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,…
German journalist David Janzen’s home vandalized after reporting on far-right
Berlin, April 5, 2023—German authorities should swiftly and thoroughly investigate the recent harassment of journalist David Janzen and ensure his safety, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On March 29, unidentified people painted a message on Janzen’s home in the north-central German city of Braunschweig accusing him of being “anti-German” and left behind a…
Bangladesh authorities open investigation into exiled journalist Abdur Rab Bhuttow, harass family members
On January 11, 2023, the Chawkbazar police station in Bangladesh’s southern Chattogram district opened a Digital Security Act investigation into U.K.-based Bangladeshi journalist Abdur Rab Bhuttow and the privately owned digital news platform London Bangla Channel, where Bhuttow serves as editor, according to news reports and the journalist, who spoke with CPJ by phone. Police…
CPJ calls on Bangladesh authorities to cease harassing staff of Prothom Alo newspaper
New York, March 30, 2023—Bangladesh authorities must immediately drop all investigations into the staff of the Prothom Alo newspaper in retaliation for its work and allow its employees to do their jobs freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. In the early morning of Wednesday, March 29, authorities arrested Prothom Alo correspondent Shamsuzzaman Shams…
Police assault at least 9 Bangladeshi journalists covering Supreme Court Bar Association elections
New York, March 29, 2023 – Bangladeshi authorities must conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into the police attacks on at least nine journalists covering recent elections held by the Supreme Court Bar Association and hold the perpetrators accountable, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On March 15, police assaulted at least nine journalists…
Belarus orders 3 journalists detained for 15 days
Paris, March 27, 2023—Belarusian authorities should drop all charges against journalists Dzmitry Suslau, Syarhei Stankevich, and Aleh Rubchenya, and free them immediately, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On March 17, a court in the central city of Slutsk ordered Stankevich, the chief editor of the local independent newspaper Infa-Kurier, and Rubchenya, the paper’s…
Indian journalist Jaspal Singh arrested in Haryana
On March 18, 2023, police in the Indian state of Haryana arrested Jaspal Singh, a TV journalist who reports part-time for the local broadcaster News18 Haryana, from his home in the city of Ratia, according to news reports and Rajesh Kundu, editor of the news website The Ink, who is familiar with the case and…
Belarusian journalist Henadz Mazheyka sentenced to 3 years in prison
Paris, March 23, 2023—In response to multiple news reports that a Belarusian court sentenced journalist Henadz Mazheyka to three years in prison on Thursday, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement: “The sentencing of Belarusian journalist Henadz Mazheyka, simply for his journalistic work, shows once again how authorities have brazenly pursued trumped-up criminal…