Imprisoned

New York, April 7, 2020 — In response to the Turkish Parliament’s proposed bill that would release 90,000 prisoners to limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus, but which would not free journalists held as political prisoners, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement:

The Committee to Protect Journalists today joined other human rights and free expression organizations in a letter calling on the Bahraini government to release all imprisoned journalists and other political prisoners.

CPJ today joined eight other human rights and press freedom organizations to call for the immediate release of journalist and human rights defender Azimjon Askarov, who has been serving a life sentence in retaliation for his reporting since June 2010.

New York, March 27, 2020 — Algerian authorities should drop all charges against journalist Khaled Drareni and release him from prison immediately, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Mukhtarli was released from prison on March 17, 2020, after nearly three years in jail, and flown to Berlin, where he was reunited with his wife and daughter. He served half of his six-year sentence on charges that Azerbaijani authorities brought in retaliation for his investigative reporting, as CPJ research shows.

On March 11, Khadicha Askarova, the wife of imprisoned journalist Azimjon Askarov, wrote a letter to Kyrgyzstan President Sooronbay Jeenbekov pleading for the journalist’s release.

New York, March 17, 2020 — The Committee to Protect Journalists today expressed relief that Azerbaijani investigative reporter Afgan Mukhtarli was released from prison, and called for Azerbaijan authorities to release all other journalists held for their work.