Cartoonist

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In Thailand, cartoonist detained and warned he could be prosecuted

Bangkok, October 5, 2015–Authorities in Thailand briefly detained Sakda Sae Iao, a prominent editorial cartoonist with the local language Thai Rath newspaper, on Sunday and warned he could be prosecuted for his future work, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the harassment and calls on Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha to end…

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In Iran, journalists accused of espionage, sentenced to prison

Iranian government-run media outlets in mid-August 2015 accused Farnaz Fassihi, a New York-based senior reporter for the Wall Street Journal, of being a liaison between the U.S. government and the opposition. After Kayhan, a newspaper closely associated with the Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, accused Fassihi of conspiring against the Iranian government, the Supreme Leader-affiliated…

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Wang Liming, pictured in 2013, says he fears he will be arrested if he returns to China. The political cartoonist is living in Japan but says he is running out of funds. (Reuters/Petar Kujundzic)

Chinese cartoonist Rebel Pepper struggles to survive in self-imposed exile

When calls for Wang Liming to be arrested were made on a forum hosted by China’s state-controlled press last year, the satirical cartoonist who lampooned the Communist Party leadership decided it would be safer to stay in Japan, where he had been traveling. But while he may have avoided possible arrest, the cartoonist, known as…

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Aseem Trivedi speaks to the media after his arrest in 2012. Charges against the cartoonist have been dropped after India overturned part of its Information Technology Act. (Reuters/Danish Siddiqui)

India’s landmark online speech ruling is step toward greater press freedom

In an historic decision, India’s Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down part of a law used to silence criticism and free expression. While this marks a pivotal victory that has been welcomed in many quarters, many challenges remain for press freedom in the country.

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Satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo continues to be published after the deadly attack on its staff, but the show of solidarity for freedom of expression is subsiding. (AFP/Martin Bureau)

Je suis Charlie sentiment fades amid calls to tame free speech

Je suis Charlie. Two months after that phrase was used around the world to show solidarity with the victims of the January 7 attack against French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, flowers are still left at the site of the killings on Rue Nicolas Appert in the 11th arrondissement of Paris. The street has reopened to…

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Police raid, seize books from Malaysian cartoonist’s office

Bangkok, February 2, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Malaysian authorities to halt the legal harassment of a Malaysian cartoonist. Zulkiflee Awar Ulhaque, also known as Zunar, is a frequent contributor to the news website Malaysiakini and the author of several volumes of political cartoons.

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Newspapers announce the election victory of Maithripala Sirisena, who has pledged to improve conditions for the press in Sri Lanka. (AFP/Lakruwan Wanniarachchi)

How Sri Lanka’s new president can ease decade of repressive press measures

The stunning defeat of Sri Lanka’s incumbent president Mahinda Rajapaksa by challenger Maithripala Sirisena on Friday has given way to questions about what changes, if any, will come for press freedom in a country that had grown deeply repressive under the previous leadership.

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A vigil in France for victims of the Charlie Hebdo attack. In cities across the world, pens and signs reading I Am Charlie were held aloft in honor of those killed in the gun attack. (AFP/Thierry Zoccolan)

Charlie Hebdo attack unites France on free expression, but will solidarity hold?

The attack on the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo has sent shock waves through France and beyond. Not only because 12 people have been killed in cold blood and many were wounded in what was the deadliest terrorist attack in France since 1961, when right wingers bombed a train killing 28 people. Not only because,…

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Cartoonist Aseem Trivedi, center, has been charged with sedition. (AP/Rafiq Maqbool)

With new focus on sedition law, India poised at juncture

Although it is the world’s largest democracy, India has retained its colonial-era sedition law. But with a national debate ensuing after the arrest of 25-year-old political cartoonist Aseem Trivedi on the antiquated sedition charge and others, members of the Indian government have been forced to do some soul-searching.

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Iranian regime continues campaign against critical press

New York, May 23, 2012–Iranian authorities have sentenced an editorial cartoonist to 25 lashes, yet another low point in a three-year-long crackdown against the press that also includes two new imprisonments and the suspension of a monthly.

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