Saudi Arabia arrests journalist on unknown charges
In Saudi Arabia, journalist Zuhair Kutbi was arrested on unknown charges, and Eman Al Nafjan and Hatoon al-Fassi, two of the four female journalists critical of the ban on women driving whom Saudi authorities arrested last year, were tried. They appeared in court Wednesday on charges under the cybercrime law, including supporting “hostile elements.” In…
251 journalists jailed worldwide; third worst year on record
On Thursday, the Committee to Protect Journalists released its annual prison census–a snapshot of the number of journalists behind bars as of December 1, 2018. For the third consecutive year, at least 251 journalists are behind bars for their work, as authoritarian regimes increasingly use imprisonment to silence dissent. Read their stories here. Global press…
CPJ Insider: December 2018 edition
CPJ’s 2018 awardee Maria Ressa under increasing threat Days before Maria Ressa came to New York to accept CPJ’s 2018 Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award, the Philippine government announced that it planned to indict her and the news website she founded, Rappler, for tax evasion and failure to file tax returns.
Iraqi authorities shut down internet, detain and assault journalists amid protests
Between July 14 and September 6, 2018, at least seven Iraqi journalists were assaulted or detained while covering protests over government corruption and the lack of basic services in several cities across Iraq, and the offices of two local media outlets were set on fire, according to news reports, the journalists’ employers, the local press…
CPJ Insider: August edition
Four journalists, one media worker killed in shooting in Annapolis On June 28, a gunman shot five people to death in the newsroom of the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland. Police arrested Jarrod Ramos, an individual described as having a long-standing grudge against the paper, and charged him with five counts of first-degree murder. Days…
Maria Ressa
CPJ is honored to present its 2018 Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award to Rappler editor Maria Ressa. Maria Ressa is the founder, CEO, and executive editor of Rappler, a Philippine news website created in 2012 that is renowned for its critical coverage of President Rodrigo Duterte’s controversial policies and actions. Rappler has been targeted by…
Luz Mely Reyes, Venezuela
CPJ is honored to present its 2018 International Press Freedom Award to Venezuelan journalist Luz Mely Reyes. Investigative reporter Luz Mely Reyes has covered politics in her native Venezuela for more than 25 years. Her first day as a reporter coincided with former President Hugo Chávez’s first coup attempt in 1992. Reyes began her journalism…
Pakistan releases journalist on bail
New York, March 12, 2018 –The Committee to Protect Journalists today welcomes the release on bail of Pakistani journalist Hafiz Husnain Raza and calls on Pakistani authorities to drop all remaining charges against him. Authorities released Raza from prison on March 10 after an Anti-Terrorism Court in Punjab province acquitted the journalist on eight charges…
CPJ denied ECOSOC consultative status after vote in UN NGO Committee
New York. May 26, 2016–The NGO Committee of the United Nations voted today to deny the Committee to Protect Journalists consultative status with the Economic Social Council (ECOSOC). Without such status, CPJ is unable to access U.N. bodies and processes, notably the Human Rights Council in Geneva, where accredited NGOs can deliver a counter-narrative to…