Yemeni journalist appears in Houthi court after 3-month disappearance
Washington, D.C., January 15, 2025—Yemen’s Houthi forces must release journalist Mohamed Al-Miyahi and the group’s non-state judicial system must drop its case against him, said the Committee to Protect Journalists Wednesday. After more than three months of arbitrary detention, including one month of enforced disappearance, Al-Miyahi appeared before the Houthi’s Specialized Criminal Prosecution in Sana’a…
Tajik journalist Ahmad Ibrohim sentenced to 10 years in prison
New York, January 13, 2025—A court in Tajikistan’s southern city of Kulob on January 10 sentenced Ahmad Ibrohim, chief editor of the independent weekly newspaper Payk, to 10 years in prison on charges of bribery, extortion, and extremism. The closed-door trial was held in the city’s pretrial detention center, with authorities reportedly classifying the case…
CPJ to release annual report of journalists imprisoned globally
New York, January 13, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) will release its 2024 annual census of journalists imprisoned worldwide on January 16, 2025. The census covers all countries that have imprisoned journalists globally in 2024, as well as providing background information on each imprisoned journalist. It also provides recommendations on what needs to be…
José Rubén Zamora could be sent back to jail on January 13
São Paulo, January 10, 2025—Guatemalan journalist José Rubén Zamora could go back to jail this Monday if the country’s Supreme Court doesn’t agree to hear an appeal made by his defense, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Friday. Zamora, 67, spent 813 days in prison, accused of money laundering, until he was granted house…
VPNs, training, and mental health workshops: How CPJ helped journalist safety in 2024
Haitian journalist Jean Marc Jean was covering an anti-government protest in Port-au-Prince in February 2024 when he was struck in the face by a gas canister fired by police into the crowd. One of at least five journalists injured while covering civil unrest in the country that month, Jean arrived at the hospital with a…
CPJ, RSF, IJF call for release of Italian journalist Cecilia Sala
Editor’s note: Cecilia Sala was freed on January 8, 2025. Press freedom organizations and the organizers of the International Journalism Festival (IJF) called on Iran on Tuesday to release Italian journalist Cecilia Sala with immediate effect. Sala was arrested in Iran on December 19 and is being held in the notorious Evin prison. Iran confirmed…
Belarusian journalist Ihar Karnei sentenced to additional 8 months in prison
New York, December 13, 2024—A Belarusian court on Friday convicted freelance reporter Ihar Karnei of “malicious disobedience to the requirements of the prison administration” and sentenced him to an additional eight months in prison. Karnei is already serving a three-year prison sentence after being convicted in March 2024 on charges of participating in an extremist…
CPJ calls on new Syrian leaders to protect journalist safety, hold Assad’s media persecutors to account
As Syria transitions to a new government following the December 8 toppling of Bashar al-Assad, the Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities to take decisive action to ensure the safety of all journalists and hold accountable those responsible for the killing, imprisonment, and silencing of members of the media during the country’s 13-year civil…
CPJ condemns 7-year jail sentence for Chinese journalist Dong Yuyu on spy charges
New York, November 29, 2024 – The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a harsh seven-year jail sentence handed down to veteran Chinese journalist Dong Yuyu on Friday on espionage charges, and calls for his immediate release. Dong, 62, a columnist for the state-run newspaper Guangming Daily, was arrested in Beijing in February 2022 while having…
‘I will always keep fighting,’ José Rubén Zamora tells CPJ before court orders him back to jail
Less than a month after being moved to house arrest, a Guatemalan appeals court ordered journalist José Rubén Zamora back to jail on November 15, 2024. Zamora remains in house arrest while his lawyers and the Attorney General’s Office have appealed the motion, his son told CPJ. The decision is a new blow to press freedom in Guatemala. Zamora,…