Four staff members of Nicaragua’s La Prensa charged with conspiracy, two in detention
Guatemala City, October 14, 2022 — Nicaraguan authorities should immediately drop all criminal charges against staff members of the independent newspaper La Prensa, release two drivers held in custody, and cease harassing the outlet, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. On September 29, the Nicaraguan prosecutor’s office charged four La Prensa staff members with “conspiracy…
Togolese Liberté newspaper suspended for 3 months, continues publishing amid appeal
On October 5, 2022 a court in Lomé suspended the privately owned Liberté newspaper for three months and fined the company and two of its staff members a total of 12 million West African francs (US$17,800) for publishing erroneous information about the prime minister, according to local media reports and the director of Liberté, Médard Amétépé, who spoke to the…
Vietnamese journalist Huynh Thuc Vy beaten, choked by prison guards
Bangkok, October 14, 2022 – Vietnamese authorities must investigate, identify, and bring to full justice the prison guards responsible for physically abusing imprisoned journalist Huynh Thuc Vy, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. On October 9, Vy told her young daughter that guards had beaten and choked her at the Gia Trung Prison, where…
South African court bans Independent Media outlets from publishing leaked intelligence report
Lusaka, October 13, 2022 – A South African court judgment banning the publication of an intelligence report about alleged U.S. efforts to gather intelligence about South Africa’s ruling African National Congress party must be made public and should be overturned on appeal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On October 5, Gauteng High Court…
Zimbabwean journalists assaulted, harassed, and blocked from covering events
Lusaka, October 13, 2022—Zimbabwean authorities and ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) should investigate the assaults and harassment of journalists covering events of public interest in the past week, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. “The increasing cases of violence against journalists in Zimbabwe is becoming a serious source of concern and must…
Japanese documentary filmmaker Toru Kubota sentenced to 3 more years in Myanmar prison
Bangkok, October 13, 2022 — In response to multiple news reports that a Myanmar court on Wednesday sentenced Japanese documentary filmmaker Toru Kubota to three more years in prison for allegedly violating the country’s immigration laws, bringing his total incarceration term to 10 years, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement calling for his immediate release: “Myanmar’s latest action in…
New Report: Spyware poses an existential crisis for journalism and threatens press freedom around the world
New York, October 13, 2022 — The development of high-tech “zero-click” spyware – the kind that takes over phones without a user’s knowledge – has had a chilling impact on press freedom, finds a new special report released today by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). The report, Zero-Click Spyware: Enemy of the Press, found the mere threat…
In India’s hardest-hit newsroom, surveilled reporters fear for their families and future journalists
M.K. Venu, a founding editor at India’s independent non-profit news site The Wire, says he has become used to having his phone tapped in the course of his career. But that didn’t diminish his shock last year when he learned that he, along with at least five others from The Wire, were among those listed…
For Mexican journalists, President López Obrador’s pledge to curb spyware rings hollow
“Practically nothing.” RíoDoce magazine editor Andrés Villarreal spoke with a sigh and a hint of resignation as he described what came of Mexico’s investigation into the attempted hacking of his cell phone. “The federal authorities never contacted me personally. They told us informally that it wasn’t them, but that’s it.” Over five years have passed…
In Morocco, journalists – and their families – still struggle to cope with spyware fears
By CPJ MENA Staff Last July, when the Pegasus Project investigation revealed that imprisoned Moroccan journalist Soulaiman Raissouni was selected for surveillance by Israeli-made Pegasus spyware, the journalist could only laugh. “I was so sure,” his wife Kholoud Mokhtari said Raissouni told her from prison. Raissouni is one of seven local journalists named by the…