Nicaraguan journalist Hazel Zamora arrested, charged with spreading false news
Guatemala City, May 9, 2023—Nicaraguan authorities should drop all criminal charges against journalist Hazel Zamora and end their legal harassment of the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On May 5, police arrested Zamora while she traveled on a bus with her two children in the capital city of Managua, according to multiple…
Journalist Alyaksandr Mantsevich charged with ‘discrediting Belarus’
Paris, April 5, 2023—Belarusian authorities should drop all charges against journalist Alyaksandr Mantsevich, release him immediately, and stop prosecuting members of the press for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. Authorities detained Mantsevich, the founder and editor-in-chief of the regional independent newspaper Regyonalnaya Gazeta, on March 15. On Monday, April 3, multiple…
Zimbabwe journalist Garikai Mafirakureva charged with publishing false information
On January 18, 2023, police in the southeastern Zimbabwe city of Masvingo arrested journalist Garikai Mafirakureva, according to media reports, a statement by the Zimbabwean chapter of the regional press freedom group Media Institute of Southern Africa, and Mafirakureva, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app. Authorities charged Mafirakureva, editor of the Masvingo Mirror newspaper,…
DRC defense minister files, withdraws false news complaint against reporter Stanis Bujakera
On March 9, 2023, Congolese Minister of Defense Gilbert Kabanda filed a criminal complaint accusing journalist Stanis Bujakera Tshiamala of publishing false rumors, according to news reports and a copy of that complaint, which CPJ reviewed. The complaint stemmed from a March 5 tweet by Bujakera, a correspondent for the France-based Jeune Afrique news website,…
Togo journalists Ferdinand Ayité and Isidore Kouwonou summoned over insult, false news allegations
Accra, March 6, 2023–Togolese authorities should drop all legal proceedings against journalists Ferdinand Ayité and Isidore Kouwonou and allow them to work free from harassment or threat of arrest, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. Both journalists have been summoned to the country’s High Court in the capital city of Lomé for a trial…
Russian legislature adopts bill extending censorship on war reporting
Paris, March 2, 2023 – In response to multiple news reports that the lower house of the Russian parliament adopted amendments on Thursday, March 2, to expand existing penalties for spreading “fake” information about or discrediting participants on Russia’s side of the war in Ukraine, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement of…
Myanmar releases journalists Toru Kubota and Than Htike Aung, but dozens remain behind bars
Bangkok, November 18, 2022–In response to news reports that Myanmar on Thursday released Japanese documentary filmmaker Toru Kubota and editor Than Htike Aung of the local Mizzima news website as part of a wider amnesty of 5,774 prisoners, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement calling for the release of all jailed journalists in the country:…
Egyptian authorities arrest journalist Ahmed Fayez for reporting on Alaa Abdelfattah
New York, November 14, 2022 – Egyptian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release journalist Ahmed Fayez and drop all charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On November 10, state security forces arrested Fayez, editor-in-chief of state-run newspaper Akhbar El-Barlman, from his home in Cairo, according to news reports and a local…
Authorities charge Senegalese journalist Pape Alé Niang with harming national defense over report on leaked document
Dakar, November 14, 2022 — Senegalese authorities should drop all charges against journalist Pape Alé Niang, release him, and reform the country’s laws to ensure journalism is not criminalized, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On November 6, police arrested Niang, director of the privately owned website Dakarmatin, in the capital, Dakar. On November…
CPJ: Kyrgyzstan’s block of RFE/RL website ‘a flagrant act of censorship’
Stockholm, October 27, 2022 – Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Culture, Information, Sports, and Youth Policy on Wednesday announced a two-month block of the website of Radio Azattyk, the local service of U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, under the country’s false information law after the outlet refused to remove a video report on recent border…