CPJ welcomes European Union’s anti-SLAPP initiative
Brussels, April 27, 2022 – The Committee to Protect Journalists on Wednesday welcomed the European Commission’s move to pass an initiative seeking to address the abuse of SLAPP lawsuits in Europe. SLAPPs (strategic lawsuits against public participation) are abusive lawsuits filed by powerful officials, businesspeople, or corporations against individuals, including critical journalists or news outlets,…
Iraqi Kurdish journalist Omed Baroshky: Press freedom ‘an illusion’ in the region
Freelance journalist Omed Baroshky spent 18 months in jail over social media posts that were critical of the authorities in Iraqi Kurdistan. One of four Iraqi Kurdish reporters listed in CPJ’s 2021 prison census, his incarceration marked yet another low point for a region that has seen a sharp deterioration in the environment for the…
Siberian news outlets, management charged with disseminating ‘fakes’ about Russian army
Paris, April 14, 2022 — Russian authorities should immediately drop all charges against the management of Listok newspaper and Novy Fokus magazine’s chief editor Mikhail Afanasyev, and allow the press to work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On Wednesday, April 13, law enforcement in Gorno-Altaysk, the capital of Altai republic in southern…
New El Salvador law threatens up to 15 years in prison for reporting on gangs
New York, April 7, 2022 – El Salvador lawmakers should repeal new legislation that criminalizes reporting on gangs, and should allow the press to cover issues of public interest freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. “As journalists and press freedom organizations have feared, Salvadoran authorities are using the country’s state of emergency as…
CPJ condemns decision to move Jamal Khashoggi murder trial from Turkey to Saudi Arabia
New York, April 7, 2022 – In response to a decision by Turkish authorities on Thursday, April 7, to transfer the trial of the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi to Saudi Arabia, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement of condemnation: “The Turkish government’s trial of Jamal Khashoggi’s suspected killers was politicized…
Georgia convicts 26 people over 2021 attack on journalists by anti-LGBT protesters
New York, April 7, 2022 – The Committee to Protect Journalists on Thursday welcomed Georgian authorities’ recent convictions of 26 people over their attacks on journalists during mob violence in July 2021. “We welcome the convictions of 26 people for their part in last July’s mob attack on dozens of Georgian journalists, including the brutal…
Guatemalan journalist Juan Luis Font leaves the country after former official accuses him of ‘unlawful association’
Guatemala City, April 6, 2022 — Guatemalan authorities should immediately dismiss criminal proceedings against journalist Juan Luis Font, allow him to work freely without fear of reprisal, and stop using lawsuits to harass members of the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. In late March 2022, the country’s former communications minister Alejandro Sinibaldi…
Zambian journalist Eric Chiyuka charged with assault after covering land altercation
Lusaka, April 6, 2022 – Zambian authorities must investigate an alleged police assault of community reporter Eric Chiyuka and immediately drop the charges of assault against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. Around 11 a.m. on March 26, Chiyuka, who works for the ruling party-aligned, privately owned online publication CIC Press, was taking…
Hungarian journalists fear Orbán will use election win to tighten grip on independent media
As Hungary’s right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orbán celebrated his landslide election win on Sunday with jubilant jibes at the European Union’s “bureaucrats in Brussels” and international media, the country’s independent journalists braced themselves for an even harsher media climate during his Fidesz party’s unprecedented fourth consecutive term in office. Orbán has systematically eroded Hungary’s independent…
Indian journalist Rana Ayyub on facing death threats and a money laundering probe
Rana Ayyub, is one of India’s most high-profile investigative journalists, with a Washington Post column, a Substack newsletter, a popular Twitter presence with an audience of 1.5 million, as well as a controversial 2016 book alleging that government officials were implicated in the 2002 riots that killed Muslims in Gujarat. But in recent months Indian…