Belarusian authorities label newspaper, journalists’ association as ‘extremist’
Paris, March 7, 2023 — In response to multiple news reports that the Belarusian security service recently labeled the exiled Belarusian Association of Journalists and independent newspaper Brestskaya Gazeta as “extremist,” the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement calling for authorities to stop harassing the organizations and let them work freely: “By labeling…
Belarusian prosecutor requests 10 years in prison for journalist Valeryia Kastsiuhova
Paris, March 6, 2023–In response to media reports reports that a Belarusian prosecutor on Monday requested that journalist Valeryia Kastsiuhova be sentenced to 10 years in prison, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement of condemnation: “A Belarusian prosecutor’s request that journalist Valeryia Kastsiuhova spend a decade behind bars is yet another illustration…
Trial to start Tuesday for 3 Mada Masr journalists in Egypt
New York, March 6, 2023–In response to reports that three journalists from the Egyptian independent news website Mada Masr are scheduled to face trial on Tuesday, March 7, on charges of misusing social media and offending members of parliament, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement calling for the charges against them to…
Russian court sentences journalist Andrey Novashov to 8 months of correctional labor
Paris, March 6, 2023 – In response to multiple news reports that a Russian court Monday sentenced journalist Andrey Novashov to eight months of correctional labor, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement of condemnation: “Russian journalist Andrey Novashov’s case demonstrates how authorities are using wartime censorship measures to silence members of the…
Russian legislature adopts bill extending censorship on war reporting
Paris, March 2, 2023 – In response to multiple news reports that the lower house of the Russian parliament adopted amendments on Thursday, March 2, to expand existing penalties for spreading “fake” information about or discrediting participants on Russia’s side of the war in Ukraine, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement of…
Nigerian publisher Haruna Mohammed Salisu released on bail
Accra, March 2, 2023—In response to Nigerian authorities’ release of WikkiTimes publisher Haruna Mohammed Salisu on bail Thursday, following his arrest while covering national elections on February 25, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement calling for all charges against him to be dropped: “The release of Nigerian journalist Haruna Mohammed Salisu on…
Turkish journalist Sinan Aygül sentenced to 10 months in prison under new disinformation law
Tatvan, Turkey, February 28, 2023 – A court in Turkey on Tuesday, February 28, sentenced journalist Sinan Aygül to 10 months in prison for allegedly spreading disinformation, according to news reports. Aygül is the first journalist prosecuted under Turkey’s new disinformation amendment, passed in October 2022, that CPJ has documented. He remains free pending an…
Tunisian police file complaint against journalist Mohamed Mehdi Jlassi over July protests
New York, February 24, 2023 — In response to news reports that Tunisian journalist Mohamed Mehdi Jlassi, president of the National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists, faces prosecution for allegedly inciting disobedience and assaulting police during a July 2022 protest in the capital Tunis, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement on Friday: “Tunisian…
CPJ condemns new arrest of Somali journalist Abdalle Ahmed Mumin
Nairobi, February 23, 2023 – In response to news reports that intelligence agents and police officers arrested freelance journalist and press freedom advocate Abdalle Ahmed Mumin on Thursday at a hotel in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement: “Somali officials are demonstrating a disgraceful willingness to abuse…
CPJ appalled by killing of journalist reporting on Florida shootings
Washington, D.C., February 22, 2023– In response to Wednesday’s news reports about the fatal shooting of a Spectrum News 13 journalist in Orange County, Florida, while he was covering a separate fatal shooting earlier in the day, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement: “We are appalled by the killing of a Spectrum…