DRC journalist Eliezer Ntambwe detained without charge
New York, April 4, 2018–Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo should immediately release Eliezer Ntambwe, a journalist and presenter at the privately owned news outlet and YouTube channel Tokomi Wapi, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Turkish authorities seize control of pro-Kurdish national daily
Istanbul, March 28, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the takeover today by a government-affiliated body of one of the last remaining pro-Kurdish national dailies and called for authorities to immediately release at least 10 media staff detained during the raid and to return the outlet to its rightful management.
In DRC at least six journalists detained during anti-government protests
Congolese security forces on November 30, 2017, detained at least six local journalists and confiscated their equipment as they tried to cover countrywide protests over President Joseph Kabila’s refusal to stand down when his second five-year term in office expired in 2016 and his refusal to hold elections, according to a local press freedom group…
Censorship, surveillance, and harassment: China cracks down on critics
Hours after the Chinese Communist Party proposed a constitutional change last month to lift presidential term limits, any words or phrases that remotely suggested President Xi Jingping was seeking a life term were blocked from social media. Censors targeted everything from “Emperor Xi,” “The Emperor’s Dream,” and “Dream of Returning to the Great Qing,” to…
DRC security forces harass journalists covering Kabila protests
Security forces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on December 31, 2017, harassed at least three journalists who were reporting on protests in the capital, Kinshasa, over President Joseph Kabila’s refusal to stand down when his second five-year term in office expired in 2016 and his refusal to hold elections, according to local journalists…
In Maldives, at least three journalists detained over protest coverage
New York, March 16, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Maldivian authorities to immediately release three Raajje TV journalists who, according to their pro-opposition station, were detained today over their coverage of anti-government protests in the capital, Malé.
Chinese authorities briefly detain RFI correspondent in Beijing
Police in Beijing detained French journalist Heike Schmidt, the China correspondent for the French Foreign Ministry-funded outlet, Radio France Internationale, for about an hour on March 9, 2018, and confiscated her tape recorder, according to the journalist’s outlet.
Journalists covering protests in US risk getting caught up in police kettling tactic
On September 17 last year, St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Mike Faulk was covering protests over the acquittal of a former police officer in the killing in 2011 of man named Anthony Lamar Smith. At about 11 p.m., officers formed a line across Washington Avenue near Tucker Boulevard in downtown St. Louis, and officers in full…
Censorship tightens in Egypt as el-Sisi prepares for re-election bid
Ahead of elections in Egypt later this month, in which President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is seeking a second term, the authoritarian leader’s government has further clamped down on press freedom, issuing warnings to the media and arresting critical journalists on “false news” charges. Even satirical TV shows have not been spared, with AFP reporting how…
Ethiopia arrests critical blogger Seyoum Teshome
Nairobi, March 9, 2018–Ethiopian authorities should immediately release Seyoum Teshome, who publishes the Ethiothinktank blog, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Security forces yesterday arrested Seyoum at his home near the Woliso campus of Ambo University, where he lectures, according to witnesses who spoke with Voice of America and Deutsche Welle. The reason for…