South Sudan detains director of public broadcaster for more than a week
Nairobi, July 18, 2017–South Sudanese authorities should immediately release Adil Faris Mayat, the director of the country’s public broadcaster, South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation, the Committee to Protect Journalist said today. National Security Service agents arrested Mayat in Juba on July 10, according to media reports.
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of July 16, 2017
Germany says Turkey offered prisoner swap for jailed journalist German daily Bild cited an unnamed German diplomatic source as saying that Turkey offered to exchange imprisoned journalist Deniz Yücel for two former generals who sought asylum in Germany. Germany’s foreign ministry rejected the offer, the anonymous source told Bild. Turkey has not commented publicly on…
Sudan confiscates, censors newspapers for reporting FIFA suspension
New York, July 13, 2017–Sudanese authorities should stop confiscating newspapers and censoring their coverage, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. In recent days, the country’s security service has confiscated or censored the coverage of at least five newspapers, according to press reports.
TV journalist detained in Somaliland
Nairobi, July 10, 2017–Authorities in Somaliland should immediately release TV journalist Omar Ali Hassan Serbiya, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Security officers arrested Omar when he arrived at Hargeisa on July 8, the administrative capital of the semi-autonomous republic, his employer told CPJ.
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of July 2, 2017
Turkish president tells German newspaper jailed correspondent is a terrorist Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in an interview published yesterday, told the German newspaper Die Zeit that Die Welt Turkey correspondent, Turkish-German dual national Deniz Yücel, is a terrorist because he interviewed a leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which Turkey considers a terrorist…
CPJ calls for release of Zagros TV journalist detained in Syria
The Committee to Protect Journalists writes to the co-chairs of the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria and authorities governing the Cizire Canton in Syria, to request the release of Zagros TV journalist Barzan Hussein Liani, whom security forces detained in May.
Independent journalist detained in eastern Cuba
New York, June 23, 2017–Cuban authorities should immediately release independent journalist Manuel Alejandro León Velázquez and return his equipment, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. State security forces and Interior Ministry officials detained León Velázquez around 4 p.m. yesterday in the eastern province of Guantánamo, according to his news website Diario de Cuba and…
Kenyan reporter detained for two days on bribery allegation
Police in Nairobi on June 18 arrested Sunday Nation journalist Walter Menya on charges of soliciting a bribe of 55,000 Kenyan shillings (U.S.$531) to “write a damaging story in The Nation newspaper,” according to a police statement. The amount he was alleged to have accepted was later changed to 50,000 Kenyan shillings (U.S.$482), according to…
Venezuela Country Safety Page
Updated November 9, 2017 As the political situation in Venezuela continues to deteriorate, journalists covering protests have been routinely targeted, harassed, attacked, and detained. To provide concrete safety information for local and international journalists covering the unrest, CPJ’s Emergencies Response Team is issuing periodic updates on the political situation and the climate for journalists.