Threatened

New York, September 21, 2016--Russian authorities should credibly investigate threats against independent online journalist Aleksandr Sotnik and bring those responsible to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Sotnik yesterday announced that he had fled Russia following threats connected to his critical reporting on Kremlin policies.

By Andrew Downie/CPJ Brazil Correspondent

Felipe Souza was covering an anti-government protest in São Paulo earlier this month when a line of riot police advanced toward him.

Protesters in Bangalore, the capital of India's Karnataka state, on September 12, 2016, assaulted Rohini Swamy, deputy editor of the English-language news channel India Today TV, and Madhu Y, a cameraman for the channel, as the two covered demonstrations against a Supreme Court order to divert some water from the Cauvery River to the neighboring state of Tamil Nadu.

New York, September 15, 2016 - Chinese authorities should launch a credible, independent investigation into allegations police assaulted journalists and allow reporters to do their work, including covering protests, without restriction, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Police in China's southern Guangdong province last night assaulted and detained five journalists from Hong Kong-based news outlets, their employers reported, and prevented many others from approaching a village that has recently been the site of protests.

New York, August 31, 2016--Authorities should investigate incidents of vandalism of Venezuelan newspaper offices and do everything in their power to ensure that journalists can work without fear of reprisal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

New York, August 30, 2016--The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned an attack late on August 28 on Mentor Shala, the director of Radio Television of Kosovo, or RTK, and calls on authorities to protect him in light of continuing threats to his life. A radical activist group claimed responsibility for the attack, in which an explosive device detonated in the backyard of Shala's home in the Pristina suburb of Matican, according to news reports. Shala and his family were all inside the house when the attack occurred, Agence France-Presse reported, but no one was injured.

Abuja, Nigeria, August 18, 2016 -- The Nigerian military should cease threatening freelance journalist Ahmad Salkida with prosecution for not acting as an informer, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The military has said the journalist could face terrorism charges if he does not provide it with information he gained in the course of his reporting on the militant group Boko Haram.

Sahr Amadu Komba, manager of the local radio station Eastern Radio 96.5 FM in the diamond mining town of Koidu, in Sierra Leone's eastern Kono District, went into hiding from July 27-31, 2016, out of fear of arrest on allegations of inciting the public to protest the government's response to floods that destroyed homes and cut off the road linking the town to the capital, Freetown, according to news reports.

By Özgür Öğret/CPJ Turkey Representative

Released journalists describe beatings in custody, headline 'Resistance continues'
Journalists from the pro-Kurdish daily newspaper Özgür Gündem, the pro-Kurdish DİHA news agency and broadcaster IMC TV released yesterday alleged that police beat and mistreated them in custody, Özgür Gündem reported on its website, which continues to publish despite a court order temporarily closing the newspaper. The journalists said they intend to file criminal complaints regarding their treatment.

New York, August 11, 2016 - Indian authorities should shelve a criminal complaint against the weekly Indian magazine Outlook, its leadership, and freelance journalist Neha Dixit, and ensure the safety of the journalist and Outlook's staff, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.