Chinese reporter Zhang Weihan recounts police harassment, detention in Tangshan
Taipei, June 21, 2022 – Chinese authorities should thoroughly investigate the alleged police attack on journalist Zhang Weihan and ensure that the press can work freely and without fear of harassment, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. Zhang said in a video that on June 12, police in the northeastern city of Tangshan detained…
Commonwealth Secretariat denies entry to at least 2 journalists seeking to cover summit in Rwanda; others left in limbo
Durban, June 17, 2022 — The Commonwealth Secretariat should ensure that all journalists can freely cover the upcoming summit in Rwanda, and should not allow the press accreditation process to be used as a political tool, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, which brings together the leaders of…
Hong Kong restricts access to chief executive inauguration and handover anniversary events
Taipei, June 16, 2022 — Hong Kong authorities should allow media outlets to freely cover the inauguration of Chief Executive-elect John Lee and the 25th anniversary of the territory’s handover to China, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On the evening of Thursday, June 16, applications closed for media outlets to seek access to…
South Sudan state government suspends Radio Jonglei for five days over political coverage
On May 19, 2022, John Samuel Manyuon, minister of information and communication in South Sudan’s east-central Jonglei State, ordered the suspension of the local Radio Jonglei community broadcaster in Bor town, according to media reports, as well as Manyuon and managers at the radio station, who spoke with CPJ over the phone. The suspension was…
Sierra Leone publisher Chernoh Alpha Bah threatened with death, charges of treason
Abuja, May 31, 2022 — Sierra Leone authorities must cease their harassment of the Africanist Press news site and its publisher, Chernoh Alpha Bah, and should investigate the death threats against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On May 4, Sierra Leone’s Office of National Security (ONS), a federal security agency, submitted a…
‘Disastrous for press freedom’: What Russia’s goal of an isolated internet means for journalists
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine presents a danger not only for reporters operating in the war zone. The campaign could also pose a broader threat to press freedoms and other civil liberties if it brings the Kremlin closer to its dream of creating a domestically controlled internet. Russia’s internet regulator, Rozkomnadzor, has long been able to…
Guatemalan official files criminal suit against 3 journalists under violence against women law
Guatemala City, May 18, 2022 — Guatemalan authorities should drop all charges against three journalists from the independent newspaper elPeriódico and stop using laws intended to protect women from violence to target and intimidate reporters, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On May 13, Judge Anaelsee Ramírez formally notified elPeriódico publisher José Rubén Zamora,…
Kashmir media at a ‘breaking point’ amid rising number of journalist detentions
Sajad Gul’s mother had prepared his favorite dishes as she anxiously awaited his return home. The Kashmiri journalist, who had been granted bail the day before, on January 15, 2022, was to be released following his arrest earlier that month in a criminal conspiracy case, according to a journalist friend who spoke on condition of…
How China is stepping up harassment of foreign correspondents
When international journalists rushed to Zhengzhou city in Henan province to cover a deadly flood in July 2021, they were confronted by angry bystanders who accused them of “spreading rumors” and “smearing China.” Many also received harassing messages on social media and intimidating calls, according to the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China. This hostility spread after the Henan Communist Youth…
World Press Freedom Day 2022
The Committee to Protect Journalists is marking World Press Freedom Day by highlighting calls for the protection of reporters covering Russia’s war in Ukraine, reminders that journalists are civilians under international law and demands to hold accountable those who target journalists around the world. (#NotATarget) Read, watch and listen to news about what the UN…