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.
Hamas detains Palestinian journalist in Gaza
New York, June 14, 2017—Palestinian authorities in the Gaza Strip should immediately release Fouad Jaradeh, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Jaradeh, a reporter for Palestine TV, the official Palestinian Authority broadcaster based in the West Bank, was detained June 8 in Gaza City by authorities from the territory’s Hamas-led government, according to news…
Amid Gulf tensions, press is used as a political pawn
Today Bahrain became the latest Gulf nation to put pressure on news outlets amid political tension, when its Interior Ministry announced that anyone publishing support or sympathy for Qatar faces up to five years in prison. The announcement came the day after the United Arab Emirates used the threat of prison to demarcate how journalists…
CPJ joins call for Georgia to investigate case of exiled journalist forcibly taken back to Azerbaijan
The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 22 international rights organizations in calling on Georgia’s Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili to ensure that the case of Afgan Mukhtarli, an Azerbaijani journalist living in exile in Tbilisi who is now in custody in the country’s capital, Baku, is fully investigated. CPJ documented last month how Mukhtarli was abducted…