ATR

Dakar, April 1, 2024—Togolese authorities must release journalist Apollinaire Mewenemesse, drop all legal proceedings against him, and reform the country’s laws to prevent journalists from being arrested for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. An investigating judge charged Mewenemesse, publishing director of the privately owned weekly newspaper La Dépêche, with numerous defamation,…

New York, March 22, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the sentencing on Friday of Belarusian journalist Ihar Karnei to three years in prison and a fine of 20,000 rubles (US$6,115) on charges of participating in an extremist group. “It took three days for the Belarusian authorities to send Ihar Karnei to prison for three…

New York, March 21, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for journalist Andrei Tolchyn’s immediate release after a Belarusian court on Thursday sentenced him to 2.5 years in prison for facilitating extremism and defaming President Aleksandr Lukashenko. “The 2.5 year prison sentence handed to journalist Andrei Tolchyn on unfounded charges is yet another demonstration of…

For the last six weeks, Sudan has been almost totally cut off from the world. Since early February, there has been an internet and telecommunications blackout in the country, where a war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has killed more than 13,000, displaced millions, and threatens to cause widespread…

New York, March 20, 2024—Bangladesh authorities must immediately drop all charges against journalist Md Shofiuzzaman Rana and investigate the harassment of five journalists in northern Lalmonirhat district, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. Rana was held in jail for a week after police arrested the journalist on March 5. Rana, who works for the…

New York, March 18, 2024—Polish authorities should refrain from detaining members of the press reporting on topics of public interest, as two separate groups of Ukrainian reporters were blocked from reporting on Poland’s borders, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On February 27, Polish police detained reporter Mykhailo Tkach and cameraman Yaroslav Bondarenko, from…

Dakar, March 15, 2024—Togolese authorities must end the legal harassment of the country’s Tampa Express newspaper and its publishing director Francisco Napo-Koura, reverse the three-month suspension of La Dépêche newspaper, and allow Togolese media to report freely and without fear of reprisal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. Napo-Koura is due to appear in…

Philippine journalist Gerardo “Gerry” Ortega vowed he wouldn’t let the death threats stop him from using his radio show to expose corruption on the country’s idyllic tropical island of Palawan. “I am like a lone flame of a candle in a big dark room. I can’t light the whole room but I light a small…

New York, March 8, 2024—Russian authorities in Ukraine’s Crimea must drop all charges against journalists Rustem Osmanov and Aziz Azizov, release them immediately, and stop prosecuting the press in retaliation for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. At around 4 a.m. on Tuesday, in the southern Crimea town of Bakhchysarai, officers with…

Bogotá, March 7, 2024—The Venezuelan government must allow German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle and other international news channels to broadcast freely in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On Monday, DW’s Spanish-language TV channel posted a video on X calling Venezuela “the world’s second most corrupt country” and reporting that high-ranking politicians…