Beirut, May 21, 2024 — Iraqi Kurdish authorities should immediately and unconditionally release journalist Shakar Star and allow all members of the media to work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On the evening of Saturday, May 18, Iraqi Kurdistan Asayish security forces arrested Star, a presenter at local media agency Tiwar News,…
Update: AP reported that Israeli authorities said they would return the equipment after widespread backlash from press freedom advocates and a White House request. The live feed was restored Wednesday morning. Beirut, May 21, 2024 — Israeli authorities must return the equipment they confiscated from The Associated Press in southern Israel and stop harassing and censoring journalists covering…
The Committee to Protect Journalists and nine other organizations representing news media titles, journalists, and campaign groups, urged U.K. authorities on Tuesday to urgently repeal Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013, which could force publishers to pay the costs of people who sue them — even if the outlet wins. Section 40,…
New York, May 20, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) welcomes the International Criminal Court’s announcement on Monday that it was seeking arrest warrants for Hamas and Israeli leaders for war crimes and crimes against humanity. “The ICC’s application for arrest warrants for crimes against humanity in Israel and Palestine recognizes atrocities committed against civilians,”…
Abuja, May 20, 2024—Nigerian authorities should swiftly and comprehensively investigate the detention of freelance journalist Jamil Mabai by religious police in northern Katsina State and hold them to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. Mabai, who was on assignment for the privately owned Trust TV, had been invited to the offices of the Hisbah,…
New York, May 20, 2024 — The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Tunisian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Houssem Hajlaoui, co-founder and publisher of local independent news website Inkyfada, who was arrested over social media posts from 2020-2023. “CPJ is deeply concerned after Tunisian police arrested journalist Houssem Hajlaoui over old social media…
Stockholm, May 20, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists on Monday called on Kyrgyzstan to allow the country’s leading investigative news site Kloop to resume work and stop using the courts to silence critical media, following the rejection by a city court of Kloop’s appeal against a liquidation order. “The court’s rejection of Kloop’s appeal against…
Washington, D.C., May 20, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the U.K. High Court’s Monday decision to allow WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to appeal his extradition case. “We are heartened that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will be allowed to appeal his extradition to the United States,” said CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg, in New York. “Assange’s…
Istanbul, May 17, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes a Turkish court’s sentencing of seven people involved in the April 8, 2022 raid on Deniz Postası’s broadcast studio in the central Province of Kayseri, during which attackers beat journalist Azim Deniz and his guest, local businessman and politician Sedat Kılınç. At least 50 people raided the studio,…
The Committee to Protect Journalists led a coalition of civil society organizations urging the United States Department of Justice to drop charges against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who is currently being held in the U.K. pending a hearing on May 20 that could determine whether Assange is extradited to the U.S. In 2019, U.S. prosecutors…