Southern Transitional Council forces raid Yemeni government-affiliated media outlets
New York, June 9, 2021 – Yemen’s breakaway Southern Transitional Council must end its raids of Yemeni government-aligned media outlets in the southern city of Aden and allow all journalists to operate freely in territories under its control, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On June 2, forces aligned with the Southern Transitional Council…
Greek police detain and question Dutch TV crew covering refugees
Berlin, June 8, 2021 — Greek authorities should allow journalists to cover refugee movements and other events of public interest without police interference, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On May 29, police in Dikaia, a Greek town near the borders of Bulgaria and Turkey, stopped a reporting team from the Dutch public broadcaster…
Angolan editors questioned in separate criminal defamation investigations
New York, June 4, 2021 — Angolan authorities must drop criminal defamation investigations into journalists and reform sections of the country’s penal code that criminalize reporting, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Between May 18 and May 24, the Criminal Investigation Service (SIC) in Luanda, the capital, questioned Lucas Pedro, editor of privately-owned news…
Guatemalan ex-official’s family members sue 2 journalists under violence against women law
Guatemala City, June 4, 2021 — Guatemala authorities should drop the criminal charges against journalists Sonny Figueroa and Marvin del Cid, and ensure that former public officials do not abuse the country’s laws to harass members of the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. In May 21, two relatives of Miguel Martínez, the…
Romanian prosecutors question Newsweek and Libertatea employees over corruption reporting
Berlin, June 3, 2021 — Romanian authorities should stop summoning journalists for questioning over their work, and local officials should not pursue criminal cases against members of the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Since May 20, prosecutors at the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism, a judiciary agency tasked with investigating…
Uzbek foreign ministry refuses to renew accreditation of Polish journalist Agnieszka Pikulicka
Stockholm, June 2, 2021 – The Uzbek foreign ministry should immediately renew the press accreditation of Polish journalist Agnieszka Pikulicka and ensure that all journalists are free to report without fear of reprisal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Today, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan rejected the application of Pikulicka, a freelance…
Belarus sentences reporter Hlafira Zhuk to jail, authorities continue to harass journalists
Vilnius, Lithuania, June 2, 2021 — Belarusian authorities should release journalist Hlafira Zhuk immediately and cease harassing members of the press over their news coverage, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On May 31, the Maskouski District Court in Minsk, the capital, sentenced Zhuk, a correspondent for the independent news website Narodnaya Volya, to 30…
Hungarian court convicts reporter Júlia Halász on criminal defamation charge
Berlin, May 28, 2021 — Hungarian authorities should not contest journalist Júlia Halász’s appeal of a recent criminal defamation verdict, and should reform the country’s laws to decriminalize speech, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On May 6, an appellate court in Budapest upheld a lower court’s November 12, 2020, ruling to convict Halász,…
“The camera attracts violence”: Israeli right-wing groups attack local journalists
Israel’s May 15 bombing of The Associated Press and Al-Jazeera offices in Gaza made international headlines, as did the death of a Palestinian journalist in an air strike that may have been a deliberate attack on his home. There were many other press freedom violations during the recent flare-up, which included unusual levels of street violence between Arabs and Jews in Israeli…
In Belarus, Pratasevich’s arrest highlights risks facing journalists covering protests
The May 23 arrest of Belarusian journalist and blogger Raman Pratasevich off a diverted commercial passenger flight was a shattering blow to press freedom in Belarus. Pratasevich is the co-founder of NEXTA and chief editor of Belarus of the Brain, two Telegram channels that covered protests against President Aleksandr Lukashenko, a dangerous beat in the country where demonstrations are…