CPJ board urges Iran’s leaders to intervene in case of Jason Rezaian
Dear Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani: On the one-year anniversary of the arrest of Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, members of the Committee to Protect Journalists’ board of directors today sent a letter urging the head of the Iranian judiciary, Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani, to intervene in the case of jailed Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian.
Journalists arrested in Zambia for publishing allegedly classified documents
New York, July 16, 2015–Zambian authorities have arrested two journalists and accused them of publishing classified documents, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the arrests and calls on Zambian authorities to release them immediately.
Hacking Team leak underscores complexity of regulating software
Among the 400 gigabytes of internal documents belonging to surveillance firm Hacking Team that were released online this week are details of the company’s dealings with some of the most oppressive governments in the world. The revelations, which have generated alarm among privacy, security, and human rights advocates, have also fueled debate around the esoteric…
Jordanian court orders arrest of journalist over terrorism reporting
New York, July 9, 2015–A Jordanian journalist has been given 15 days in jail after being accused of breaking a recent ban on coverage of a terror plot, according to the journalist’s employer and other news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the imprisonment and calls on authorities to release Ghazi Mrayat immediately.
Ethiopia releases imprisoned journalist Reeyot Alemu
New York, July 9, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release from prison today of Ethiopian journalist Reeyot Alemu, a critical columnist who has been jailed since June 2011 on terrorism charges. Reeyot was sentenced in 2012 to 14 years in prison, which was reduced to five years on appeal. Reeyot told CPJ today…
Ethiopia releases five journalists, drops all charges against them
Nairobi, July 8, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release from prison today of two bloggers affiliated with the independent Ethiopian collective Zone 9 and three other journalists. All charges have been dropped against them, according to exiled Ethiopian journalists who spoke to CPJ and a report by the pro-government Fana Radio. The journalists–editor…
Erdoğan vs the press: Insult law used to silence president’s critics
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is known for being intolerant of critics. During his third term as prime minister, Turkey was the leading jailer of journalists in the world with more than 60 behind bars at the height of the crackdown in 2012. Most of those have been released, but the press faces another threat–Article 299…