Charged

Washington D.C., September 16, 2020 — The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department should immediately drop all charges against journalist Josie Huang, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On the evening of September 12, sheriff’s deputies tackled and arrested Huang, a reporter for a National Public Radio member station KPCC and local news website LAist,…

Istanbul, September 8, 2020 – Turkish authorities should immediately return the confiscated property of journalist Oktay Candemir and drop all charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Yesterday, police in the eastern city of Van arrested Candemir, a freelance journalist who writes columns for the pro-Kurdish news website Nupel, at his home,…

New York, September 2, 2020 – Since August 24, the Egyptian state prosecutor’s office has filed additional charges against imprisoned journalists Mohamed Salah, Solafa Magdy, and Esraa Abdelfattah, for actions they allegedly committed while in pretrial detention, according to local news reports. On August 24, the prosecutor’s office charged Salah with membership in a terrorist…

Istanbul, August 31, 2020 – Turkish authorities should drop all charges against journalists Rawin Sterk and Selman Keleş, release Sterk from prison, and cease filing bogus terrorism charges against the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On September 2, the 34th Istanbul Court of Serious Crimes, in Çağlayan, is scheduled to begin proceedings…

Washington, D.C., August 17, 2020 – Nearly three months after the height of national Black Lives Matter protests, at least six journalists are still facing charges stemming from their coverage, according to research by the Committee to Protect Journalists and its partner site, the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. CPJ today called on state and municipal…

New York, July 20, 2020 – Zimbabwean authorities should immediately release independent investigative journalist Hopewell Chin’ono and drop the incitement charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. At about 11 a.m. today, Chin’ono posted two short messages on his Twitter account, which are no longer available after his account was later deactivated,…

On July 9, 2020, the Lebanese attorney general’s office filed criminal charges against Neshan Der Haroutiounian, a Lebanese-Armenian TV host, for his remarks about Turkish President Erdoğan, and set a date for his trial at Beirut’s Publications Court on October 8, according to news reports. The charges stemmed from a July 11 filing by Muhammad…

On June 29, 2020, Godfrey Mtimba, a freelance journalist in Zimbabwe’s southern town of Masvingo, was charged with insulting and undermining the authority of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, the journalist and his lawyer, Phillip Shumba, told CPJ via messaging app. Mtimba was charged under Section 33 (2) (a) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act,…

New York, June 29, 2020 — Authorities in Botswana should drop all charges against journalists David Baaitse and Kenneth Mosekiemang, and allow them to work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. At about 2:30 p.m. on June 18, intelligence agents arrested Baaitse, a reporter for the privately owned Weekend Post weekly, and Mosekiemang,…

New York, June 23, 2020 — Zimbabwean prosecutors should drop the charges filed against two journalists for violating the country’s COVID-19 lockdown regulations and ensure that they can report freely about alleged abuses by security forces, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Frank Chikowore, a freelance journalist, and Samuel Takawira, a reporter for the…