Access to VOA and RFE/RL websites restricted in Afghanistan
New York, February 13, 2023 – Taliban officials must cease censoring news outlets in Afghanistan and restore unfettered access to the websites of the U.S.-Congress funded broadcasters Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. The websites of both outlets are inaccessible on three of Afghanistan’s privately owned…
CPJ calls for Twitter to restore accounts of suspended journalists, commit to media freedom
New York, December 16, 2022—Twitter should immediately reinstate the journalists whose accounts it suspended without notice and explicitly commit to practices that defend a free and independent media, Jodie Ginsberg, president of the Committee to Protect Journalists, said in a statement Friday. Responding to news reports that Twitter had suspended the accounts of at least…
Myanmar journalist Sithu Aung Myint sentenced to additional 7 years in prison
Bangkok, December 13, 2022 – In response to news reports that a Myanmar court on December 9 sentenced journalist Sithu Aung Myint to seven years in prison for sedition, adding to his existing five-year sentence, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement calling for his immediate release: “Sithu Aung Myint’s harsh sentencing is the latest disgraceful…
Taliban bans radio broadcasts of VOA and RFE/RL in Afghanistan
New York, December 1, 2022 – Taliban authorities must cease their intensifying crackdown on the media in Afghanistan and reinstate the radio transmissions of the U.S. Congress-funded broadcasters Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. The Taliban’s Ministry of Information and Culture issued the ban, which went…
CPJ: Kyrgyzstan’s block of RFE/RL website ‘a flagrant act of censorship’
Stockholm, October 27, 2022 – Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Culture, Information, Sports, and Youth Policy on Wednesday announced a two-month block of the website of Radio Azattyk, the local service of U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, under the country’s false information law after the outlet refused to remove a video report on recent border…
Voice of America reporter Sithu Aung Myint sentenced to three years in prison in Myanmar
Bangkok, October 11, 2022 – Myanmar’s military regime must immediately and unconditionally release journalist Sithu Aung Myint and stop using vague laws to harass and persecute members of the press for merely reporting the news, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On October 7, an Insein Prison court in Yangon convicted and sentenced Sithu…
South Sudan journalist Diing Magot released on bail, charged
New York, August 15, 2022–South Sudanese authorities should immediately drop all legal proceedings against journalist Diing Magot and allow her to work without fear of arrest or intimidation, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On Monday, South Sudanese authorities released Magot, a freelance reporter, on bail after she spent eight days in detention, according to news reports, Patrick Oyet,…
Keeping hope alive
Afghan journalists in exile continue reporting despite an uncertain future “I lost my family, my job, my identity, and my country,” Afghan journalist Anisa Shaheed told CPJ in a phone interview. A former Kabul-based reporter for TOLONews, Afghanistan’s largest local broadcaster, Shaheed is one of hundreds of journalists who fled Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover…
South Sudan journalist Diing Magot arrested while covering protest for Voice of America
New York, August 9, 2022 — South Sudanese authorities should immediately release journalist Diing Magot and ensure reporters covering protests and other events of public interest can work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On Sunday, August 7, South Sudanese authorities arrested Magot, a freelance reporter on assignment for the U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster…
Fifteen journalists detained for covering prison fight in Somaliland
Nairobi, April 15, 2022 – Authorities in the breakaway region of Somaliland should unconditionally release without charge 13 journalists detained since April 13 and should not pursue any charges against two others who were detained and later released, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. On the afternoon of Wednesday, April 13, security personnel —…