Journalists investigating deaths of Russian soldiers are threatened and attacked
Journalists investigating the deaths of Russian soldiers that news reports claimed were killed during Russia’s alleged involvement in Ukraine’s conflict have been targeted in a series of attacks since late August, according to a press freedom group. Russia has denied that its soldiers were involved in the conflict, but journalists who spoke to the Committee…
Burundi’s journalist union takes repressive press law to court
If the state decides that a journalist’s article in Burundi jeopardizes someone’s “moral integrity” under the country’s Media Law it can demand that the journalist reveals sources, and it can suspend the publication. “It’s a backwards, freedom-killing law,” said Alexandre Niyungeko, the founder and head of the 300-member Burundi Union of Journalists. Despite the press…
Militant group must release kidnapped British journalist
September 18, 2014, New York–The Islamic State militant group released a video today that shows John Cantlie, a British freelance journalist kidnapped in Syria in 2012, making what he said would be the first of a series of statements, according to news reports. Cantlie’s abduction in Syria nearly two years ago was not previously reported…
New cybercrime law could have serious consequences for press freedom in Qatar
New York, September 17, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the Qatari government to abolish parts of a restrictive cybercrime law that passed this week, despite assurances from its prime minister last year that the legislation would not restrict freedom of expression, which is protected under the Qatari constitution.
Journalists released from prison in Egypt, but others remain
New York, September 17, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release on bail of two journalists in Egypt and calls on authorities to free the 11 other journalists still behind bars. The move comes days before Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is set to address the United Nations General Assembly in New York, according…
Journalist beheadings in Syria reignite debate over risk and safety for freelancers
Now that the initial wave of revulsion at the beheading of two young journalists has passed, the international media is wringing its hands and asking how it can spare others the heartbreak of the families of U.S. journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff.
Critical Chinese writer Tie Liu arrested, home raided
New York, September 15, 2014–Police raided the home of a critical Chinese writer and publisher on Sunday, and detained him on a charge of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” according to his family and news reports. Huang Zerong, 81, had recently written articles criticizing restrictions on press freedom in China, according to news reports.
Armed men attack journalist in Brazzaville, Congo
Abuja, Nigeria, September 12, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in the Congo to apprehend the perpetrators of an attack on Wednesday against a journalist in his home in Brazzaville. Elie Smith was threatened and held at gunpoint by unidentified men who he said also attacked his sister, according to news reports.
Conditions increasingly restrictive for foreign correspondents in China
When China hosted the summer Olympics in 2008 it promised greater press freedom, but six years later conditions for international journalists are increasingly more restrictive, as evidenced by a report released today by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China.