Four journalists arrested in Egypt
New York, September 30, 2016 – Egyptian authorities should immediately drop all charges against four journalists arrested in Cairo this week, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The three journalists still in detention told their lawyer security forces had beaten and electrocuted them during interrogation.
Kyrgyzstan must free jailed journalist Azimjon Askarov, UN committee says
In a milestone decision announced today in Geneva, the U.N. Human Rights Committee called on Kyrgyzstan to immediately release Azimjon Askarov, a journalist sentenced to life in prison in September 2010. The U.N. body issued its decision after reviewing a complaint filed in November 2012 by Askarov’s lawyer, Nurbek Toktakunov, and a team of experts…
In Colombia, second attacker sentenced in Jineth Bedoya case
New York, March 18, 2016–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the sentencing today of former paramilitary fighter Mario Jaimes Mejía who, according to reports, was handed a 28-year prison term for the kidnap, rape, and torture of Colombian journalist Jineth Bedoya Lima in 2000. Last month, Alejandro Cárdenas Orozco, a former paramilitary fighter, was sentenced…
South Sudanese journalist found beaten
Nairobi, March 8, 2016 – South Sudanese authorities should immediately launch an independent, thorough investigation into the abduction and beating of journalist Joseph Afandi and punish those responsible, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Colleagues found Afandi dumped near a graveyard in Juba today, beaten and bearing marks of torture, according to press accounts.
Egyptian journalist alleges torture, whereabouts unknown
New York, March 3, 2016 – Egyptian authorities should immediately charge or release journalist Sabry Anwar and order an independent and thorough investigation into claims he has been tortured, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Security forces arrested Anwar, a correspondent for the independent newspaper El Badil, from his home in the Mediterranean city…
Second journalist killed in Brazil in less than a week
New York, May 26, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the murder of Brazilian radio journalist Djalma Santos da Conceição and calls on authorities to investigate and bring all those responsible to justice. Santos da Conceição’s body was found with signs of torture on Saturday in the northeast state of Bahia, one day after the…
Colombian official convicted of ‘psychological torture’ of journalist
Bogotá, Colombia, December 22, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the conviction of a former high-ranking Colombian intelligence official who on December 19 was sentenced to 11 years in prison for carrying out a campaign of aggression and death threats against investigative journalist Claudia Julieta Duque, according to news reports.
CPJ urges Iranian authorities to release journalists
New York, April 18, 2013–The cases of an Iranian blogger imprisoned for seven months without trial and a prominent freelance journalist whose health has deteriorated in prison illustrate the ongoing abuses being perpetrated by Iranian authorities, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Syrian cartoonist, attacked in August, returns to drawing
Syrian cartoonist Ali Ferzat is wielding his pen once more. According to news reports, the famous cartoonist, who suffered a severe beating in August, has regained 90 percent of the movement in his hands, which were deliberately targeted by his attackers before they dumped him on the side of a road.