The Torch is a weekly newsletter from the Committee to Protect Journalists that brings you the latest press freedom and journalist safety news from around the world. Subscribe here.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply troubled by the Georgian parliament’s vote on Tuesday to adopt the controversial Russian-style “foreign agents” law that could target foreign-funded media operating in the country.
“The passage of ‘foreign agent’ legislation by the ruling Georgian Dream party, despite significant public opposition, is set to stifle media freedom in the lead-up to the parliamentary elections in October,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator.
The law — reintroduced by the ruling party in April following widespread protests that led to its withdrawal last year — would require nonprofits and media outlets receiving more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as “organizations pursuing the interests of a foreign power.” Authorities would be granted as-yet unspecified powers to monitor their activities.
While Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili said she would veto the bill, the ruling party controls a large enough majority to override her.
Read more about the potential impact of Georgia’s “foreign agents” law.
Global press freedom updates
- Indian journalist shot dead on bike, another assaulted at BJP election rally
- CPJ urges India to ensure freedom for 3 journalists granted bail in security cases
- Ugandan journalist Juliet Kyarisiima beaten and robbed while covering land dispute
- DRC journalist Blaise Mabala freed after 4 months in jail over insult to governor
- CPJ joins call for Maldives commission to reveal findings to victims’ families, public
- The Taliban order journalists and citizens to boycott Afghanistan International TV and radio
- Iranian economic reporter begins 5-year prison sentence after lengthy pre-trial detention
- Tunisian police arrest 5 journalists, interrupt France 24’s broadcast amid crackdown
- Turkish court sentences 5 journalists from shuttered newspaper to prison
- CPJ calls on Serbia not to extradite Belarusian journalist Andrey Gnyot
- Journalist Lutfiye Zudiyeva harassed by Russian authorities in Ukraine’s Crimea
- Venezuelan prosecutor accuses investigative Armando.Info of corruption
Spotlight
Following almost two years in pre-trial detention, CPJ urges Guatemalan authorities to release award-winning publisher José Rubén Zamora and immediately drop all charges against him.
On Wednesday, a Guatemalan court ordered Zamora be released to house arrest to await trial in the first of three cases against him. However, he was not immediately released as decisions remained pending in two other cases.
“CPJ welcomes the Guatemalan judiciary’s decision to release journalist José Rubén Zamora to house arrest in the first of three cases against him, after an irregular trial process and nearly two years in detention,” said Cristina Zahar, CPJ’s Latin America program coordinator. “Zamora is innocent and has been imprisoned in retaliation for his journalism, which included investigating government corruption. CPJ calls on authorities to immediately drop all charges against him.”
Read more about Zamora’s case and a report into the severe fair trial violations he has experienced.
What we are reading (and listening to)
- After Al Jazeera, will Israel target its own media? — Ben Lynfield, Foreign Policy
- A 13-year fight for justice in Philippine activist’s murder — Agence France-Presse
- Navigating India’s election as a journalist — Iris Hsu in conversation with Kunāl Majumder, Radio Taiwan International
- How to publish a magazine in a maximum-security prison — John J. Lennon, The New Yorker
- The state of press freedom in Southern Africa 2023 — Reyhana Masters, Nqaba Matshazi and Kholwani Nyathi, The Media Institute of Southern Africa
Are you a visual journalist interested in learning how to protect yourself before, during, and after assignments? CPJ and ACOS Alliance are partnering with Photoville in NYC on a series of practical workshops supported by Leica Camera. Sign up today!
Do you have an Amazon Alexa-enabled device? Enable CPJ's flash briefing skill to stay up to date with the latest press freedom news from around the world.