Dawei Watch journalists Aung San Oo and Myo Myint Oo arrested in Myanmar
Bangkok, December 18, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the recent arrest of two journalists with Myanmar news outlet Dawei Watch and calls on the country’s military regime to release them immediately and unconditionally. The journalists, Aung San Oo and Myo Myint Oo, were arrested at their homes in the coastal town of Myeik around…
CPJ calls for Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai’s release ahead of national security trial
New York, December 15, 2023 – The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Hong Kong authorities to release publisher Jimmy Lai ahead of the scheduled start of his national security trial on December 18. The 76-year-old Lai could be jailed for life if convicted. Lai, a British citizen and founder of the now-shuttered pro-democracy newspaper…
Russia brings new charges against jailed journalists Alsu Kurmasheva and Maria Ponomarenko, targets exiled journalist Masha Gessen
Paris, December 14, 2023—Russian authorities must immediately release journalists Alsu Kurmasheva and Maria Ponomarenko, drop all charges against them, and stop harassing exiled members of the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On Tuesday, the Telegram channel Baza and state news agency Tatar-Inform reported that Kurmasheva, a dual U.S.-Russian national and an editor…
Algerian prosecutor requests one-year sentence for journalist Mustapha Bendjama
New York, December 13, 2023 – Algerian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release journalist Mustapha Bendjama and drop all charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Wednesday. During an appeal hearing held in the northeastern city of Annaba on Tuesday, December 12, the state prosecutor requested an additional one-year prison sentence for…
Afghan journalist Sultan Ali Jawadi sentenced to 1 year in prison
New York, December 13, 2023—Taliban authorities must immediately release Afghan journalist Sultan Ali Jawadi, drop all charges against him, and stop imprisoning members of the press for their work in Afghanistan, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On Sunday, December 10, a Taliban court in the city of Nili, in central Daikundi Province, sentenced…
Iranian journalist Soltan-Ali Abedi jailed for 1 year for corruption reports
Washington, D.C., December 7, 2023—Iranian authorities must immediately release journalist Soltan-Ali Abedi, who is serving a one-year sentence for his reporting on mismanagement and corruption among local officials, and cease jailing journalists for simply doing their job, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On Monday, Abedi, editor-in-chief of the local news website Diyareayyar.ir, was…
CPJ and partners call on Blinken to designate RFE/RL’s Alsu Kurmasheva ‘wrongfully detained’ by Russia
The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 13 other press freedom and freedom of expression groups on Tuesday in calling on U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to declare Alsu Kurmasheva, a dual U.S.-Russian citizen and an editor with the Tatar-Bashkir service of the U.S. Congress-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), as “wrongfully detained” by the…
CPJ joins letter on Alaa Abdelfattah to UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
The Committee to Protect Journalists, along with 33 other rights organizations, has signed on to the following letter in support of a submission to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) about the case of jailed Egyptian blogger Alaa Abdelfattah. Read more about Abdelfattah and other journalists imprisoned in Egypt here. 23 November…
CPJ calls for Brazilian journalist Schirlei Alves to be spared jail over rape trial report
São Paulo, November 22, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Brazil’s courts to overturn a one-year jail sentence given to journalist Schirlei Alves for her reporting on the mistreatment of a woman during a high-profile rape trial. On November 15, Alves, a freelance journalist, was sentenced to a year in prison and ordered to…
Azerbaijan police arrest Abzas Media director Ulvi Hasanli, raid outlet
Stockholm, November 20, 2023 – Azerbaijani authorities should release Abzas Media director Ulvi Hasanli and allow the country’s beleaguered independent media to work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. Police in the capital, Baku, detained Hasanli outside his apartment early Monday morning on suspicion of unlawfully bringing money into the country, Hasanli’s lawyer,…