2016
China’s overseas critics under pressure from smear campaigns, cyber attacks
“I think my actions … have harmed the national interest. What I have done was very wrong. I seriously and earnestly accept to learn a lesson and plead guilty,” said Chinese journalist Gao Yu during a televised confession on the state-run channel CCTV in May 2014.
Venezuelan editor sentenced to 4 years in prison for criminal defamation
Bogotá, Colombia, March 11, 2016–A Venezuelan judge today sentenced David Natera Febres, the editor of an independent newspaper that investigated corruption at a state-run mining company, to four years in prison for criminal defamation, according to news reports.
In Ethiopia, journalist detained since 2013 handed jail sentence
New York, March 11, 2016–Solomon Kebede, the managing editor of the now-defunct Ethiopian paper Ye Muslimoch Guday (Muslim Affairs), was sentenced to prison Thursday, more than three years after being jailed on anti-terrorism charges. CPJ was not immediately able to reconcile conflicting reports on the exact length of the prison sentence.
Iraqi editor on trial for alleging corruption
Washington, March 11, 2016 – Iraqi prosecutors should drop all charges against Montadhar Naser, the editor of the independent news site Al-Aalem al-Jadeed, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The editor is scheduled to appear in a Baghdad court on March 14 to answer criminal defamation and insult charges in connection with a report…
Nigerian police detain publisher
Abuja, Nigeria, March 10, 2016 – Nigerian authorities should immediately release magazine publisher Yomi Olomofe on bail, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Police detained Olomofe early this evening in Lagos, after men he had accused of severely beating him in June 2015 alleged the publisher had assaulted and attempted to extort money from…
‘We are at a critical juncture,’ Tolo TV’s head of news says after bomb kills seven
For people outside of Afghanistan, the January 20 attack on the Tolo TV van, which killed seven people and wounded about two dozen more staffers, was just one more horrendous event in a series of bombings, military skirmishes, attacks, counter attacks, and standoffs around the country. The attack was widely reported but, for outside observers,…
Thailand aims to hollow out foreign press with new visa restrictions
Senior Southeast Asia representative Shawn Crispin this week presented CPJ’s concerns about new media visa restrictions for foreign reporters based in Thailand to a group of Bangkok-based ambassadors. The controversial measures, announced last month by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, are scheduled to come into force on March 21. The text of Crispin’s speech follows:
Turkish journalist sentenced to 21 months in prison for insulting Erdoğan
Istanbul, March 9, 2016 — Turkish prosecutors should immediately drop all charges against newspaper editor Barış İnce, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. An Istanbul court on Tuesday sentenced the editor to 21 months in prison for insulting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in an acrostic presented first as a court document in an…
Attackers beat group of journalists covering human rights abuses in North Caucasus
New York, March 9, 2016–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns today’s attack on a group of six journalists and two human rights activists from Russia, Norway, and Sweden, and urges authorities in the Russian region of Ingushetia to bring those responsible to justice.
Nigerian security forces assault journalists
Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps officers on February 20, 2016, detained three television journalists in Owerri, the capital of the southeastern Imo State, for refusing to hand over their phones to officials of the Federal Road Safety Commission who were allegedly demanding a bribe from a motorist, according to news reports and two of…