Two Iranian journalists convicted on false news charges and ordered to pay cash fines
On August 13, 2020, Aman Mohammad Khojmali, a freelance journalist from the ethnic Turkman minority, was convicted of spreading false news and was ordered to pay a cash fine by Branch 102 of the Judiciary in an appeals court hearing in Gonbad-e-Kavus, a city in the northeast of Iran, according to news reports. The fine was 20 million rials (US$476);…
Djibouti journalist Charmarke Saïd Darar held for weeks, 2 other journalists in hiding
New York, August 26, 2020 — Authorities in Djibouti should cease intimidating and arresting journalists working with the La Voix de Djibouti broadcaster, and let them report freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On July 15, police in Balbala, a suburb of Djibouti City, the capital, arrested Charmarke Saïd Darar, a reporter with…
Two Egyptian journalists detained and released
On August 11, 2020, Egyptian authorities arrested freelance journalist Rasha Mounir in Cairo while she was covering the Egyptian senate elections, according to news reports. The reports did not specify which outlet Mounir was working for at the time. She was unconditionally released without charges the same day, according to a Facebook post by Amr Badr, a journalist and…
Demonstrators attack, obstruct journalists covering protests against COVID-19 lockdown in Germany
Since mid-July, 2020, German protesters against the country’s COVID-19 restrictions have attacked journalists covering their demonstrations, according to news reports and videos of the incidents shared on social media. On July 17, at a protest in the town of Weiden, Bavaria, protesters harassed Beate Josefine Luber, a local freelance reporter covering the demonstrations for regional…
Serbian journalist Jeton Ismaili’s family threatened during break-in
Berlin, August 19, 2020 — Serbian authorities should swiftly and thoroughly investigate threats made to journalist Jeton Ismaili and his family, and ensure their safety, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. At about 2 p.m. on August 13, in Veliki Trnovac, southern Serbia, two men broke into Ismaili’s house and, finding only his wife…
Iraqi Kurdish security forces raid broadcaster, detain and beat journalists, seize equipment
New York, August 14, 2020 – Iraqi Kurdish authorities must cease harassing local news outlets, return journalists’ equipment they have seized, and let reporters cover protests freely and without fear of assault or detention, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On August 12, Iraqi Kurdish Asayish security forces raided the offices of local broadcaster…
Colombian court orders authorities to compensate journalist Claudia Julieta Duque for years of harassment and surveillance
New York, August 13, 2020 – In response to a decision by the Administrative Tribunal of Cundinamarca finding that the Colombian state violated journalist Claudia Julieta Duque’s rights and ordering multiple government entities to compensate her, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement: “The Cundinamarca Administrative Tribunal’s ruling is a necessary and overdue…
Hong Kong journalists struggle to carry on as national security law hits Apple Daily
An unnerving wait for the first impact on journalists of Hong Kong’s new National Security Law came to an abrupt end early yesterday when police arrested Next Digital founder and chair Jimmy Lai, along with four company executives and his two sons, while sending more than a hundred police officers on a raid of Apple…
Malaysian police raid Al-Jazeera’s office, seize computers in escalating legal harassment
Bangkok, August 4, 2020 – Malaysian police raided Al-Jazeera’s Kuala Lumpur office and seized two computers in an ongoing criminal probe into the global broadcaster’s July 3 report on the government’s treatment of undocumented migrant workers during the COVID-19 crisis, news reports said. Six of Al-Jazeera’s Malaysia-based reporters and staff members are being investigated on criminal charges…
Sudanese authorities in North Darfur state harass 2 journalists reporting on COVID-19
Between May 29 and May 31, 2020, local authorities harassed journalists Aida Abdel Qadir and Lena Sabeel in the Sudanese state of North Darfur as they were reporting on the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the independent outlet Radio Dabanga and a representative of the independent Sudanese Journalists Network, who spoke with CPJ via messaging app….