Ahead of March elections, Egypt extends state of emergency and tightens censorship
The New York Times reported this week that Egypt ordered a criminal investigation into the paper over its report alleging that an intelligence officer told several TV hosts they should persuade viewers to accept President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. The investigation comes in the same week that Egypt’s parliament voted…
Myanmar charges two Reuters reporters under Official Secrets Act
Bangkok, January 10, 2018–Prosecutors in Myanmar today charged two Reuters reporters with violating the Official Secrets Act, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemned the criminal indictment and called on the authorities to drop the charges and release the reporters.
Appeal hearing for Niger journalist postponed
New York, January 9, 2018–An appeals court in Niger’s capital, Niamey, yesterday postponed a hearing for Baba Alpha until March 12, the broadcast journalist’s lawyer, Amadou Boubacar Mossi, told CPJ. Alpha, a reporter for the privately owned radio and television news agency Bonferey, is serving a two-year sentence for using false documents, in what his…
Myanmar must free Reuters journalists, drop investigation
Washington, D.C., January 8, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Myanmar authorities to cease all legal proceedings and release from jail two Reuters journalists, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, whose work involved reporting on conflict-ridden Rakhine state. The two were arrested December 12 on suspicions of violating Myanmar’s colonial-era Official Secrets Act,…
Ahmed Abba to be freed after Cameroonian court reduces sentence on appeal
Durban, South Africa, December 21, 2017 — The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes today’s ruling by a Cameroonian military appeal court that should result in Radio France Internationale radio journalist Ahmed Abba’s immediate release from prison.
Somaliland journalist detained without charge over false news claim
Police in Gabiley arrested Abdirisak Dayib Ali on December 5, 2017 for allegedly publishing a false report on the news website Gabiley News earlier that month, according to his lawyer, Guleid Ahmed Jama, and Mohamud Abdi Jama, chair of the Somaliland Journalists Association (SOLJA).
In China, medical neglect can amount to a death sentence for jailed journalists
Four months after Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo died of liver cancer shortly after his release from jail on medical parole, the writer and journalist Yang Tongyan died under similar circumstances in a Shanghai hospital. Like Liu, Yang had been seriously ill for several years, but Chinese authorities granted him medical parole only three months before…
