Belarus’ dangerous push for Serbia to extradite journalist Andrey Gnyot
Editor’s note: On October 31, Belgrade Higher Court released Gnyot from house arrest after the expiration of the one-year legal term for detention. Gnyot left for an unspecified European country on the same day, RFE/RL reported. New York, September 17, 2024—Belarusian filmmaker Andrey Gnyot is stuck in a legal limbo after a Serbian appeals court announced on September 11 that it had…
WikkiTimes publisher, reporter face criminal charges over reporting on alleged corruption
Abuja, September 16, 2024—Authorities in Nigeria should discontinue criminal proceedings against journalists Haruna Mohammed Salisu and Yawale Adamu, of the privately owned WikkiTimes news site, and reform laws that criminalize the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. “Nigerian journalists must be allowed to investigate allegations of corruption without fear of imprisonment,” said CPJ…
In post-election Venezuela, journalist jailings reach record high, media goes underground
Shortly after Venezuela’s disputed presidential election in July, security agents arrested journalist Ana Carolina Guaita and then contacted her family to make a deal. They offered to release Guaita if her mother, Xiomara Barreto, who worked on the opposition campaign to defeat President Nicolás Maduro, turned herself in. Barreto, who is in hiding, rejected the…
Journalists Muhammad Bachal Ghunio and Nisar Lehri killed amid rising violence against press in Pakistan
New York, September 13, 2024—Pakistani authorities must immediately investigate the killings of Awaz TV reporter Muhammad Bachal Ghunio and International News Agency reporter Nisar Lehri and ensure an end to the intensifying wave of violence against journalists in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. “Pakistani authorities must immediately bring the perpetrators of…
Crimean journalist faces continued harassment in jail, rights group, attorney say
Berlin, September 13, 2024—Ahead of Crimean journalist Remzi Bekirov’s next expected hearing on October 2, CPJ expressed concern at reports that Russian prison authorities are harassing him with strict scrutiny and placements in solitary confinement. Bekirov, who is an ethnic Crimean Tatar from Ukraine’s Russian-occupied region of Crimea, was a correspondent for independent Russian news…
Tunisia appeals court upholds Sonia Dahmani’s conviction amid election coverage crackdown
New York, September 13, 2024—Tunisian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release commentator Sonia Dahmani, following an appeals court decision Tuesday to uphold her conviction for spreading false news with a reduced eight-month sentence, and allow all journalists and news outlets to cover the upcoming presidential elections freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. “The…
CPJ joins call for UN commission to investigate Israel murder of journalist Issam Abdallah
The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 10 press freedom and human rights organizations in a letter to the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel to investigate and help provide accountability for the murder of Reuters video journalist Issam Abdallah, who was killed by Israeli…
Malian media regulator suspends TV5Monde and LCI over security reporting
New York, September 12, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists urged Mali’s media regulator to reverse its suspensions of French public broadcaster TV5Monde and private television news channel La Chaîne Info (LCI), which are the most recent outlets censored in response to coverage of security issues in the country. “Reporting critically on the activities of Mali’s…
Turkmen journalist Ruslan Myatiev banned from entering Turkey
New York, September 12, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Turkey’s July 25 denial of entry to Ruslan Myatiev, director and chief editor of Turkmen.news, a Netherlands-based independent Turkmen news website. “Journalist Ruslan Myatiev’s account that Turkey acceded to Turkmenistan’s request to ban him is a startling suggestion of Turkey’s complicity in transnational repression with…
CPJ joins call to release over a dozen journalists jailed in Azerbaijan ahead of COP29
The Committee to Protect Journalists called on the Azerbaijani government to release over a dozen jailed journalists and reform the country’s deeply restrictive media laws in a letter signed by 25 organizations ahead of the United Nations Climate Conference on November 11-22, 2024, in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani authorities have charged 13 journalists over the past year for alleged violations…