CPJ’s Joel Simon speaks at Press Behind Bars panel
Committee to Protect Journalists Executive Director Joel Simon addressed a panel event at the 73rd session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York on September 28, 2018. The event highlighted global press freedom violations and the jailing of journalists in countries around the world, with a specific focus on cases in Egypt, Kyrgyzstan, Bangladesh,…
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of September 14, 2018
Court finds journalists guilty of making propaganda for terrorists A court on September 19 found the directors of the shuttered socialist television channel Hayatın Sesi TV guilty of making propaganda for terrorist organisations, the daily Evrensel reported.
Iraqi authorities shut down internet, detain and assault journalists amid protests
Between July 14 and September 6, 2018, at least seven Iraqi journalists were assaulted or detained while covering protests over government corruption and the lack of basic services in several cities across Iraq, and the offices of two local media outlets were set on fire, according to news reports, the journalists’ employers, the local press…
Egypt sentences photojournalist Shawkan to five years
Washington, D.C., September 8, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned an Egyptian court’s sentencing of photojournalist Mahmoud Abou Zeid, also known as “Shawkan,” to five years in prison, and called on authorities to release him immediately and remove any restriction on his release on appeal.
Venezuelan freelance photographer detained, sent to military prison
New York, September 7, 2018–Venezuelan authorities should immediately release and drop all charges against freelance photographer Jesus Medina Ezaine, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. A court in the capital Caracas on August 31 ordered Medina to military prison; he was detained August 29 after working on a reporting project at a hospital and…
Egypt extends detention period for four journalists held as part of mass trial
New York, August 21, 2018– Egyptian national security prosecutors ordered four more journalists to be detained as part of a case in which more than a dozen journalists, along with academics and activists, are charged with belonging to a banned group and with spreading false news. The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on authorities…
Gujarat police beat up photojournalist, charge him with looting and rioting
New Delhi, August 9, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned a brutal attack on photojournalist Pravin Indrekar by police in the Indian state of Gujarat, and called on the state authorities to withdraw charges of looting and rioting that police filed against him.
CPJ Safety Advisory: Covering Unite the Right rally and counter-protests in Washington, D.C.
Hundreds of protesters are expected to join a “white civil rights rally” in Washington, D.C., on August 11 and 12 to mark the one-year anniversary of the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, which became violent and resulted in the death of one woman. A coalition of local organizations is planning counter-protests in Washington…
CPJ Safety Advisory: Covering protests in Bangladesh
On July 29, two students were killed, and 12 others injured when a bus plowed into a passengers waiting at a stop in Dhaka. Since then, daily demonstrations that started in Dhaka have spread throughout Bangladesh. Thousands of students have demonstrated on the streets of Dhaka at major traffic intersections, causing congestion that has nearly…