Coronavirus

New Delhi, July 13, 2020 – West Bengal authorities must immediately release journalists Suraj Ali Khan and Safikul Islam, as well as Islam’s wife, Alima Khatun, and drop all the charges against them and investigations into their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. At about 3 a.m. on June 29, police arrested Khan…

Washington, D.C., July 13, 2020 — In response to the death of Egyptian journalist Mohamed Monir after contracting COVID-19 in pretrial detention, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement: “We are extremely disturbed by journalist Mohamed Monir’s death today after he spent more than two weeks unnecessarily held in pretrial detention at Cairo’s…

Bangkok, July 13, 2020 – Malaysian authorities should cease investigating Al-Jazeera staffers and stop using legal threats to harass the media, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On July 10, Malaysian police interrogated six reporters and staff members of the Qatari broadcaster in relation to a July 3 documentary, “Locked Up in Malaysia’s Lockdown,” aired…

Nairobi, July 9, 2020 — Tanzania’s broadcasting regulator should immediately lift its suspension of Kwanza Online TV and stop weaponizing regulations against critical media outlets, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On July 2, the Contents Committee of the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority, a department within the country’s broadcast regulator, sent a letter to…

Between April 5, 2020, and June 11, 2020, one journalist was assaulted by police, another had his property destroyed by local authorities in retaliation for his reporting, and at least five others were subject to criminal investigations and, in one case, an interrogation, according to interviews CPJ conducted with five of the journalists and media…

Berlin, July 9, 2020 – Serbian authorities should quickly and thoroughly investigate attacks on journalists covering anti-government protests in the country, and bring those responsible to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On July 7 and 8, demonstrators and police attacked at least 10 journalists who were documenting protests in Belgrade, the capital,…

On June 15, 2020, police assaulted, arrested, and detained overnight photographers Harrison Agudelo, Juan Carlos Londoño, and Juan Pablo Herrera, according to Londoño who spoke to CPJ via phone and the Bogotá-based group Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP). The incident happened as the three were covering an anti-government protest in the western Colombian city of…

New York, July 2, 2020 – Mozambican authorities should not contest journalist Omardine Omar’s appeal and should allow him and all members of the press to work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On June 30, the Ka Mpfumo court in Maputo, the capital, convicted Omar, a reporter for the privately owned news…

New York, June 30, 2020 – Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon should not ratify proposed legal amendments that would threaten free expression in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On June 26, the country’s National Assembly, its upper house of parliament, unanimously approved amendments to the country’s administrative code making it illegal to…

As Belarus’s August 9, 2020, presidential election nears with President Aleksandr Lukashenko vying to remain in power after 26 years in office, press freedom advocates say Belarusian authorities are cracking down on journalists and government critics.  Over three days starting June 25, Belarusian authorities arrested several popular bloggers: Ihor Losik, Serhei Petrukhin, Aleksandr Kabanau, Volodimir…