Russian court sentences Crimean journalist Remzi Bekirov to 19 years in prison
New York, March 11, 2022 – In response to Russia’s recent sentencing of Crimean journalist Remzi Bekirov to 19 years in prison, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement of condemnation: “Russian authorities should immediately release Remzi Bekirov and all other Crimean journalists who became hostages of an occupying force in their homeland,”…
Opinion: How the West can help the media victims of Putin’s war
Russia’s independent journalists are fleeing. That’s not only a tragedy for Russians but also for the rest of us who need to know what the increasingly isolated leader of a nuclear superpower is doing. Since sending tanks into Ukraine on February 24, President Vladimir Putin has threatened to jail anyone who dares question the invasion…
Iranian reporter Amir-Abbas Azarmvand begins 4-year, 4-month prison sentence
Washington, D.C., March 11, 2022 — Iranian authorities must release journalist Amir-Abbas Azarmvand from prison immediately and should cease jailing members of the press for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. In January, Judge Iman Afshari of Branch 26 of Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Court sentenced Azarmvand, a financial reporter for the state-run Iranian…
Turkish court sentences 4 former Taraf journalists to prison for exposing state secrets
Istanbul, March 7, 2022 – Turkish authorities should drop all charges against former staff members of the shuttered liberal daily Taraf and should free journalist Mehmet Baransu immediately, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On Friday, March 4, the 13th Istanbul Court of Serious Crimes convicted four former Taraf employees on national security charges,…
‘Completely unclear’: Mushtaq Ahmed’s lawyer seeks answers on how the Bangladeshi writer died in jail
One year after renowned Bangladeshi writer Mushtaq Ahmed died in jail, the circumstances of his death remain murky. While an investigative committee formed by the Home Ministry claimed he died of “natural causes,” his former lawyer Jyotirmoy Barua believes that Ahmed may have died of health issues that arose after alleged torture. In May 2020, the Rapid Action Battalion,…
Prominent blogger Seyed Hossein Ronaghi Maleki arrested in Iran after critical tweets
Washington, D.C., February 24, 2022 — Iranian authorities should immediately release blogger Seyed Hossein Ronaghi Maleki and drop any charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On Wednesday, February 23, the Tehran home of Ronaghi Maleki, a freelance blogger and freedom of expression activist who posts reporting critical of the government on…
Ethiopia ends emergency, but pursues new cases against 3 detained journalists
Nairobi, February 18, 2022— Ethiopian authorities should drop any plans to charge two journalists, Amir Aman Kiyaro and Thomas Engida, with terrorism, stop a fresh investigation they are pursuing against editor Temerat Negara, and end the practice of punitively detaining journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. Amir, a freelancer who contributes to The…
CPJ condemns ‘harsh’ 9-year sentence for Nicaraguan journalist Miguel Mendoza
New York, February 17, 2021 – Nicaraguan authorities should release journalist Miguel Mendoza Urbina from prison immediately, and should ensure that members of the press do not face criminal penalties for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On Wednesday, February 16, in a closed door hearing in the Ninth Criminal District Court…
Russian court in Crimea sentences RFE/RL journalist Vladyslav Yesypenko to 6 years in prison
New York, February 17, 2022 – Russian authorities in Crimea should not contest journalist Vladyslav Yesypenko’s appeal and should release him immediately and cease prosecuting members of the press for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On Wednesday, February 16, a court in Simferopol, the capital of Russian-occupied Crimea, convicted Yesypenko, a…