Azerbaijani anti-corruption journalists Ulvi Hasanli and Sevinj Vagifgizi detained for 4 months
Stockholm, November 21, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Azerbaijani authorities to release Abzas Media director Ulvi Hasanli and chief editor Sevinj Vagifgizi and to disclose the whereabouts of Hasanli’s assistant, Mahammad Kekalov, who has been missing since Monday. A district court in the capital of Baku on Tuesday ordered that Hasanli and Vagifgizi remain…
Togolese journalists Loic Lawson and Anani Sossou jailed following minister’s complaint
New York, November 15, 2023 – Togolese authorities should immediately and unconditionally release journalists Loic Lawson and Anani Sossou, and reform the country’s laws and regulations to ensure journalism is not criminalized, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On Tuesday, November 14, an investigating judge at a Lomé court charged Lawson, publication director of…
Ghanaian soldiers beat and arrest journalist Nicholas Morkah, wipe phone
Abuja, November 13, 2023—Ghanaian authorities must swiftly complete their investigation into the soldiers who attacked and detained journalist Nicholas Morkah last month and hold the perpetrators to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On October 19, six soldiers attacked and beat Morkah, a morning show host with the privately owned Akyemansa FM…
‘Our kids miss their mom’: Husband of journalist Alsu Kurmasheva speaks out about her detention in Russia
Alsu Kurmasheva, an editor with the Tatar-Bashkir service of U.S. Congress-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and a dual U.S.-Russian citizen, has been in Russian detention since October 18, when authorities in the western city of Kazan charged her with failure to register herself as a foreign agent. If found guilty, Kurmasheva faces up to…
Iranian journalist Negar Ostad Agha detained reporting on girl’s funeral
Washington, D.C., November 6, 2023—Iranian authorities must immediately release female journalist Negar Ostad Agha and cease jailing members of the press for reporting the news, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On October 29, Ostad Agha, a journalist and senior editor at Etemad Online, was arrested in a cemetery in Iran’s capital, Tehran, while…
In Turkey, 3 journalists detained for ‘disinformation,’ 1 jailed, 3 others under investigation
Istanbul, November 2, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists urged Turkish authorities on Thursday to immediately release journalists Tolga Şardan and Cengiz Erdinç, drop “disinformation” charges against them, and overturn an order for editor Dinçer Gökçe to read and summarize books about his profession. In two separate cases on Wednesday, police in the Turkish capital of…
Syrian journalist missing after arrest on Iraqi Kurdistan border
Beirut, November 1, 2023—Iraqi Kurdish authorities should immediately reveal the whereabouts of Syrian journalist Sleman Mohammed Ahmed, unconditionally release him, and stop harassing journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On October 25, Ahmed—an Arabic editor for the local news website RojNews—was arrested by Iraqi Kurdish authorities at the northern Faysh Khabur border and…
Nigerian journalist Saint Mienpamo Onitsha charged with cybercrime
Abuja, October 23, 2023—Authorities in Nigeria should immediately and unconditionally release journalist Saint Mienpamo Onitsha, swiftly drop all charges against him, and stop criminalizing the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Monday. On October 10, police officers arrested Onitsha, founder of the privately owned online broadcaster NAIJA Live TV, in the home of…
CPJ condemns Russia’s extended detention of RFE/RL journalist Alsu Kurmasheva
New York, October 23, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a Russian court’s decision on Monday to detain U.S.-Russian journalist Alsu Kurmasheva until December 5 on charges of failing to register herself as a foreign agent. In a closed-door hearing on Monday, a court in the western Russian city of Kazan ordered Kurmasheva, an editor…
Somali court dismisses false news, anti-state case against Mohamed Ibrahim Osman Bulbul
Nairobi, Kenya, October 16, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes an October 11 court decision to dismiss the criminal case against Somali journalist Mohamed Ibrahim Osman Bulbul and calls on authorities to desist from arbitrarily detaining journalists. “Mohamed Ibrahim Osman Bulbul endured nearly two months of detention and faced punitive legal proceedings simply because he…