Chinese reporter arrested in connection with Hong Kong protest coverage
New York, October 14, 2014–The arrest of a Chinese reporter working for a German weekly is cause for alarm and signals a threat to other Chinese journalists working for foreign media in China, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Zhang Miao, an arts reporter for the German magazine Die Zeit, has been in jail…
When it comes to the right to report, journalists must stand together
Pakistani journalists I have met over the years know that while I might be an American, I have never been an apologist for the U.S. government. The goal of the Committee to Protect Journalists is to assist members of the press no matter where they are, and if we have to criticize their governments, well…
Reporter on trial in Azerbaijan on criminal libel charges
New York, October 10, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the criminal libel charges filed against Khadija Ismayilova, an award-winning investigative journalist in Azerbaijan, and calls on authorities to drop the charges immediately.
One year after CPJ’s US report, little has changed between Obama and press
After a summer plagued by war and disease abroad and partisan fighting at home, it was not hard to fathom why President Barack Obama would yearn for a retreat. But from which of the mounting crises did the president hope to escape: Ukraine? Islamic State? Ebola? The Tea Party? None of the above, according to…
Amid government crackdown, Hungary’s journalists look for new ways to work
“They raided our offices as if we were mobsters. The irony of the situation is that the Hungarian police rarely raid mobsters with such force,” said an employee at one of two NGOs whose Budapest offices were stormed by about 20 officers of the Central Investigations Office–Hungary’s version of the FBI–on September 8.
Japanese reporter charged with defamation in South Korea
New York, October 9, 2014–A Japanese journalist has been charged with criminal defamation in South Korea and forbidden from leaving the country, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the move and calls on South Korean authorities to drop the charges against Tatsuya Kato immediately and remove the travel ban.
Big businesses attempt to muzzle critical reporting in India
This month Keya Acharya is responding to a nine-page legal notice demanding she pay 1 billion rupees ($16.3 million) over her article on India’s rose industry. Her legal troubles are a window on to a pattern of how big businesses are using India’s outdated defamation laws to silence criticism of their operations.
Honduran court imposes 16 month professional ban on journalist
New York, October 3, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the decision by a Honduran appeals court to forbid journalist Julio Ernesto Alvarado from practicing journalism for 16 months as part of a criminal defamation conviction. Alvarado hosts the daily news program “Mi Nación” (My Nation) on Globo TV.
As al-Sisi promises freedom of speech, TV host Youssef is put under investigation
The Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was given a great platform for his country last week, with a speech at the United Nation’s General Assembly in which he said that his “new Egypt” would “guarantee freedom of speech,” and his first ever meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama.
Australia’s national security bills threaten press freedom
New York, September 30, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists said it is gravely concerned by a national security-related bill in Australia, which could result in prison time of up to 10 years for journalists who report on intelligence. The National Security Reform Bill One was passed in the upper house on Thursday and would become…