Statements

New York, February 13, 2015--The Azerbaijani Prosecutor General's Office today charged Khadija Ismayilova, an award-winning investigative journalist, with embezzlement, illegal business, tax evasion, and abuse of power, regional and international press reported. The new charges came the same week that news reports said a leading press freedom advocate, Emin Huseynov, has been in hiding in the Swiss embassy in Baku to avoid arrest on similar accusations.

New York, February 11, 2015--The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Egyptian authorities to drop the charges against imprisoned Al-Jazeera journalists Mohamed Fadel Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, whose retrial is scheduled to begin on Thursday. A court said it had ordered the retrial because of lack of evidence leading to their conviction of "conspiring with the Muslim Brotherhood," which the government has declared a terrorist organization, according to news reports. In June 2014, Fahmy was sentenced to seven years and Mohamed to 10 years.

New York, February 6, 2015--The Baku Appeals Court today upheld a lower court's decision to extend the pretrial detention of investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova to March 24, according to regional press reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for Ismayilova's immediate release.

San Francisco, February 4, 2015--The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned about reports that police agencies in the United Kingdom made more than 600 applications under anti-terror legislation to uncover journalists' confidential sources in the past three years. Today's revelation in the Guardian, citing the interception of communications commissioner, Anthony May, comes amid criticism of Prime Minister David Cameron's pledge to make end-to-end encryption illegal in the U.K.

February 1, 2015--Al-Jazeera journalist Peter Greste, who was serving a seven-year prison sentence in Egypt for "conspiring with the Muslim Brotherhood," was deported today, according to Egypt's state-run news agency. Greste, who is Australian, was arrested in December 2013 with his colleagues Mohamed Fadel Fahmy and Baher Mohamed.

New York, January 31, 2015--The Islamic State militant group released a video Saturday purporting to show the murder of Japanese journalist Kenji Goto, according to news reports. Japanese authorities have not yet verified the footage is authentic, according to news reports. Goto, a well-respected journalist who reported primarily on humanitarian issues, was kidnapped in Syria in October 2014, according to news reports.

Nairobi, January 23, 2015--Six Eritrean journalists who worked for the government-controlled station Radio Bana have been released from jail, according to Eritrean journalists in exile who spoke to the Committee to Protect Journalists. The journalists--Basilos Zemo, Bereket Misguina, Ghirmai Abraham, Meles Nguse, Petros Teferi, and Yirgalem Fesseha--were among the Radio Bana staff arrested in a February 2009 raid on the station.

New York, January 16, 2015--Agence France-Presse photographer Asif Hassan was shot and wounded today while covering clashes in Karachi between police and supporters of the Jamaat-e-Islami religious party who were demonstrating against the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, according to news reports. It is unclear from where the firing originated or whether he was targeted. Hassan underwent surgery to his chest, according to reports citing his doctor. A police officer and a local cameraman who was not identified in reports also suffered minor injuries.

New York, January 7, 2015--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns today's attack on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris. French media reported that hooded gunmen stormed the magazine's offices, killing at least 12 people and critically wounding at least five. Journalists and police officers were believed to be among the casualties. The gunmen fled.

New York, December 22, 2014--The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the passage of a new broadcast law in Uruguay today, which has strong guarantees for freedom of expression and forbids censorship. The law, which was introduced in May 2013 by President José Mujica, is aimed at regulating radio and television with the goal of creating a diverse and competitive broadcast system, according to news reports. The law awaits Mujica's signature before he leaves office on March 1, 2015.