New term to settle Obama legacy on leaks, whistleblowers
As pundits debate how Barack Obama will tackle guns, climate change, immigration, and the debt ceiling in his newly inaugurated second term, press freedom advocates are left questioning how the U.S. president will handle another, no-less-controversial issue: the treatment of whistleblowers and officials who leak information to the media.
Several journalists jailed in new Turkish crackdown
January 22, 2013, Istanbul, Turkey–Turkish authorities should halt their practice of jailing journalists on vague anti-terror charges and allow the local press to report freely without fear of imprisonment or harassment, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Kenyan journalists attacked while covering Kibera clashes
Nairobi, January 22, 2013–Kenyan authorities must hold to account soldiers with the General Service Unit, Kenya’s paramilitary force, in connection with their reported assault of two journalists on Sunday, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Burundi journalists march to support Ruvakuki
At 8 o’clock Tuesday morning roughly 50 Burundian journalists silently marched around the courthouses in the capital, Bujumbura, and the offices of the justice minister, protesting the imprisonment of their colleague, Hassan Ruvakuki. “They sentenced him to three years without following the law,” said Patrick Nduwimana, one of the protest organizers and the interim director…
Crime reporter assaulted in Malaysia
Malaysian crime reporter Ang Kean Siang, a journalist at the local Guang Ming Daily Chinese-language newspaper, was physically attacked on December 30, allegedly by members of a local civilian voluntary patrol unit, after taking pictures of a woman who appeared to have fallen to her death from an apartment building in Penang state’s Georgetown city,…
Egypt steps up campaign against critical media
New York January 3, 2013–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by a series of investigations into independent Egyptian newspapers on accusations of insulting the president or reporting false news. Some newspapers and media professionals face formal charges in connection to their critical reporting, according to news reports.
In Turkey, Odatv publisher conditionally released
Istanbul, December 28, 2012–Turkish authorities on Thursday released Soner Yalçın, owner and publisher of the ultranationalist-leftist news website Odatv, from prison for the duration of his trial, according to news reports. Yalçın, who has been jailed since February 2011 on anti-state charges, could be re-arrested and jailed if he is convicted.
Journalists detained in Nigeria for more than two days
Abuja, Nigeria, December 26, 2012–Nigerian authorities must immediately release two journalists who have been detained since Monday and allow a third journalist who has fled into hiding to return to his home and work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. In pre-dawn raids on Monday, about 40 armed security agents arrested Aliyu Saleh,…