CPJ Insider: June 2022 edition
CPJ returns to Tanzania Four years ago, our colleagues–CPJ’s Africa program coordinator Angela Quintal and CPJ’s sub-Saharan Africa representative Muthoki Mumo–were suddenly detained by Tanzanian intelligence during a mission to the country to survey the press freedom situation. Last month, Mumo returned to Tanzania for World Press Freedom Day to speak with journalists on the…
Alleged PKK supporters attack Kurdistan 24 broadcast crew in Iraqi Kurdistan
On May 18, 2022, a group of unidentified alleged supporters of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) attacked a three-member Kurdistan 24 television crew in the Sulaymaniyah province of Iraqi Kurdistan while they were covering an investigation into the murder of the head of the PKK-affiliated Mesopotamia Workers Organization, according to a report by the broadcaster…
Afghan journalist Ali Akbar Khairkhah disappears in Kabul, Taliban cracks down on women reporters
Washington, D.C., May 27, 2022 – Taliban authorities must investigate the disappearance of Afghan journalist Ali Akbar Khairkhah and ensure that local officials allow female journalists to do their jobs without interference, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. On Tuesday, May 24, Khairkhah, a photojournalist and reporter with the local Subhe Kabul newspaper, disappeared…
Ethiopia cracks down on journalists and media workers
On May 20, Indian journalist Subhash Kumar Mahto was shot dead in Bihar state. Mahto was a reporter with a local cable station City News, and frequently used Public App, a hyperlocal smartphone-based video application, to post his reports. Saurabh Kumar, general secretary of Begusarai District Journalists Association, told CPJ that the attack could be…
Three Congolese radio journalists stripped, beaten by intelligence agents
Kinshasa, May 25, 2022 — Authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo must hold to account those responsible for stripping and beating journalists Cédar Sabiti, Samuel Matela, and Junior Batu Ngole while they were detained, and ensure that the press can report and comment on matters of public interest freely and without fear of…
Hong Kong journalist Eric Wu Ka-Fai sentenced to 1 month in prison for disorderly behavior
Taipei, May 23, 2022—Hong Kong authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Eric Wu Ka-Fai, a reporter for independent news site HK Golden, and stop jailing members of the press for reporting the news, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On Monday, May 23, Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court sentenced Wu to one month in…
‘I want to be a journalist like Shireen’
“I wanted to reach her, but I just couldn’t,” Shatha Hanaysha — the 29-year-old Palestinian correspondent who was seen in the video of the aftermath of the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh last week — told CPJ, recalling the danger of extending her hand to touch her colleague’s body. “When I was asked,…
TV5 Monde correspondent expelled from public meeting in Burkina Faso
Dakar, May 19, 2022 – Activists opposed to France’s influence in Africa should not scapegoat journalists attached to French-speaking international media, and authorities in Burkina Faso should ensure that all members of the press can report freely on public events, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. Fanny Naoro-Kabré, a journalist for TV5 Monde, a…
Belarusian journalist detained for 2 months, charged over reporting
Paris, May 19, 2022 — Belarus authorities should immediately release and drop all charges against journalist Dzmitry Luksha and let the press report freely on the war in Ukraine, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On March 11, law enforcement searched the home of Luksha, a freelance journalist with the Kazakh state-funded television station…
Journalists stabbed, assaulted in Bangladesh
New York, May 18, 2022– Bangladesh authorities must conduct a swift and transparent investigation into two separate attacks on journalist Md Rashid Chowdhury and bystander Jashim Uddin, and on journalists Azim Nihad, Rahul Mahajan, and Lokman Halim, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On the evening of Friday, May 13, a group of teenagers…