CPJ Insider: July edition
CPJ summit spotlights journalist murders, press freedom climate in Mexico CPJ held a summit on press freedom in Mexico on June 18 with an array of local partners that engaged more than 400 journalists, activists, and government officials in frank conversations about how to tackle an epidemic of journalist murders and improve the media climate…
Moroccan independent journalists describe climate of pervasive surveillance, harassment
In March 2015, Hicham Mansouri emailed an anti-malware company, suspicious of possible signs that someone was able to access his device remotely, without permission. He remembers exchanging a few messages with the software company, but the correspondence was interrupted after a few days, when around 10 police officers in civilian clothes arrived at his home…
On World Press Freedom Day, we demand justice
This World Press Freedom Day, CPJ remembers the at least 1,340 journalists who have been killed in relation to their work worldwide since 1992. We salute the bravery of those who continue to risk their lives to bring us the news. In 2018, CPJ recorded 54 journalists killed for their work worldwide. Of those, 34…
U.S. prosecution of Assange has potential implications for press freedom
CPJ expressed concern about the potential press freedom implications of the U.S. prosecution of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. UK authorities arrested Assange April 11 at the Ecuadoran Embassy as part of an extradition agreement with the U.S., according to a statement by the U.S. Department of Justice. The statement said Assange faces a single count…
Moroccan press freedom conference in Paris shut down after disruptions, power cut
A conference on press freedom in Morocco held in Paris, France, was shut down on February 15, 2019, when the power was cut to the event after hecklers yelled at speakers and threw stink bombs, according to news reports, videos posted to social media, and witnesses who spoke with CPJ.
Hundreds of journalists jailed globally becomes the new normal
For the third year in a row, 251 or more journalists are jailed around the world, suggesting the authoritarian approach to critical news coverage is more than a temporary spike. China, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia imprisoned more journalists than last year, and Turkey remained the world’s worst jailer. A CPJ special report by Elana Beiser
CPJ Safety Advisory: Pegasus spyware used to target journalists, civil society
[EDITOR’S NOTE: See CPJ’s updated safety advisory here https://cpj.org/2019/11/cpj-safety-advisory-journalist-targets-of-pegasus-.php.] In a report published on September 18, Citizen Lab said it had detected Pegasus, a spyware created for mobile devices, in over 45 countries. Pegasus, which transforms a cellphone into a mobile surveillance station, could have been deployed against a range of journalists and civil society…
Moroccan court sentences two journalists to several years in prison
New York, July 3, 2018–Moroccan authorities should immediately release journalists Mohamed al-Asrihi and Hamid al-Mahdaoui and drop all charges against them, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The Casablanca Court of Appeals sentenced al-Asrihi on June 26 to five years in prison and a fine of 2,000 Moroccan dirhams (US$210), according to news reports;…
Critical Moroccan journalist arrested on several charges
Moroccan police on February 23, 2018 arrested Taoufik Bouachrine, a columnist and the publisher of Akhbar al-Youm, at the newspaper’s headquarters in Casablanca on charges including human trafficking, sexual assault, rape, prostitution, and harassment, according to his lawyers, outlets, and news reports.
Moroccan court convicts local publisher of criminal defamation
New York, February 14, 2018–Moroccan authorities should drop all charges against Akhbar al-Youm columnist and publisher Taoufik Bouachrine on appeal, and allow him to work without fear of reprisal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.