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(Photo Credit: Al-Manassa)

CPJ, 22 others call for Egyptian cartoonist Ashraf Omar’s release a year after arrest

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 22 other organizations in a joint letter calling for Al-Manassa cartoonist Ashraf Omar’s release a year after he was arrested July 22, 2024, and later accused of joining a terrorist group with knowledge of its purposes, spreading false news, and misusing social media. The statement also urged Egyptian authorities to…

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Journalist Alex Seryea Yormie was abducted on his way back to the Lar-Wehyi station after reading a government order on the air. (Photo: News from Liberia/YouTube)

Liberian journalist abducted by traditional group after broadcasting government policy

Abuja, July 23, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Liberian authorities to ensure justice for journalist Alex Seryea Yormie, who was abducted for several hours and brutalized by members of a local traditional society in northeastern Nimba county.  On June 30, the men abducted Yormie while he was on his way back to the community-based Lar-Wehyi…

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CPJ Regional Director José Zamora speaks at a Georgia news conference on July 22, with Mario Guevara's lawyer, Giovanni Diaz, to his right, and the journalist's daughter, Katherine Guevara on the far right.

CPJ, partners call on US to free imprisoned journalist Mario Guevara

Atlanta, July 22, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists and partners on Tuesday called on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to release Atlanta-based journalist Mario Guevara, who has been in jail since his June 14, 2025, arrest, despite the dropping of all charges against him and an immigration judge ordering his release on bail.  An Emmy-winning, Spanish-language journalist, Guevara was arrested on First Amendment-related…

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A court sketch showing Georgian journalist Mzia Amaglobeli’s trial on July 14. Amaglobeli (standing) gives testimony during the hearing attended by CPJ and partners. (Image: Ana Janelidze)

Georgia seizes 2 media outlets’ accounts amid trial of journalist Mzia Amaglobeli

New York, July 22, 2025—Georgian authorities seized the financial accounts of independent news outlets Batumelebi and Netgazeti over tax arrears, days ahead of an expected verdict in the trial of the outlets’ director, Mzia Amaglobeli, who has been jailed since January on charges widely viewed as politically motivated. “The unwarranted seizure of Batumelebi and Netgazeti’s…

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Lamis El Hadidy was fired after she discussed the military and government culpability on her show, Kelma Akheera (“Final Word”).

Egypt’s intelligence-controlled media company retaliates against programs, hosts critical of government

WASHINGTON, D.C., July 22, 2025—A  media company linked to Egyptian authorities suspended three prominent television programs after their hosts criticized the government and road safety failures, raising concerns about media control by state-aligned entities, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On July 16, United Media Services (UMS), a company owned and closely linked to Egypt’s General Intelligence Service, terminated its contract with…

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A Mexican court issued a gag order on reporter-editor Jorge Luis González Valdez (shown) and the newspaper Tribuna in July 2025. (Screenshot: Milenio/YouTube)

Gag order imposed on retired Mexican journalist, newspaper over critical reports on governor

Mexico City, July 22, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by a gag order placed on reporter-editor Jorge Luis González Valdez and the newspaper Tribuna by a court in the southeastern Mexican state of Campeche. CPJ calls on Gov. Layda Sansores to immediately cease any judicial harassment of the journalist and the publication over…

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This overturned General Security Forces vehicle in Sweida was struck by an Israeli drone on July 15, 2025, according to journalist Nadim al-Nabulsi.

Journalists killed, wounded, media office damaged in Syria violence

Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, July 22, 2025—Journalists were killed, wounded, shot at, and blocked from entering the southern city of Sweida as sectarian violence spread across the region last week, according to multiple journalists who spoke to CPJ. An Israeli airstrike also damaged a media outlet in Damascus. “The violence against journalists in Sweida — including injuries, intimidation, and…

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Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. speaks in the capital Manila in May 2025.

Radio journalist Erwin Labitad Segovia shot dead in the Philippines

Bangkok, July 22, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Philippine authorities to launch a swift and credible investigation into Monday’s killing of Radio WOW FM journalist Erwin Labitad Segovia, who was shot by unidentified assailants while riding his motorcycle home after his morning broadcast. Segovia was pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital in…

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Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, President of the Republic of Malawi, addresses the 79th United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters in New York, U.S., September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

CPJ welcomes defamation decriminalization in Malawi

Lusaka, July 21, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the Malawi Constitutional Court’s landmark July 16 ruling striking down Section 200 of the penal code criminalizing defamation. “Malawi’s Constitutional Court has taken a monumental step towards protecting press freedom and affirmed that criticism and dissent are essential to democracy by ruling criminal defamation to be unconstitutional,” said…

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Moath al Kahlout, a Palestinian journalist based in the Gaza Strip, reports on Instagram on July 10, 2025. (Photo: Courtesy of al Kahlout)

Voices from Gaza: Palestinian journalists in Gaza report amid starvation

As Gaza faces a humanitarian catastrophe, Palestinian journalists are among those going hungry. Cut off from food, aid, and support from the international press, they continue to report, not only on the war, but on their own malnutrition. “Palestinian journalists are the last witnesses on the ground,” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. “Their reporting…

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