Imprisoned

Paris, June 23, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of Ukrainian journalist Vladyslav Yesypenko and Belarusian journalist Ihar Karnei, who had been unjustly detained for years by Russia and Belarus, respectively.   Russia freed Yesypenko on June 20 after he served a five-year prison sentence on charges of possessing and transporting explosives, which he denied. Karnei, detained for nearly two…

New York, June 23, 2025— Eight Azerbaijani journalists have received prison sentences ranging from 7 ½ to 15 years, as part of an ongoing series of media trials likely to obliterate independent reporting in the Caucasus nation. In a closed-door trial on Monday, columnist and peace activist Bahruz Samadov was sentenced by a court in…

Manila, June 20, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists and partner organizations have completed a joint mission to the Philippines, a first-of-its-kind effort supported by the Media Freedom Coalition (MFC), a grouping of 51 member states committed to defending press freedom worldwide. During the June 16-20 mission, CPJ, Reporters Without Borders, and Free Press Unlimited took…

Bangkok, June 20, 2025—Vietnamese authorities must immediately release imprisoned journalist Le Huu Minh Tuan on humanitarian grounds so that he may receive urgent medical treatment, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. Tuan, who was arrested in 2020 and is serving an 11-year sentence for “conducting propaganda against the state” due to his journalism, has suffered from internal…

Tacloban City, June 16, 2025—Philippine authorities on Monday refused to allow the Committee to Protect Journalists and a coalition of press freedom organizations to visit jailed journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio during a joint mission aimed at asking authorities to end her more than five-year detention. CPJ and the groups had submitted a formal request through the Media Freedom Coalition (MFC) on May…

Paris, June 9, 2025—Iranian-American journalist Reza Valizadeh, who is serving a 10-year sentence in Tehran’s Evin Prison, launched a hunger strike on June 7 to protest the seizure of his essential documents, including his birth certificate, which he needs to manage his legal affairs and protect his assets abroad. Valizadeh, a former Radio Farda reporter, returned to…

Washington, D.C., June 2, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Houthi rebels’ abduction of at least four Yemeni journalists and media workers  in the western port city of Hodeidah, and the sentencing of journalist Mohamed Al-Miyahi to 1½ years in jail for criticizing the group’s leader. Local press freedom groups said those abducted between May…

Nairobi, May 30, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists is dismayed by an Ethiopian regional court’s decision to sentence Jigjiga Television Network founder Ahmed Awga to two years in jail on charges of disseminating hateful information via a Facebook post he did not author. On May 22, the Fafen Zone High Court in Jigjiga, the capital…

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 31 other non-governmental organizations in calling on the United Nations Human Rights Council to condemn grave human rights violations in Eritrea, including arbitrary arrests, incommunicado detention of journalists, violations of the rights to a fair trial, torture, and extraterritorial attacks on critics. Ahead of the Council’s forthcoming session, which…

May 27, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists joined Reporters Without Borders and two other partner organizations in a joint advocacy statement calling on Vietnam to release journalist Pham Doan Trang. Trang, who is serving a nine-year sentence on anti-state charges, received CPJ’s 2022 International Press Freedom Award for her courage in the face of persecution. Tuesday’s statement…