Protesters assault Bolivian journalists from Unitel TV and El Deber
Bogotá, June 16, 2020 – Bolivian authorities’ investigation into attacks on journalists from Unitel TV and El Deber should be thorough and transparent, and those responsible should be held to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On June 11, a crowd of about 50 protesters in the central Bolivian town of Entre Ríos…
Nigerian journalist held under cybercrime act for COVID-19 coverage
Abuja, June 10, 2020 – Nigerian authorities should immediately release journalist Saint Mienpamo Onitsha, drop all charges against him, and reform the country’s cybercrime act to ensure it is not used to prosecute the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On June 4, officers with Nigeria’s Department of State Services detained Onitsha, founder…
Leonardo Pinheiro
In the afternoon of May 13, unidentified men in a car shot and killed Leonardo Pinheiro, the owner of A Voz Araruamense, a Facebook page where he posted local reporting, in the city of Araruama, in Rio de Janeiro state, according to news reports. Pinheiro was interviewing residents from the neighborhood of Parati, in Araruama, when two…
Indonesian journalist held since early May on criminal defamation charge
Bangkok, June 9, 2020 – Indonesian authorities should immediately release journalist Diantara Putra Sumedi and stop legal proceedings against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Police in Kotabaru, South Kalimantan province, have held Diantara in detention since May 4, in response to a criminal defamation complaint filed against him, according to news reports….
Journalists assaulted, detained while covering COVID-19 protest in Iraqi Kurdistan
On June 2, 2020, Iraqi Kurdish security forces assaulted at least four journalists and detained two others who were covering protests against the COVID-19 restrictions in the northeastern Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah, according to news reports and a report by the Metro Center for Journalists’ Rights and Advocacy, a local press freedom group. During a…
CNN team arrested while covering Minneapolis protests
Washington, D.C., May 29, 2020 — Minnesota police officers today arrested a CNN crew covering protests in Minneapolis while they were live on air, according to video from the broadcaster. In the footage, correspondent Omar Jimenez can be seen holding his press badge and crew members are heard identifying themselves as journalists and offering to…
Abdul Nasser Haj Hamdan
On February 20, 2020, a Russian airstrike on the northern Syrian city of Ma’arat al-Naasan killed Abdul Nasser Haj Hamdan, a photographer working for the Media Office in Binnish, a pro-civil rights opposition outlet, according to news reports and a Facebook post by his employer. A Russian Sukhoi Su-34 fighter jet fired a missile into Ma’arat al-Naasan, a city 4.6…
Anas al-Dyab
Syrian freelance journalist Anas al-Dyab was killed in an airstrike in the northwestern Syrian city of Khan Shaykhun, in Idlib province, on July 21, 2019, according to news reports and the Syrian Journalists’ Association, a France-based press freedom group. Bombs from a Russian warplane killed al-Dyab and injured some of his colleagues shortly after he…
Berivan Altan
Berivan Altan, a reporter for the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya News Agency (MA), was one of 10 journalists detained for alleged terrorist links in various Turkish cities in October 2022. She was detained in Ankara where she remains in Sincan prison pending trial. The reason for the mass arrest remains unclear, but lawyers representing the journalists told…
Nafosat Olloshukurova
Uzbek police detained blogger Nafosat Olloshukurova in September 2019. A judge found her guilty of hooliganism and participating in unauthorized protests, and sentenced her to 10 days in detention. A week after the sentence, the court ordered her to be placed in a psychiatric clinic, where she remains, without contact with her family. On September…