Enemies of the Press: The 10 Worst Offenders of 1996
Abu Abdul Rahman Amin, leader of the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria His insurgent faction has claimed responsibility for many of the 58 assassinations of journalists in Algeria over the past three years. Rahman Amin has threatened all secular journalists with death. “Those who fight with the pen,” he proclaimed, “shall die by the sword.”…
Cyberattackers used US company RayoByte in efforts to crash media sites
The cyberattack against the Somali Journalists Syndicate could not have come at a worse time. A distributed denial-of-service attack, known by its acronym DDoS, flooded the local press freedom group’s website with traffic in early August and knocked it offline. Days later, authorities arrested SJS staff member and Kaab TV editor Mohamed Ibrahim Osman Bulbul…
Toe Aung
Myanmar journalist Toe Aung, a former reporter for the independent outlet Mekong News, is serving a three-year prison sentence for criminal incitement, a charge Myanmar’s military regime has used broadly to stifle independent news reporting since staging a democracy-suspending coup in 2021. On March 2, 2022, Toe Aung was arrested by authorities in Tachileik, Shan…
Htun Than Aung
Myanmar journalist Htun Than Aung, a founder and former editor-in-chief of the independent outlet Mekong News, is serving a three-year prison sentence for criminal incitement, a charge Myanmar’s military regime has used broadly to stifle independent news reporting since staging a democracy-suspending coup in 2021. On March 2, 2022, Htun Than Aung was arrested by…
As Russia invades Ukraine, risks mount for reporters covering conflict, CPJ calls for journalists’ protection
As Russian forces invade Ukraine, Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, explains in a Q&A the possible risks for journalists on the ground, including being killed, injured, or taken hostage, and the potential challenges of reporting amid misinformation and disinformation. If a new pro-Kremlin regime is installed in Ukraine, it “would likely…
Dutch crime reporter Peter R. de Vries fights for survival after being shot
In Amsterdam, an unidentified attacker fired five shots at independent investigative journalist Peter R. de Vries. The shooter fled the scene, and the journalist is hospitalized in critical condition. De Vries has covered numerous high-profile criminal investigations, and received death threats in 2019. Dutch authorities arrested two suspects in the case: a 35-year-old Polish national…
Cheng Lei
Australian journalist Cheng Lei is being held in a Chinese Ministry of State Security facility in Beijing awaiting the outcome of a secret trial for endangering national security in March 2022. Beijing police arrested Cheng on August 14, 2020, amid heightened diplomatic tensions between China and Australia. Cheng is a business news anchor for the…
Cambodia jails journalist Ros Sokhet for criticizing Prime Minister Hun Sen
Bangkok, November 13, 2020 – The Committee to Protect Journalists today strongly condemned the sentencing of Cambodian journalist and publisher Ros Sokhet and called for his immediate and unconditional release. Phnom Penh’s Municipal Court convicted Sokhet and handed him an 18-month prison sentence on November 11, four months after he was arrested for Facebook posts…
Australian journalists flee China; government restricts visas for foreign reporters
Taipei, September 8, 2020 – Chinese authorities should end their intimidation of international journalists and let all media operate freely and without fear of reprisal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Yesterday, Bill Birtles, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Beijing correspondent, and Mike Smith, Shanghai correspondent for the Australian Financial Review, left China for Australia…
Ke Chengbing
Chinese labor rights journalist Ke Chengbing is being held in pretrial detention on accusations of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.” Shenzhen police arrested Ke on March 20, 2019. Ke is a reporter and editor for the labor rights news website Xinshengdai (New Generation), formerly known as ILabour.net. He covered labor rights issues and the prevalence…