Court upholds life sentence for Kyrgyz journalist and activist Azimjon Askarov
New York, January 24, 2017–Kyrgyz authorities should immediately release journalist and human rights activist Azimjon Askarov and drop all charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Kyrgyzstan’s Chui Regional Court today upheld a September 2010 life sentence against Askarov on charges of complicity in murder and inciting hatred for reporting on fatal…
CPJ urges Uzbek president to lift media restrictions
January 23, 2017 Shavkat Mirziyoyev President of Uzbekistan Via email: [email protected] Dear President Mirziyoyev, A month after your inauguration as Uzbekistan’s second president, we at the Committee to Protect Journalists are writing to urge you to reverse the repressive media policies of your predecessor, the late President Islam Karimov, and to dismantle damaging restrictions on…
Azerbaijani authorities tighten screws on independent media
When officials in Baku released several high-profile journalists, including investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova, from prison in May last year, the international media rights community breathed a sigh of relief. But any optimism was short-lived, with authorities in recent months prosecuting journalists and bloggers, and passing restrictive online media laws.
Honduran TV journalist murdered
New York, January 19, 2017–Honduran authorities should thoroughly investigate the killing of Honduran television reporter Igor Abisaí Padilla Chávez and bring all those responsible to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Four unidentified assailants shot and killed Padilla on January 17 in the Suyapa neighborhood of the northwestern city of San Pedro Sula,…
CPJ calls on Congolese authorities to release Talassa editor
New York, January 13, 2017–Congolese authorities should immediately release Ghys Fortuné Dombé Bemba, editor of the privately owned newspaper Talassa, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The Republic of Congo’s security services arrested Bemba in Brazzaville on January 11, Radio France Internationale reported.
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of January 8
Erdoğan praises Trump for ‘beating down’ CNN reporter Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan praised U.S. President-elect Donald Trump for “beating down” (“benzetmek”) CNN senior White House correspondent Jim Costa in a January 11 press conference, according to media reports and video widely distributed on the internet. Trump refused to take a question from CNN at…
Gunmen shoot at home of Mexican reporter
Unidentified assailants attacked the home of Mexican journalist Gabriel Valencia Juárez at about 10:15 p.m. on December 31, 2016, according to media reports. Valencia, who was inside at the time of the attack, was only a meter from where one of the 9mm caliber bullets struck a piece of furniture, the reports said.
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of December 25
Investigative reporter arrested on propaganda charges The prominent investigative journalist Ahmet Şık was arrested yesterday on allegations of spreading terrorist propaganda. Şık, who was detained in relation to his published writings and posts on social media, was also accused of “publicly humiliating the Republic of Turkey, its judicial organs; military and police organizations,” Cumhuriyet reported.…
Journalist threatened with murder in Russia
New York, December 21, 2016–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Russian authorities to ensure the safety of independent journalist Mikhail Afanasyev, editor of the online magazine Novy Fokus in the Siberian republic of Khakassia, after the head of a criminal gang based in a neighboring region threatened to kill him because of his…
Congolese television journalist detained for four days
Police in Bunia, near the Democratic Republic of Congo’s border with Uganda, on December 1, 2016, detained Adèle Uvon, a television journalist for the privately owned broadcaster Radio-TV Lobiko (RTVL), at an opposition movement press conference launching a campaign to encourage Congolese President Joseph Kabila to stand down at the end of his term on…