Harassed

On February 8, 2021, at about 10:30 a.m. in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, three armed men in plain clothes forced their way into the apartment of freelance reporter Lucy Kassa, searched her home, questioned her, and confiscated her reporting materials, according to the journalist, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app and email,…

At least five Ghanaian journalists were separately harassed or threatened with death over their coverage of the country’s December 7, 2020, general elections, according to news reports and journalists who spoke with CPJ by phone and messaging app. In mid-December 2020, following the elections, Kevin Taylor, the founder of the Loud Silence TV YouTube channel,…

New York, February 17, 2021 – Russian authorities should investigate the nonconsensual release of journalist Elena Solovyova’s financial information online and ensure that the perpetrators are held to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. In several posts on February 4 and 10, the anonymous Telegram channel “Komi-Telega,” which has over 6,000 subscribers, published…

Vilnius, Lithuania, February 16, 2021 — Belarusian authorities should cease their raids against journalists and journalistic associations and return confiscated reporting equipment, records, and money, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Today, police in Belarus raided the Minsk headquarters of the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), a local advocacy and trade group, and the apartments…

Of the more than 100 Russian journalists who have been arrested or fined covering rallies in support of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Mediazona chief editor Sergey Smirnov has become a symbol of the absurd lengths to which Russian authorities are willing to go to quash coverage of the events.  On January 20, Smirnov retweeted another person’s tweet saying…

Between January 12 and January 20, 2021, Ugandan security personnel harassed and detained at least four journalists covering the country’s general elections, and shut down at least one radio station, according to a statement by the Human Rights Network for Journalists-Uganda, a local human rights group, and journalists who spoke to CPJ. Ugandans voted in…

New York, February 5, 2021–Nigerian authorities should ensure access to the Peoples Gazette new site is not disrupted and its reporters can work without fear of harassment or intimidation, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On January 26, four mobile internet service providers operating in Nigeria – India-based Airtel, South Africa-based MTN, Nigeria-based 9mobile, and Glo, which…

New York, February 3, 2021 — Kazakhstan authorities should immediately cease harassing journalist Lukpan Akhmedyarov and allow him to work freely and without fear of reprisal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On February 1, police in the Abai district of the western city of Uralsk summoned Akhmedyarov, chief editor of independent weekly newspaper…

New York, February 2, 2021 – Russian authorities should immediately and unconditionally release all journalists detained during recent protests, and allow members of the press to cover political demonstrations without fear, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. During nationwide protests by supporters of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny on January 31, as well as…

In early 2020, Vietnamese writer Bui Thanh Hieu told Marina Mai, a freelancer based in Berlin, that he was closing his blog to protect his family. In 2009, Hieu was detained for a week for his critical writing on Vietnam’s territorial disputes with China, as CPJ documented. In 2013, he fled to Germany, but continued writing…