Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of June 26
Columnist freed pending trial Istanbul’s 14th Court of Serious Crimes today ordered Cumhuriyet columnist Ahmet Nesin released, pending trial, the pro-Kurdish daily newspaper Özgür Gündem reported. Police on June 20 arrested Nesin, Erol Önderoğlu, Turkey representative for the press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF), and Şebnem Korur Fincancı, an academic, columnist and human rights…
By now, Afghan authorities should know media are not the enemy
Several journalists in Kabul–the exact number is unclear–were beaten, harassed, and kept from working by security forces when they rushed to cover a suicide bombing on Monday that killed 14 people and wounded more than eight. In an email message, the Afghan Journalists Safety Committee (AJSC), an organization with which we work closely, said when…
World Refugee Day: Fear of arrest drives journalists into exile
In August 2014 two journalists living more than 4,000 miles apart slipped across a border to find safety: one with his wife and three children, the other alone. Idrak Abbasov, from Azerbaijan, and Sanna Camara, from Gambia, faced imprisonment because of their reporting. Neither has been able to return home.
In Mexico, covering state elections brings risk of threats and violence
As the June 5 elections approached, the anonymous phone calls to Mexican journalist Pedro Canché became more frequent and more ominous. “The Caribbean is a big sea, you’ll never be found,” one said. “I hope you’ve written a will,” said another. A third caller told Canché, “Remember what happened to Rubén Espinosa,” referring to the…
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of June 5
Provincial officials ask journalists to submit to prior censorship: report Top officials in southeastern Turkey’s Gaziantep province, near the Syrian border, on June 1 convened local journalists to ask them not to report on “the bad things happening in the city,” and to submit their stories to a group on the messaging service WhatsApp which…
Journalists attacked, equipment stolen during protests in Caracas
New York, June 3, 2016–Several journalists were attacked and some had equipment stolen while covering protests in Caracas Thursday, according to news outlets and a local freedom of expression group. Some of the journalists who were attacked said that the Venezuelan National Guard did not intervene to prevent the attacks and in one case, forced…
In China, more journalists–even former ones–vulnerable to government wrath
Most of the journalists imprisoned in China reported or commented on issues that the Chinese government finds threatening to its rule. They were likely aware that their work could invoke the wrath of the Chinese Communist Party at any time, but still choose to go ahead for the sake of truth and the public interest.…
Leaders of Egypt’s Journalists’ Syndicate referred to trial
Washington, May 31, 2016 — Egyptian prosecutors should drop all charges against leaders of the country’s Journalists’ Syndicate and cease harassing them, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Police detained syndicate chair Yehia Qallash and board members Khaled al-Balshy and Gamal Abdel Rahim for more than 12 hours for interrogation on Sunday, freeing them…
BBC censored during Obama’s visit to Vietnam
Bangkok, May 23, 2016 – Authorities in Vietnam ordered a British Broadcasting Corporation team to stop reporting on U.S. President Barack Obama’s three-day visit to the country, the BBC reported today. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the censorship and called on Vietnam to stop harassing journalists.
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of May 22
Prison sentences for newspaper editors Istanbul’s 13th Court for Serious Crimes sentenced Eren Keskin and Reyhan Çapan, former editor and news editor, respectively, of the pro-Kurdish daily newspaper Özgür Gündem, to three years and nine months in prison each on charges of spreading terrorist propaganda, the newspaper reported today. Both are free, pending appeal. In…