Police fire tear gas, rubber bullets into crowd of journalists in Istanbul
Istanbul, July 21, 2021 – Turkish authorities must ensure that journalists can cover political events without being harassed or attacked by police, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Yesterday, police in Istanbul’s Kadıköy district disrupted a political march commemorating the victims of the 2015 Suruç bombing and shoved, hit, and fired tear gas and…
Algerian communications minister threatens to withdraw accreditation of France 24 over protest coverage
New York, March 16, 2021 – Algerian authorities should refrain from threatening news outlets over their coverage, and should ensure that French public broadcaster France 24 can operate freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On March 13, Communications Minister Ammar Belhimer issued a statement describing France 24’s coverage of protests and marches the…
Translators and journalists released without charge in Ethiopia
Nairobi, March 3, 2021 — In response to Ethiopian authorities’ decision today to release two media workers and two reporters who had been detained in relation to their coverage of the conflict in the northern state of Tigray, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement: “We welcome the release of the translators and…
Journalists in India face attacks, legal action, and threats
In September and October 2020, lists circulating online allegedly identifying journalists as “anti-Hindu” or as “Indian agents” named dozens of local members of the press, police opened investigations into at least two reporters and one media executive, and authorities attacked at least one journalist during the course of his reporting, according to news reports and…
Bulgarian riot police beat and pepper spray journalists covering demonstrations
Berlin, September 3, 2020 — Bulgarian authorities should swiftly and thoroughly investigate police attacks on journalists, hold those responsible to account, and ensure that reporters can cover protests freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Yesterday evening, while breaking up an anti-government protest in Sofia, the capital, riot police officers attacked and briefly detained…
Militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham assaults at least 12 Syrian journalists covering joint Russian-Turkish military patrol in Idlib
On June 10, 2020, several members of the militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an Al-Qaeda offshoot previously known as Al-Nusra Front, hit and kicked at least 12 Syrian journalists while they were covering a joint Turkish-Russian military patrol on the M4 Highway, which links Latakia and Aleppo, according to four of the journalists who…
Yemeni journalist Nabil al-Quaety killed outside his home in Aden
New York, June 3, 2020 — Yemeni authorities should conduct a thorough investigation into the killing of journalist Nabil Hasan al-Quaety and hold the perpetrators to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Yesterday morning, a group of men in military uniforms attempted to hit al-Quaety with their car as he exited his home…
AFP photographer Ahmad al-Rubaye shot with pellets while covering protests in Baghdad
On February 21, 2020, Iraqi riot police in Baghdad’s Al-Kilani Square shot Ahmad al-Rubaye, an Iraqi photographer for the French news agency Agence France-Presse, with rubber pellets that hit his back, legs, and right shoulder, according to news reports, a statement by the local press freedom group Journalistic Freedoms Observatory, and the journalist, who spoke…
AFP freelance journalist Hamza Turkia shot while covering clashes in Libya
On June 19, 2019, an unidentified individual shot Hamza Turkia, a freelance photographer and videographer at the time working for French news agency Agence France-Presse, in the hand and leg while the journalist was covering clashes between forces allied with the internationally recognized Government of National Accord and the self-styled Libyan National Army in Tripoli,…
Algeria expels AFP bureau chief Aymeric Vincenot after accreditation expires
New York, April 16, 2019 — The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the expulsion of Aymeric Vincenot, the Agence France-Presse bureau chief in Algiers, and called on the Algerian government to facilitate press accreditation for foreign journalists.