonist who lampooned the Communist Party leadership decided it would be safer to stay in Japan, where he had been traveling. But while he may have avoided possible arrest, the cartoonist, known as…
Two abducted Yemeni journalists found dead after air strike
New York, May 29, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the kidnapping and killing of two Yemeni TV journalists whose bodies were found this week, days after they had been abducted, in the rubble of a building hit by an air strike.
CPJ welcomes release of imprisoned journalist in Mexico
New York, May 29, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release today of Mexican journalist Pedro Celestino Canché Herrera, who had been imprisoned on charges of sabotage in the state of Quintana Roo since August. A local court on Thursday declared Canché innocent of the charges and ordered him to be released, Canché’s lawyer,…
CPJ calls on Ukraine to not revoke Inter broadcasting license
New York, May 29, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Ukrainian authorities to allow national television channel Inter to continue broadcasting freely and to investigate why its signal has been jammed. Parliamentary criticism of the station has led the National Television and Radio Broadcasting Council of Ukraine to conduct a review of Inter’s license,…
CPJ condemns Putin’s decree banning coverage of military casualties
New York, May 28, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns today’s presidential decree that extends a ban on coverage of military casualty figures to “peacetime, during special operations,” as well as in wartime. Such coverage, deemed to be disclosure of state secrets, is punishable by prison terms up to 20 years, according to local press…