CPJ, civil society groups call for Congress to pass Transnational Repression Policy Act
CPJ signed a joint letter on March 16 with 34 diaspora, human rights, and civil society organizations urging the U.S. Congress to hold markup sessions for the bicameral and bipartisan Transnational Repression Policy Act (H.R. 4829/S.2525). The bill would establish stronger U.S. mechanisms to protect people from foreign government threats and to hold perpetrators accountable….
Council of Europe journalist platform warns of increasingly hostile European environment
The Council of Europe’s Platform for the Protection of Journalism and the Safety of Journalists published its annual report, “On the tipping point: Press freedom 2025,” today. Legal threats, physical attacks, intimidation, attempts at media capture, and transnational repression are among the main concerns raised in the report, which analyzes key legal, policy, and practical developments affecting media freedom and…
Azerbaijan sentences exiled journalists to lengthy prison terms in absentia
January 16, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Azerbaijani authorities to stop targeting exiled journalists after a court sentenced U.S.-based journalist Sevinj Osmanqizi on January 14 to eight years in prison in absentia on charges of calling for mass unrest and the overthrow of the state. The ruling follows a seven-year sentence handed down on December 23 to…
CPJ, partners condemn arrest of exiled Egyptian podcast host Seif al-Islam Eid’s father
In a joint statement, the Committee to Protect Journalists and 18 human rights and press freedom organizations called on Egyptian authorities to immediately release the father of exiled Egyptian podcast host Seif al-Islam Eid, who was arrested on October 22, 2025, and to cease targeting the family members of exiled journalists and human rights defenders….
Iran escalates harassment of BBC Persian journalists’ families
Paris, June 5, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by a new wave of harassment by Iranian authorities targeting the Iranian families of BBC journalists as part of a broader campaign of repression beyond the Islamic Republic’s borders. BBC Persian journalists in London told The Guardian and CPJ that their families back in Iran have faced…
CPJ calls on Tajikistan authorities to stop harassing relatives of exiled journalists
Stockholm, May 24, 2024—Tajikistan authorities must end their harassment of family members of journalists with independent Europe-based broadcaster Azda TV and allow exiled journalists to work without fear of reprisal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. Since late last year, Tajik law enforcement agencies have repeatedly summoned, interrogated, and threatened relatives of five Azda…