Statements

2016

  
Darsema Sori, left, and Khalid Mohammed are convicted on terror charges in relation to their coverage of protests. (Bilal Communication)

Two Ethiopian radio journalists convicted on terror charges

Nairobi, December 21, 2016–Ethiopian radio journalists Khalid Mohammed and Darsema Sori, who have been imprisoned since February 2015, were today convicted on terrorism charges by the High Court’s 19th Criminal Bench, according to the independent Addis Standard newspaper.

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Dutch journalist Okke Ornstein, pictured in a prison compound in Panama, was jailed for criminal defamation. (CPJ/Jan-Albert Hootsen)

Dutch journalist Okke Ornstein due to be freed from Panama prison

New York, December 20, 2016–Dutch journalist Okke Ornstein is due to be released unconditionally from a Panamanian prison by December 23, his lawyer Manuel Succari told CPJ today. The journalist was named in a list published by the government today of people whose sentences were reduced as part of a presidential pardon. Ornstein was arrested…

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Swedish journalist expelled from Syria

New York, December 15, 2016 – The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Syrian government’s decision to expel Swedish radio journalist Cecilia Uddén from the country today. According to her employer, Radio Sweden, Uddén’s authorized reporting trip to Damascus and Aleppo was forcibly cut short when the government accused her of circulating “false information.”

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Leaders of Egypt’s Journalists Syndicate sentenced to 2 years in jail

New York, November 19, 2016 – The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the conviction of three leaders of the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate today on charges of harboring a fugitive. A Cairo court sentenced Yehia Qallash, the chairman of the syndicate, and board members Khaled al-Balshy and Gamal Abdel Rahim to two years in prison, according…

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Journalist attacked at U.S. protest

New York, November 11, 2016–Four masked men attacked freelance photojournalist Kyle Ludowitz yesterday as he photographed protesters looting and vandalizing businesses in the U.S. city of Oakland, California, the journalist told the Committee to Protect Journalists. Ludowitz was treated for a broken cheekbone following the incident, he said.

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Montreal police spied on La Presse reporter Patrick Lagacé

New York, October 31, 2016–Montreal police have been tracking an iPhone belonging to La Presse reporter Patrick Lagacé since the beginning of the year, the journalist’s paper reported today. Canadian courts authorized 24 warrants to surveil Lagacé’s phone, according to court documents obtained by the French-language Montreal daily. The warrants allowed police to access the…

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Supporters of Cumhuriyet newspaper protest a police raid of the daily's Istanbul's office, October 31, 2016. The signs read, "Free media cannot be silenced" (center), and "Don't bow down" (rear). (Reuters/Murad Sezer)

Turkey closes 15 media outlets, raids newspaper office, detains at least 12

New York, October 31, 2016 — The Turkish government should immediately reverse an emergency decree closing at least 15 news agencies, newspapers, and magazines and should immediately release all journalists imprisoned on bogus charges for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Journalist Amy Goodman, pictured at an event in 2012, is facing a charge of rioting after covering protests in September. (AFP/Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

North Dakota court to review rioting charge against Amy Goodman

New York, October 17, 2016–A U.S. court is due today to review a charge of rioting filed against broadcast journalist Amy Goodman, who filmed security guards using dogs and pepper spray to disperse protesters on September 3. The charge against the host of global news program Democracy Now! was filed October 14 by North Dakota…

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Donald Trump speaks with reporters after the first presidential debate in September. Journalists are among the groups attacked by the Republican nominee during his campaign. (AFP/Jewel Samad)

CPJ chairman says Trump is threat to press freedom

New York, October 13, 2016–The chairman of the board of the Committee to Protect Journalists, Sandra Mims Rowe, issued the following statement on behalf of the organization: Guaranteeing the free flow of information to citizens through a robust, independent press is essential to American democracy. For more than 200 years this founding principle has protected…

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US journalist Lindsey Snell released from Turkish prison

New York, October 12, 2016 — The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes today’s release of Lindsey Snell, a U.S. freelance journalist who Turkish security forces detained on August 7 as she crossed into the country from Syria. CPJ confirmed her release with Snell’s lawyers.

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2016