NSO Group responds to spyware abuse allegations with spin
Entering the terms “NSO Group,” “journalists,” and “spying” into a Google search from a workstation in New York City recently produced a sponsored search result at the top of the page. The NSO Group manufactures some of the world’s most sophisticated and high-profile spyware, and its sponsored link invites readers to a slick website touting…
Maldives commission renews hope of justice for Rilwan and Rasheed
Mission Journal: With a new presidential commission investigating the abduction of Ahmed Rilwan Abdulla and the murder of Yameen Rasheed, CPJ’s Asia program research associate Aliya Iftikhar travels to Malé in late February to speak with the bloggers’ families about their pursuit of justice, and with authorities about the progress and challenges in the cases.
Ukrainian court grants prosecutor access to newsmagazine’s files, reporter’s emails
Kiev, February 19, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned a ruling by the Pechersk District Court of Kiev granting investigators from Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office access to internal documents of independent newsmagazine Novoye Vremya and email conversations of its reporter Ivan Verstiuk in an attempt to discover a source.
CPJ welcomes Mexican Supreme Court ruling in Carmen Aristegui case
Mexico City, February 14, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes a ruling yesterday by the Mexican Supreme Court declaring that the firing of journalist Carmen Aristegui from her morning radio show on broadcaster MVS Noticias in 2015 was illegal. The verdict was first reported on Aristegui’s news website, AristeguiNoticias.
Ghana won’t have press freedom without accountability
Three bullets, fired at close range by two assassins on a black and blue Boxer motorbike on January 16, 2019, killed investigative journalist Ahmed Hussein-Suale Divela, according to Sammy Darko, a lawyer working on Divela’s case. Darko told CPJ over the phone that bystanders saw it happen. Ghana’s media community, international rights groups (including CPJ),…
Ugandan authorities arrest BBC journalists investigating black market drug sales
Nairobi, February 7, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Ugandan authorities to immediately release a team of three journalists and one media worker detained in connection with their investigative reporting and to drop any investigation into a fourth journalist, who is part of the same team.
Iran sentences journalist to five years over corruption report
Washington D.C., January 25, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the five-year jail sentence imposed on January 23 by Tehran’s Revolutionary Court on journalist Yashar Soltani, who reported on corruption in Tehran land deals, and called on Iran to stop persecuting journalists for doing their job.
In Romania, EU data protection law used to try to muzzle Rise Project
Finding a suitcase full of documents is every journalist’s dream. But for the investigative outlet Rise Project, it quickly turned into a legal nightmare after Romanian authorities filed a complaint under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ordering the outlet to reveal its sources or pay a fine of up to 20 million euros…
Gagging orders, legal action, and communist era laws used to try to ‘choke’ Polish press
Polish security agents enter the house of a prominent TV journalist over accusations that he propagated Nazi propaganda. Police summon a reporter over claims that he breached the privacy of the vice-head of the constitutional court. And Poland’s central bank files gagging orders against two papers, demanding they remove several articles about a corruption scandal…