Burundi must investigate attacks on journalists
The Committee to Protect Journalists and 18 other organizations are urging Burundi authorities to investigate attacks on journalists and human rights defenders. Since the April announcement that President Pierre Nkurunziza would run for a third term, defying constitutional limitations and sparking months of protests, journalists have been routinely targeted. At least five radio stations were…
Dogged by fraud allegations, Malaysia targets media
Investigative reporting on alleged mismanagement of a Malaysian state investment fund has triggered a backlash against muckraking media. On Friday, the Home Ministry ordered the suspension of two local news publications, The Edge Weekly and The Edge Financial Daily, for three months on the grounds that their reporting on the fund, known as 1Malaysia Development…
Myanmar media owner attacked by slingshot-wielding assailants
New York, July 17, 2015–The owner of a media group in Myanmar was attacked on Tuesday by slingshot-wielding assailants, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the attack and calls on authorities to prosecute the perpetrators.
Mission Journal: Crimea’s journalists in exile as Russia muzzles free press
“First they asked if my parents had any guns or drugs in the apartment, then they showed my picture to my mother and asked her to identify me,” Anna Andriyevskaya said. The Crimean journalist, who is living in exile in Kiev, was describing a raid on her parents’ home by Russian FSB agents. “Any other…
How patriotism with a Cold War tinge is damaging Crimea’s press
“You should move to Kiev,” I was trying to persuade a friend of mine to leave Crimea. I first met him at the time when cassettes were used in voice recorders, there were no e-mail addresses on business cards, and people preferred to make acquaintances in bars, not online. He asked me not to make…
Gambia should disclose whereabouts of radio journalist
Abuja, Nigeria, July 9, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Gambian authorities to disclose the whereabouts, health, and legal status of Alagie Abdoulie Ceesay, a radio journalist who was last seen on July 2 with individuals reported to be Gambian state security agents. “Gambian security agents have long stoked a climate of fear for…
Myanmar detains, obstructs journalists from reporting
On May 31, 2015, Myanmar’s navy questioned and briefly detained several journalists. The journalists, who were in small boats, were attempting to reach a remote island off Myanmar’s southwestern coast where a ship carrying hundreds of migrants had drifted, according to news reports.
In censored Saudi Arabia, Raif Badawi filled a journalistic void
On the third anniversary of the arrest of liberal activist and writer Raif Badawi in Saudi Arabia, his supporters all over the world are working hard to prevent what may lay ahead: the completion of a 10-year, thousand-lash sentence. To be effective in changing Badawi’s future, it is important to take inspiration from his past,…
Baku 2015: Press freedom, Azerbaijan, and the European Games
Tomorrow 50 countries are due to take part in the opening ceremony of the inaugural European Games in Baku, but Azerbaijan’s most prominent journalist, Khadija Ismayilova, will not be at the celebrations. The award-winning investigative reporter has been in jail since December on retaliatory charges over her writing on corruption.
Erdoğan threatens Cumhuriyet, editor-in-chief over arms smuggling report
Istanbul, June 1, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s legal threats against pro-opposition daily newspaper Cumhuriyet and Can Dündar, its editor-in-chief, whom the president accused of espionage during a live broadcast Sunday night on state-run television.