Blogger detained amid escalating crackdown in Vietnam
Bangkok, November 4, 2016–Vietnamese authorities should immediately and unconditionally release blogger Ho Van Hai, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Police in Ho Chi Minh City’s Thu Duc district arrested Hai, a medical doctor popularly known by his Facebook moniker ‘Ho Hai’, on November 2, according to news reports.
Myanmar obstructs reporters from covering crisis in Rakhine State
Bangkok, November 3, 2016–Security officials in Myanmar should stop obstructing and harassing journalists attempting to report on the conflict in the country’s northern Rakhine State, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The censorship comes amid widespread allegations of military abuses, including allegations of sexual violence, perpetrated as part of an intensified counterinsurgency campaign along…
Award-winning Malaysian cartoonist banned from travel
Bangkok, October 18, 2016–Malaysian authorities should immediately lift all restrictions on cartoonist Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque’s freedom of movement, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. An officer at Kuala Lumpur International Airport yesterday prevented the cartoonist, better known as Zunar, from leaving the country, according to news reports.
Pro-government group harasses journalists in Malaysia
Bangkok, October 17, 2016 – Malaysian authorities should swiftly bring to justice those responsible for harassing three journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Members of a pro-government group threatened journalists covering a confrontation between a group associated with the ruling party and a rival group on October 15, according to press reports.
Prominent blogger ‘Mother Mushroom’ detained in Vietnam
Bangkok, October 11, 2016–Vietnamese authorities should immediately release and drop all charges against prominent independent blogger Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Quynh, popularly known by her pen name Me Nam (Mother Mushroom), was arrested yesterday while trying to visit an imprisoned political activist in the central coastal town of…
Blogger’s prison sentence reduced, news site shuttered in Vietnam
Bangkok, October 5, 2016 – A Vietnamese appeals court yesterday reduced from four to three years a prison sentence given earlier this year to independent blogger Nguyen Ngoc Gia on anti-state charges related to his critical journalism, according to news reports.
Soldiers assault Indonesian journalist
Bangkok, October 4, 2016 – Indonesian military officials should take swift disciplinary action against soldiers responsible for assaulting a television journalist, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Soldiers assaulted and threatened Indonesian TV reporter Sony Misdananto while he covered a religious celebration, according to news reports.
Draft regulatory bill threatens media freedom in Thailand
Bangkok, September 15, 2016 – Thailand’s military-appointed National Reform Steering Assembly should scrap proposed legislation that would create a new national media regulator, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The draft bill, the latest in a raft of military-imposed measures that restrict press freedom, is now being considered by a government sub-panel tasked with…
Police raid newspaper after critical documentary airs in Maldives
Bangkok, September 9, 2016 – Authorities in the Maldives should cease harassing the Maldives Independent, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Police raided the daily newspaper’s office hours after the Qatari broadcaster Al-Jazeera aired a documentary produced by the paper’s former editor alleging high-level corruption in the Maldives.