‘I am dying every day:’ Wife of killed Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif calls for justice
Six months after Kenyan authorities said Kenyan police shot dead prominent Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif, his wife Javiera Siddique spoke to CPJ about the lack of justice for her husband, the online smear campaign against her, and her hopes for how the international community can help. Sharif was killed outside Nairobi on October 23, 2022,…
‘Living in fear’: Exiled Afghan journalists face arrest, hunger in Pakistan
Many exiled Afghan journalists are still in limbo more than 18 months after the Taliban seized power, forcing hundreds of thousands of Afghans to flee as the Taliban cracked down on the country’s previously vibrant independent media landscape. Exiled journalists unable to move beyond neighboring Pakistan are in increasingly dire straits. Unable to find jobs…
CPJ sends joint letter calling for release of US journalist Evan Gershkovich
On March 31, CPJ joined more than 30 global press freedom groups and news organizations in a letter to Anatoly Antonov, the Russian ambassador to the United States, calling for the immediate release of Wall Street Journal reporter and U.S. citizen Evan Gershkovich. In the letter, signatories expressed deep concern regarding the Russian government’s detention…
Russia detains Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on espionage charges
On Thursday, Russian authorities said they had detained Wall Street Journal reporter and U.S. citizen Evan Gershkovich in the city of Yekaterinburg. Later that day, a Moscow court ordered Gershkovich to be placed under arrest until May 29 on charges of spying for the U.S. government. The FSB security service accused the journalist of collecting…
French journalist Olivier Dubois freed after nearly two years in captivity
French journalist Olivier Dubois was freed nearly two years after he was abducted by a militant group in Mali. “It’s amazing for me to be here, to be free,” Dubois said while thanking Nigerien authorities for their role in his release. He is now reunited with his family in France. Dubois, a freelancer, went missing…
Bombing at Afghan press award event kills 1 journalist, injures more than a dozen
A bombing on Saturday at an event to honor journalists in Afghanistan left one journalist dead and more than a dozen injured. The militant Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attack, stating that it targeted journalists “working in agencies involved in the war and instigation against IS.” “It’s barbaric to target journalists at an event meant to…
Chinese journalist held for reporting on Wuhan COVID outbreak wishes he’d done more
Chinese journalist Li Zehua, who formerly worked for state broadcaster CCTV and goes by the name Kcriss Li, was held by authorities for reporting on the COVID-19 outbreak from Wuhan in early 2020. In a new interview with CPJ’s China correspondent Iris Hsu and Director of Special Projects Robert Mahoney, Li said that he wishes…
Journalists detained, harassed while covering Nigerian election
At least 14 journalists and media workers were detained, harassed, or attacked while covering Nigeria’s presidential and federal elections on February 25. WikkiTimes editor Haruna Mohammed Salisu was among those arrested, and was held until Thursday, when he was released on bail. Those incidents came after political protesters attacked journalist Jonathan Ugbal on February 22,…
CPJ appalled by killing of journalist reporting on Florida shootings
On Wednesday, Spectrum News 13 reporter Dylan Lyons was shot and killed in Orange County, Florida, while covering a separate fatal shooting earlier in the day. Another member of the news crew, photographer Jesse Walden, was critically injured in the shooting, which also killed a 9-year-old girl and injured her mother. Police arrested a 19-year-old…
‘I turned around and said goodbye to Nicaragua’: A bitter freedom for 2 deported journalists
Nicaraguan journalists Juan Lorenzo Holmann and Miguel Mendoza had served more than 500 days of their nine-year prison sentences when guards ordered them from their cells and put them on the buses that would take them to a plane bound for Washington, D.C. Holmann, the publisher of La Prensa newspaper, and Mendoza, a veteran sports…