Arrested

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Parviz Sedaghat, a prominent economist and editor, was arrested by Iranian authorities in November.

Iranian authorities arrest economist and editor Parviz Sedaghat amid crackdown

Paris, November 7, 2025 — The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Iranian authorities to immediately release editor and economist Parviz Sedaghat and halt their escalating campaign against journalists, academics, and writers commenting on social and economic injustices. According to multiple reports, including Tehran-based outlet Rouydad24 and the Netherland-based Radio Zamaneh,  Sedaghat, editor-in-chief of Naghde…

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Somaliland police march in an independence parade in May 2024. Since the start of the 2025, more than 20 journalists have been caught up in a wave of arrests in Somaliland, according to the Somaliland Journalists Association. (Photo: Tiksa Negeri/Reuters)

CPJ calls for immediate release of Somaliland journalist Abdiaziz Awl

Kampala, September 18, 2025 —The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for authorities in the breakaway region of Somaliland to immediately and unconditionally release journalist Abdiaziz Saleban Sulub, also known as Abdiaziz Awl, and to end the ongoing harassment of the media. On September 12, police in Burao, in central Togdheer region, arrested Abdiaziz, a reporter…

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Ali Soumana

In Niger, journalist faces up to 3 years jail for alleged defamation of PM

Dakar, September 17, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists urges authorities in Niger to immediately release Ali Soumana, publishing director of the privately owned Le Courrier newspaper, after Prime Minister Ali Mahamane Lamine Zeine complained of defamation. “Ali Soumana’s imprisonment illustrates that press freedom in Niger has declined since last year, when President Abdourahmane Tchiani reintroduced…

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Caption: Two Sheger FM journalists, Tigist Zerihun and Mintamir Tsegaw, were detained by federal police on September 3 after the station aired a report on health professionals’ demands. (Screenshot: Sheger FM/YouTube)

Ethiopian police detain 2 Sheger FM journalists, force station to delete report

Nairobi, September 5, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Ethiopian authorities to unconditionally release Sheger FM radio editor Tigist Zerihun and reporter Mintamir Tsegaw, who were taken into custody on September 3 following the forced removal of Mintamir’s August 29 report on widespread protests over poor working conditions for healthcare workers, according to multiple news outlets. The Ethiopian Media Authority—the regulatory body responsible for…

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Azerbaijani authorities filed additional charges against 10 incarcerated journalists in relation to a currency smuggling case against the independent outlet Meydan TV, including (left to right) Natig Javadli, Aysel Umudova, Khayala Aghayeva, Aynur Elgunesh, Aytaj Tapdig, Ramin Jabrayilzade, and Shamshad Agha. Authorities also arrested Ahmad Mukhtar (far right). (Illustration: Courtesy of Meydan TV; Screenshot: Amerikanin Sesi/YouTube)

Azerbaijan brings new charges against Meydan TV, arrests another journalist

New York, September 3, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Azerbaijani authorities’ addition of seven new charges against 10 incarcerated journalists in relation to a currency smuggling case against the independent outlet Meydan TV, as well as the arrest of photojournalist Ahmad Mukhtar. “The latest financial crimes charges against the prize-winning Azerbaijani outlet Meydan TV…

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Members of a special security force loyal to the Houthi rebels take part in a military parade at the Tahrir Square in downtown Sanaa, Yemen July 19, 2017. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

Yemen authorities arrest journalist Hamoud Hazz’a on unknown charges in Marib

Washington, D.C., August 19, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the August 16 arrest of Yemen News Agency journalist Hamoud Hazz’a after security forces raided his home in Al-Jufaina camp, Marib Governorate, confiscated his mobile phone and laptop, and took him to an undisclosed location without legal justification. Before his arrest, Hazz’a warned in an August 16 Facebook post that security personnel…

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A rescue crane rises next to a residential building struck in Israeli attacks on the Iranian capital Tehran on June 13, 2025.

Iran arrests 98 ‘citizen-journalists’ for contact with UK-based outlet

Paris, July 31, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Iranian authorities to explain the grounds on which they have summoned and arrested 98 “so-called citizen-journalists” for having contact with a London-based Persian-language television channel. “Iranian authorities must immediately clarify the legal basis for this mass detention of its citizens and cease treating those who…

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Yemeni authorities arrested Abduljabar Bajabeer, general director of the TV3ad channel, on unspecified charges on July 28, 2025, in the city of Al-Mukalla. (Screenshot: 3adTV/YouTube)

Yemeni journalist Abduljabar Bajabeer arrested amid crackdown in Hadramout

Washington, D.C., July 29, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for the immediate release of journalist Abduljabar Bajabeer, general director of the TV3ad channel, after his July 28 arrest in Yemen’s conflict-torn Hadramout governorate. He was detained on unspecified charges and transferred to the Criminal Investigation prison in the city of Al-Mukalla. His arrest follows…

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(Photo Credit: Al-Manassa)

CPJ, 22 others call for Egyptian cartoonist Ashraf Omar’s release a year after arrest

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 22 other organizations in a joint letter calling for Al-Manassa cartoonist Ashraf Omar’s release a year after he was arrested July 22, 2024, and later accused of joining a terrorist group with knowledge of its purposes, spreading false news, and misusing social media. The statement also urged Egyptian authorities to…

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(Photo: Courtesy of the family of René Capain Bassène)

CPJ, 180 partners call for René Capain Bassène’s release in Senegal

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 180 journalists, civil society organizations, and academic researchers in a joint letter urging Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye to end the prolonged detention of journalist and writer René Capain Bassène, who has been behind bars since January 2018 and convicted of complicity in murder. A CPJ investigation found Bassène could…

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