Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of December 18
Court confiscates assets of 54 journalists Istanbul’s 11th Court of Penal Peace court confiscated the assets of 54 journalists, media workers, and writers, saying there was a “strong suspicion” that they were followers of exiled preacher Fethullah Gülen, whom the Turkish government accuses of maintaining a terrorist organization and “parallel state structure” (FETÖ/PDY, by its…
Malaysian authorities repeatedly arrest, harass award-winning cartoonist Zunar
Bangkok, December 19, 2016–Malaysian authorities should drop all criminal charges against editorial cartoonist Zulikiflee Anwar Ulhaque, better known as Zunar, and stop harassing him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Police arrested Zunar on December 17, the cartoonist said in a statement, the latest incident in authorities’ relentless campaign of judicial and police harassment…
Tanzania police raid popular website’s office in effort to learn users’ identities
Nairobi, December 14, 2016–Tanzanian security forces should immediately and unconditionally release Maxence Melo, the co-founder of popular online discussion portal Jamii Forum, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Police raided the website’s office in the capital Dar es Salaam today, after detaining Melo yesterday.
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of December 11
Columnist jailed pending ‘insult’ trial for remarks on Syria Istanbul’s Ninth Court of Penal Peace this evening ordered Hüsnü Mahalli, a columnist for the leftist newspaper Yurt, jailed pending trial on charges of “insulting the president” and “insulting a board of civil servants in the course of discharging their duties,” the official Anatolia Agency reported.
Ugandan journalist Joy Doreen Biira charged with ‘abetting terrorism’
Nairobi, November 30, 2016–Ugandan authorities should immediately and unconditionally drop all charges against Kenya Television Network (KTN) reporter and anchor Joy Doreen Biira, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Police detained Biira on November 27 after she reported on a deadly battle between police and a traditional monarch’s royal guard, charged her with “abetting…
China detains publisher of human rights news website
New York, November 29, 2016–Chinese authorities should immediately and unconditionally release Huang Qi, publisher of the human rights news website 64 Tianwang, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Police in China’s southwest Sichuan Province detained Huang last night, amid an intensified crackdown on online journalists and bloggers who report on protests and human rights…
Editor of human rights news website detained in China
New York, November 28, 2016 – Chinese authorities should immediately release Liu Feiyue, the editor and founder of the human rights news website Civil Rights & Livelihood Watch, known in China as Minsheng Guancha, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Liu’s arrest occurred amid increasing efforts by China to silence journalists and bloggers who…
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of November 27
Wire reporter releasedPolice in southeastern Mardin province today released Fethi Balaman, the leftist daily newspaper Evrensel reported. Police on November 29 detained the former reporter for the pro-Kurdish Dicle News Agency, which the government on October 31 ordered closed by emergency decree. [December 1, 2016]