South African court bans Independent Media outlets from publishing leaked intelligence report
Lusaka, October 13, 2022 – A South African court judgment banning the publication of an intelligence report about alleged U.S. efforts to gather intelligence about South Africa’s ruling African National Congress party must be made public and should be overturned on appeal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On October 5, Gauteng High Court…
Hold the Line Coalition urges Philippine president to keep Maria Ressa out of jail
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. should demonstrate his stated commitment to press freedom by ending the State’s attempts to jail Nobel Laureate Maria Ressa, who is threatened with imprisonment in a Philippine jail, the Hold the Line Coalition has urged. This week, the Philippine Court of Appeals rejected Ressa’s motion for a reconsideration of her 2020…
‘To persecute any critical voice’: Jailed Guatemalan journalist Zamora’s son on his father’s arrest
When Guatemalan police arrested José Rubén Zamora in July 2022, it marked the latest salvo in a decades-long campaign of harassment against the pioneering Guatemalan investigative journalist, who won CPJ’s International Press Freedom Award in 1995. Zamora, who founded elPeriódico in 1996 and still serves as president of the newspaper, was arrested on July 29….
CPJ submits report on Brazil to United Nations Universal Periodic Review
Brazil’s human rights record is under review by the United Nations Human Rights Council through the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). This U.N. mechanism is a peer-review process that surveys the human rights performance of member states, monitoring progress from previous review cycles, and presents a list of recommendations on how a country can better fulfill…
Vietnam transfers IPFA winner Pham Doan Trang to remote prison facility
Bangkok, October 11, 2022 – In response to a news report and social media post that Vietnam has punitively transferred journalist Pham Doan Trang to a prison facility far away from her family, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement of condemnation on Tuesday: “CPJ categorically condemns the transfer of journalist Pham Doan Trang to a detention facility far…
CPJ renews calls on Philippines’ Marcos to drop cyber libel, other cases against Nobel laureate Maria Ressa
Bangkok, October 11, 2022 – In response to news reports that the Philippine Court of Appeals has denied Rappler CEO and executive editor Maria Ressa’s motion for reconsideration of her cyber libel conviction, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement on Tuesday: “CPJ laments the Philippine Court of Appeals decision against Rappler’s Maria Ressa and reiterates its call on…
DRC journalist Gauthier Sey Tshiang sentenced to one year in prison, fined over reports on public official
Kinshasa, October 7, 2022 — Authorities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo should not oppose journalist Gauthier Sey Tshiang’s appeal of his sentencing to one year in prison and a financial penalty over reporting about a public official, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. On September 19, the Kinshasa Gombe Peace Court sentenced…
Hong Kong internet radio host Edmund Wan Yiu-sing sentenced to 32 months in prison
Taipei, October 7, 2022 – In response to news reports that a court in Hong Kong on Friday sentenced radio journalist Edmund Wan Yiu-sing to 32 months in prison for sedition and money laundering, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement expressing condemnation: “Today’s sentencing of radio host Edmund Wan Yiu-sing to 32…
Tajikistan journalist Abdullo Ghurbati sentenced to 7.5 years in prison
New York, October 4, 2022 – In response to news reports that a court in Tajikistan on Tuesday sentenced Tajikistani journalist and documentary filmmaker Avazmad Ghurbatov, who works under the name Abdullo Ghurbati, to seven and a half years in prison, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement condemning the ruling: “We condemn today’s harsh and…
‘He should never have been on trial’: CPJ on acquittal of Kyrgyzstan investigative reporter Bolot Temirov
New York, September 28, 2022 – In response to news reports that a court in Kyrgyzstan on Wednesday acquitted investigative reporter Bolot Temirov on charges of drug possession and illegally crossing the state border, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement: “We are relieved by today’s acquittal of Bolot Temirov, but he should…