CPJ condemns Iran’s jailing of journalists
New York, April 26, 2016 — The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemns an Iranian court’s sentencing of three reformist journalists. Tehran’s Revolutionary Court sentenced the three to between five and 10 years in prison on charges of “acting against national security,” according to press reports.
CPJ condemns murder of Bangladeshi LGBT journalist
New York, April 25, 2016–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the murder today of Bangladeshi journalist Xulhaz Mannan. The senior editor at gay rights magazine Roopbaan, who also worked at the U.S. Agency for International Development, was stabbed to death at his home in Dhaka alongside a friend, according to reports. A third person, described…
CPJ urges Kyrgyzstan to release Azimjon Askarov
New York, April 25, 2016–Kyrgyz authorities should immediately and fully comply with the U.N. Human Rights Committee’s calls to free imprisoned journalist Azimjon Askarov, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Kyrgyzstan’s Supreme Court announced in a statement on its website today that if Askarov requests a review of his case, the Kyrgyz constitution obliges…
Secular blogger hacked and shot to death in Bangladesh
New York, April 7, 2016–Unidentified assailants attacked blogger Nazimuddin Samad with sharp weapons and then fatally shot him in Dhaka Wednesday night, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the Bangladeshi government to determine the motive for the killing, and to take immediate steps to bring his attackers to justice
In Colombia, second attacker sentenced in Jineth Bedoya case
New York, March 18, 2016–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the sentencing today of former paramilitary fighter Mario Jaimes Mejía who, according to reports, was handed a 28-year prison term for the kidnap, rape, and torture of Colombian journalist Jineth Bedoya Lima in 2000. Last month, Alejandro Cárdenas Orozco, a former paramilitary fighter, was sentenced…
Four journalists, human rights lawyer pardoned in Azerbaijan
New York, March 17, 2016 – The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes Azerbaijan’s decision to release four independent reporters and a human rights lawyer, urges authorities to ensure they will not have criminal records, and calls on authorities to free all journalists who remain behind bars.
In Ethiopia, journalist detained since 2013 handed jail sentence
New York, March 11, 2016–Solomon Kebede, the managing editor of the now-defunct Ethiopian paper Ye Muslimoch Guday (Muslim Affairs), was sentenced to prison Thursday, more than three years after being jailed on anti-terrorism charges. CPJ was not immediately able to reconcile conflicting reports on the exact length of the prison sentence.
Istanbul court to appoint trustees for Zaman, Today’s Zaman editorial board
New York, March 4, 2016–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by a ruling in Turkey today under which an Istanbul court will appoint trustees for the Turkish language Zaman and its English-language sister publication, Today’s Zaman. The ruling, brought by an Istanbul public prosecutor who accuses the papers of terrorist propaganda, means court-appointed staff…
Journalist trapped and injured while reporting in besieged Turkish town dies
New York, February 24, 2016–A news editor for the Kurdish-language daily Azadiya Welat, who had been trapped with a gunshot wound in Cizre since January 22, has died. Authorities used DNA testing to identify the remains of Rohat Aktaş, local reports said today. The exact circumstances of his death are unclear. Pro-opposition and pro-Kurdish media…
Court convicts suspect in murder of DRC journalist Soleil Balanga
New York, February 23, 2016–A court in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday convicted a suspect of murdering journalist Soleil Balanga in April 2015, in Équateur province, according to a press release issued today by Journaliste en Danger, a Congolese press freedom organization. The High Court of Boende found Moussa Tendenle guilty of having…