Iran

French journalist Olivier Dubois released after nearly 2 years of captivity in Mali Olivier Dubois, a French freelancer, went missing on April 8, 2021, in the Malian region of Gao while seeking an interview with the local leader of the Al-Qaeda affiliated group Jamaa Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin. His abduction was made public in a video…

Berlin, March 28, 2023—Albanian authorities must quickly and thoroughly investigate the recent attack on the privately owned TV station Top Channel and ensure those responsible are brought to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. Shortly after midnight on Monday, March 27, unidentified people fired 20 to 25 bullets from a vehicle as they…

A bombing on Saturday at an event to honor journalists in Afghanistan left one journalist dead and more than a dozen injured. The militant Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attack, stating that it targeted journalists “working in agencies involved in the war and instigation against IS.” “It’s barbaric to target journalists at an event meant to…

Abuja, February 27, 2023 – At least 14 journalists and media workers were detained, harassed, or attacked while covering Nigeria’s presidential and federal elections, including private news website WikkiTimes owner Haruna Mohammed Salisu, who remains in police custody without charge, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. Police detained Salisu on February 25 in Duguri…

Covering the Russia-Ukraine war one year on: A Q&A with Europe and Central Asia Researcher Anna Brakha In the year since it started, Russia’s brutal, full-scale invasion of Ukraine has taken a painful toll on the press. At least 13 journalists have been killed covering the war and CPJ is investigating whether the deaths of…

Nedim Türfent knows why he spent six and a half years of his life behind bars as a convicted terrorist in Turkey. The court that sentenced him explained the verdict in official documents: Because he writes “exaggerated and disturbing news stories” about the state.   After his prison term ended in November 2022, “It was…

Nicaraguan journalists Juan Lorenzo Holmann and Miguel Mendoza had served more than 500 days of their nine-year prison sentences when guards ordered them from their cells and put them on the buses that would take them to a plane bound for Washington, D.C. Holmann, the publisher of La Prensa newspaper, and Mendoza, a veteran sports…

Journalist assistance requests rose 24% in 2022 New York, February 16, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists on Thursday launched three new safety videos providing practical guidance to journalists covering unrest worldwide. Drawing on the organization’s expertise in emergency protection and safety, the videos will help journalists mitigate risk when covering protests and demonstrations. Reporting on…

Nicaraguan authorities freed and deported 222 political prisoners to the United States on Thursday, including at least two journalists: Juan Lorenzo Holmann Chamorro, publisher of La Prensa, and Miguel Mendoza Urbina, a sports and political commentator. Carlos Martinez de la Serna, CPJ’s program director, said the deportation “brings a sense of relief that they will…

Mexico City, February 6, 2023 – Mexican authorities must conduct a swift and thorough investigation into the abduction of two journalists and a media worker in the southern state of Guerrero, and account for the whereabouts of missing journalist Alan García Aguilar, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. A criminal gang in the Guerrero…