Photojournalist

EDITOR'S NOTE: On January 29, 2015, reports in the Colombian press said Johanny Vargas issued a statement saying he had not been kidnapped and that his disappearance occurred under personal circumstances. CPJ is investigating.

Bogotá, January 23, 2015--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the abduction of Colombian news photographer Johanny Vargas and calls on authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice. Vargas, who had documented environmental damage caused by housing construction in the southern city of Popayán, was kidnapped Tuesday but escaped from his captors Thursday morning and is in good health, according to Vargas and news reports.

New York, September 3, 2014--Russian authorities and news outlets reported today that Andrei Stenin, the 33-year-old Russian photojournalist for the state-owned news agency Rossiya Segodnya, who went missing in Ukraine in early August, was killed in the country's Donetsk region.

"We condemn the killing of Andrei Stenin, which calls attention once again to the dangers of covering the conflict in Ukraine from any side," CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova said. "We urge Ukrainian authorities to do their utmost to conduct an effective probe into the circumstances of his death, and call on pro-Russia separatists to allow investigators access to the territory where Stenin was reportedly found."

Nairobi, July 31, 2014--CPJ is alarmed by the detention of Addis Guday ("Addis Affairs") photojournalist Aziza Mohamed, who has been in custody for two weeks without charge. Police arrested Aziza on July 18 while she was covering Muslim protests near Anwar Mosque in the capital Addis Ababa, local journalists told CPJ. She is being held at the Addis Ababa police headquarters.

By Bob Dietz/CPJ Asia Program Coordinator

Naqibullah, the Afghan police commander who killed The Associated Press' Anja Niedringhaus, has been given a death sentence after being convicted of murder and treason. He was also given a four- year sentence for shooting the AP's Kathy Gannon. Naqibullah (who goes by one name, as many Afghans do) opened fire at near-point-blank range on the AP photographer/reporter team in the southeastern city of Khost on April 4, 2014, as they were covering preparations for the first round of voting in Afghanistan's still-contested presidential elections. Wednesday's conviction and sentencing were the first steps along the legal path to a final conviction and sentence, which might not come for years.

New York, December 27, 2013--Ahmed Al-Fardan, photographer for the NurPhoto agency, was arrested Thursday at his home in Bahrain, according to his agency, news reports, and human rights groups. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the arrest.

By Mickey H. Osterreicher/CPJ Guest Blogger

As a follow-up to my previous "What to know about covering the conventions," the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) has been working with a number of organizations in order to provide support for journalists covering the U.S. national political conventions in Tampa, Fla., and Charlotte, N.C., this month and next. Some things for those journalists to keep in mind: