DRC enacts press law and digital code that criminalize journalism
New York, May 23, 2023—DRC authorities should swiftly reform the country’s new press law and digital code to ensure journalism is not criminalized and the media can work without undue restrictions or fear of prosecution, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. In April, Congolese authorities enacted new laws governing the press and online activity,…
CPJ releases report on Israeli military killings of journalists ahead of 1-year anniversary of Shireen Abu Akleh’s murder
Today is the one-year anniversary of the killing of Al-Jazeera Arabic correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh, who was fatally shot while reporting on an Israeli military raid in the West Bank. Ahead of this anniversary, CPJ released a new special report, “Deadly Pattern: 20 journalists died by Israeli military fire in 22 years. No one has…
Peruvian outlet IDL-Reporteros targeted by protests, death threats from right-wing group
Bogotá, May 10, 2023 – Peruvian authorities must take seriously the recent threats made to the investigative news website IDL-Reporteros and hold those responsible for harassing the outlet to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On May 5, about 50 protesters with the right-wing political group La Resistencia gathered at IDL-Reporteros’ office in…
CPJ calls on NYPD to drop any charges against photojournalist Stephanie Keith
Washington, D.C., May 9, 2023—In response to news reports that freelance photojournalist Stephanie Keith was arrested while covering a protest in New York City on the evening of Monday, May 8, and authorities accused her of interfering with arrests, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement: “We strongly condemn the arrest of freelance…
Fragile Progress: Source notes
A CPJ special report on the struggle for press freedom in the EU 1 Pol Morillas, editor, “Illiberal Democracies in the EU: the Visegrad Group and the Risk of Disintegration,” January 2017 2 CPJ, “Balancing Act,” 2015 https://cpj.org/reports/2015/09/press-freedom-at-risk-europe-summary/ 3 Some sources asked not to be named in this report in order to speak frankly or because they…
Belarus prosecutor requests lengthy prison terms for journalists Raman Pratasevich, Stsypan Putsila, and Yan Rudzik
Paris, April 21, 2023–A Belarusian prosecutor requested a 10-year prison sentence for detained journalist Raman Pratasevich, a 19-year prison sentence in absentia for journalist Yan Rudzik, and a 20-year prison sentence in absentia for journalist Stsypan Putsila during a hearing on Friday, April 21, in Minsk, the capital, news reports said. “The lengthy prison terms…
CPJ welcomes conviction in 1988 murder of Peruvian journalist Hugo Bustíos
Bogotá, April 14, 2023—A Peruvian court on Thursday, April 13, convicted Daniel Urresti—a former presidential candidate, interior minister, and congressman—and sentenced him to 12 years in prison for his role in the 1988 murder of journalist Hugo Bustíos, news reports said. Urresti, 66, a retired army general, was convicted of taking part in an ambush…
DRC authorities detain 2 journalists, threaten another with arrest
Kinshasa, April 14, 2023–Congolese authorities should immediately release journalists Gustave Bakuka and Diègo Kayiba, ensure the safety of journalist Sylvain Kabongo, and drop all legal proceedings and investigations against them connected to their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. Around 9 a.m. on Friday, April 14, three Congolese National Intelligence Agency (ANR) agents…
Russian authorities charge journalist Roman Ivanov with ‘fake news,’ raid Prufy.ru office
Paris, April 13, 2023 – Russian authorities should immediately release journalist Roman Ivanov and stop harassing and prosecuting members of the press for their reporting, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On Wednesday, April 12, a court in the city of Korolyov ordered Roman Ivanov, a reporter with independent news website RusNews who had…
‘Living in fear’: Exiled Afghan journalists face arrest, hunger in Pakistan
Stuck with no income for more than a year after fleeing Afghanistan for Pakistan, Samiullah Jahesh was ready to sell his kidney to put food on the table for his family. “I had no other option, I had no money or food at home,” Jahesh, a former journalist with Afghanistan’s independent Ariana News TV channel,…