Journalist temporarily abducted, TV office attacked amid protests in Iraq
Beirut, November 20, 2019 — Iraqi authorities should conduct swift and transparent investigations into the temporary abduction of journalist Mohammad Qahtan al-Shamari and the attack on the Al-Arabi TV offices in Baghdad, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Somaliland police shut down Horn Cable TV, arrest its editor
Nairobi, November 19, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on authorities in the breakaway region of Somaliland to immediately allow the privately owned Horn Cable TV to operate freely and to unconditionally release its chief editor, Abdiqaadir Saleban Aseyr, also known as Coday.
As Erdoğan visits Trump, Turkey jails more journalists
Istanbul, November 14, 2019—Turkey must end its harassment of the press and stop jailing journalists simply for doing their job, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. In the past week, Turkish authorities have jailed at least three journalists, and detained three others overnight, according to reports.
Assyrian journalist detained in Iraq for 13 days after reporting trip to Syria
Kurdish Asayish security forces detained William Bnyameen Adam, an Assyrian journalist, for 13 days after the contributor to the California-based broadcaster Assyrian National Broadcasting (ANB) returned from a two-week assignment in northern Syria, the journalist told CPJ. The journalist said that security forces confiscated his equipment, beat him, and questioned him about his reporting.
Congolese journalist detained for five days over defamation complaint
On October 21, 2019, police arrested Achiko Ngaya, editor of the privately owned newspaper Les Nouvelles du Soir, in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ngaya told CPJ. The journalist said he was detained for five days and charged with criminal defamation.
Nigerian journalists charged with criminal defamation, breach of peace
New York, October 29, 2019—Authorities should drop all charges against journalists Joe Ogbodu and Prince Amour Udemude, and reform Nigeria’s penal code to ensure that journalism is not criminalized, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Journalists injured and detained, broadcasters banned as protests resume in Iraq
Beirut, October 29, 2019 — The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned recent attacks on journalists and media outlets in Iraq, and urged authorities to ensure that journalists can cover the ongoing protests in the country safely and without obstruction.
Sierra Leone journalist Mahmud Tim Kargbo charged with criminal defamation
Mahmud Tim Kargbo, a freelance reporter in Sierra Leone, was arrested and detained twice in September 2019 after Miatta Samba, an appeals court judge, lodged a complaint with the police against him for a report published September 9, 2019, on his Facebook page and in a WhatsApp group that criticized Samba’s decision to grant bail…