Russia extends detention of RFE/RL journalist Alsu Kurmasheva by 2 months
New York, December 1, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a Russian court’s decision in a closed-door hearing on Friday to extend the pretrial detention of U.S.-Russian journalist Alsu Kurmasheva until February 5, 2024. “Each day Alsu Kurmasheva spends in Russian detention on absurd criminal charges is another blow to press freedom and journalists’ rights…
Indian journalist Rejaz M Sheeba Sydeek faces criminal investigation for report on anti-Muslim bias
New York, November 29, 2023—Indian authorities must drop all investigations into freelance journalist Rejaz M Sheeba Sydeek over his reporting on allegations of anti-Muslim bias in the police force, return his mobile phone, and cease the harassment of his colleagues at Maktoob Media news website, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On October 31,…
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…
Killer of journalist Hrant Dink freed in Turkey amid widespread criticism
Istanbul, November 17, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists urges Turkish authorities to heed the calls by the family of murdered Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink for full justice, following the release of his killer from prison. In 2007, 17-year-old Ogün Samast assassinated Dink, the prominent managing editor of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos, outside his newspaper’s…
Iran arrests 2 female environmental journalists in mass raids
Washington, D.C., November 14, 2023—Iranian authorities must immediately release journalists Nasim Tavafzadeh and Helaleh Nategheh and stop trying to silence journalists by jailing them, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On Saturday, intelligence agents with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps arrested Tavafzadeh, editor-in-chief of the local news website Moroor.org, and Nategheh, an environmental reporter…
Russian authorities deport Kazakh journalist Vladislav Ivanenko ahead of court hearing
New York, November 14, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Russian authorities to explain why Kazakh journalist Vladislav Ivanenko was deported ahead of a court hearing over his residence permit. On November 9, police arrested Ivanenko, a journalist with the independent regional news website Properm.ru, at his home in the central Russian city of…
‘Our kids miss their mom’: Husband of journalist Alsu Kurmasheva speaks out about her detention in Russia
Alsu Kurmasheva, an editor with the Tatar-Bashkir service of U.S. Congress-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and a dual U.S.-Russian citizen, has been in Russian detention since October 18, when authorities in the western city of Kazan charged her with failure to register herself as a foreign agent. If found guilty, Kurmasheva faces up to…
CPJ alarmed by ongoing detention of DRC journalist Stanis Bujakera
New York, November 8, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the Democratic Republic of Congo authorities’ insistence on keeping journalist Stanis Bujakera Tshiamala behind bars and urges the approval of a second expert opinion on the evidence presented against him in the interest of fairness. On Tuesday, the Kinshasa/Gombe court rejected Bujakera’s third…
Malian journalist Abdoul Niang charged with making false statements
Dakar, November 2, 2023 — Malian authorities must drop all legal proceedings against journalist Abdoul Niang and allow him to report the news freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Thursday. On October 19, police in Bamako, Mali’s capital, summoned Niang, director of the privately-owned Malian radio station Émergence FM and an online columnist,…
In Turkey, 3 journalists detained for ‘disinformation,’ 1 jailed, 3 others under investigation
Istanbul, November 2, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists urged Turkish authorities on Thursday to immediately release journalists Tolga Şardan and Cengiz Erdinç, drop “disinformation” charges against them, and overturn an order for editor Dinçer Gökçe to read and summarize books about his profession. In two separate cases on Wednesday, police in the Turkish capital of…