Journalists detained, news crew attacked, as Kazakhstan state of emergency continues
Stockholm, January 10, 2022 – Kazakh authorities should ensure the ability of the country’s media to work freely and release detained journalist Lukpan Akhmedyarov. They should also fully investigate assaults on the country’s press, including an attack on a convoy that killed one Almaty TV employee and injured another and an arson attack on the…
Men raid office of Nigerian outlet Thunder Blowers, steal equipment and beat editor
Abuja, January 10, 2022 – Nigerian authorities should investigate the recent attack on the offices of the Thunder Blowers news website, and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. At around 8:15 p.m. on January 3, eight men entered the outlet’s office in Gusau, the capital of Nigeria’s northern Zamfara…
Turkish journalist Rojhat Doğru sentenced to life in prison
Istanbul, January 10, 2022 – Turkish authorities should not contest journalist Rojhat Doğru’s appeal, and should cease sentencing members of the press to lengthy jail terms for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On January 6, the Eighth Diyarbakır Court of Serious Crimes sentenced Doğru, a Turkey-based camera operator who covered conflict…
Committee to Protect Journalists names Jodie Ginsberg as its new president
New York, January 10, 2022 – The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) today named Jodie Ginsberg as its new President. Ginsberg will succeed Joel Simon, who stepped down at the end of 2021 after leading the organization for 15 years. A journalist by profession, Ginsberg, 44, has served since March 2020 as Chief Executive Officer…
Danish reporters summoned by police in national security leak investigation
Berlin, January 7, 2022 — Danish authorities should cease summoning members of the press and ensure that the media can report without legal intimidation, the Committee to Protect Journalist said today. On January 4, the National Unit for Special Crime summoned at least seven national security reporters as witnesses in a leak investigation, according to…
Turkish court issues suspended prison term to journalist Nazan Sala
Istanbul, January 7, 2022 – Turkish authorities should vacate the suspended prison term issued to journalist Nazan Sala and stop harassing reporters for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Yesterday, the Fifth Van Court of Serious Crimes convicted Sala, a freelance reporter, of making propaganda for a terrorist organization and issued her…
Two Haitian journalists killed while reporting on gang violence in Port-au-Prince
Miami, January 7, 2022 – Haitian authorities must conduct a swift and thorough investigation into the brutal killings of journalists John Wesley Amady and Wilguens Louis-Saint, and bring those responsible to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Yesterday, suspected gang members shot Amady and Louis-Saint while they were reporting on the lack of…
CPJ welcomes El Salvador’s acceptance of 2 journalists expelled from Cuba
Miami, January 6, 2022 – Salvadoran authorities should continue providing support to Cuban journalists Esteban Rodríguez and Héctor Luis Valdés, and Cuban authorities should cease forcing journalists into exile, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. At dawn on January 4, agents from the Cuban National Revolutionary Police and the Political Police took Valdés from…
Argentine court orders journalist Santiago O’Donnell to turn over interviews of former president’s brother
Miami, January 6, 2022 – Argentine authorities should drop their order for journalist Santiago O’Donnell to surrender his interview recordings, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. O’Donnell, who wrote a 2020 book based on interviews with Mariano Macri, the brother of former President Mauricio Macri, has faced a court order since early 2021 to…
As Armenia legislates libel and insult, journalists worry ‘selective justice’ will be used against the press
When Armenia’s government took office after the 2018 Velvet Revolution, it seemed to usher in a new era of press freedom for the former Soviet Republic. But local journalists fear those days could be over as Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s government implements new legal amendments on insult and defamation. Under the amendments to the country’s…