Imprisoned

In his tireless global campaign to save 77-year-old media publisher Jimmy Lai from life imprisonment in Hong Kong, Sebastien Lai has not seen his father for more than four years. Sebastien, who leads the #FreeJimmyLai campaign, last saw his father in August 2020 — weeks after Beijing imposed a national security law that led to…

New York, November 18, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists urges the Hong Kong government to drop its trumped-up charges against media publisher Jimmy Lai, who is set to take the stand for the first time on Wednesday in his trial on national security charges, which could see the 77-year-old jailed for life if convicted. “This…

The Committee to Protect Journalists, along with 26 other press freedom and human rights organizations, sent a letter on November 12 to the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) seeking updates on the urgent appeal filed on November 14, 2023, concerning the imprisonment of Egyptian writer Alaa Abdelfattah. The appeal, submitted by Abdelfattah and…

Istanbul, November 11, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Turkish authorities to immediately free reporter Furkan Karabay, who was seized from his home at dawn on Friday after he published a report about the arrest of an opposition mayor. “Journalist Furkan Karabay is the latest in a long line of journalists who have ended…

New York, November 11, 2024—With the opening of the United Nations annual climate talks in Azerbaijan on Monday, the Committee to Protect Journalists calls on visiting delegations to press Azerbaijan to end its unprecedented media crackdown. “With at least 15 journalists awaiting trial on charges that could see them jailed for between eight and 20…

CPJ and 16 other international human rights organizations on Wednesday called on the European Union to press Azerbaijan to release around a dozen jailed journalists and improve its dire human rights record as the country hosts the United Nations Climate Change Conference on November 11-22, 2024. The statement highlights how, in the months leading up…

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 14 human rights organizations in a November 1 letter urging U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy to suspend all economic and financial partnerships with Egypt until the country frees British writer Alaa Abd el-Fattah, who was due for release on September 29 after completing a five-year prison sentence. Egyptian authorities have refused…

When Moroccan authorities released three prominent journalists in July as part of a mass pardon marking King Mohamed VI’s 25 years on the throne, their friends and families celebrated. But the excitement was short-lived. Taoufik Bouachrine, Soulaiman Raissouni, and Omar Radi have been shamed in the media, stalked, and harassed since their release as they…

The Committee to Protect Journalist and 18 other civil society organizations called on Guatemalan authorities to respect the independence of the judiciary at an October 18 hearing over the release of Guatemalan journalist José Rubén Zamora from pre-trial detention. The statement highlights a “deeply troubling trend” of criminalizing and intimidating human rights defenders, including Judge Rodolfo…

Washington, D.C., October 16, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the 28-year sentence given to former politician Robert Telles on Wednesday for stabbing to death Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German. “The sentencing of Robert Telles marks a significant milestone in the quest for justice. Although the jailing of Telles cannot undo Jeff German’s murder,…