Myanmar photographer Soe Naing reportedly dies in army detention
Bangkok, December 15, 2021 – Myanmar authorities must immediately disclose the status of freelance photographer Soe Naing amid reports he died in detention, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Soldiers took Soe Naing into custody on December 10 after he photographed a protest in Yangon against the country’s military junta government, according to reports…
Nine-year sentence for prominent journalist Pham Doan Trang reaffirms Vietnam’s ‘abysmal’ press freedom record
Bangkok, December 15, 2021 – Vietnamese authorities should immediately and unconditionally release journalist Pham Doan Trang, and stop imprisoning independent news reporters for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. In a one-day trial yesterday, Hanoi’s People’s Court sentenced Trang to nine years in prison under Article 117 of the penal code, a…
Taliban official and bodyguards beat, detain journalist Sayed Rashed Kashefi
New York, December 14, 2021—The Taliban must immediately and thoroughly investigate the beating and detention of journalist Sayed Rashed Kashefi and ensure that members of the press can operate freely and safely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On December 11, the director of the Taliban-controlled Kabul Directorate of Refugee Affairs, Abdul Matin Rahimzai,…
Lesotho police arrest a radio presenter, suspend one station’s license, and raid another
Lusaka, December 14, 2021 — Authorities in Lesotho must stop their sustained efforts to gag the press and should allow journalists to operate freely without fear of arrest or being forced to disclose their sources, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On November 14, police arrested and allegedly tried to suffocate Lebese Molati, a…
DVB reporter Aung San Lin arrested in Myanmar
Bangkok, December 14, 2021 – Myanmar authorities must immediately release Democratic Voice of Burma reporter Aung San Lin and drop any charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. At around midnight on December 11, about 20 soldiers raided Aung San Lin’s home in the village of Pin Zin, in the northwestern region…
Togo journalists Ferdinand Ayité and Joël Egah detained over online broadcast
New York, December 13, 2021 — Togolese authorities should immediately release journalists Ferdinand Ayité and Joël Egah and halt legal harassment of Isidore Kouwonou, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On December 9, national police officers arrested Ayité, the publication director of the privately owned L’Alternative newspaper, after he responded to a summons to…
Hungary’s Szabolcs Panyi on how Pegasus surveillance has hindered his reporting
It took five months for Hungary to acknowledge publicly that it had bought the Pegasus spyware allegedly used to hack the phones of hundreds around the world. In November, Lajos Kósa, a top official from Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party, acknowledged the purchase in a media interview after a parliamentary meeting; Minister of the Interior Sándor…
CPJ’s Steven Butler: China’s sentencing of Jimmy Lai over Tiananmen Square vigil is ‘despicable’
Taipei, December 13, 2021 — In response to a Hong Kong court’s decision today to sentence Jimmy Lai, founder of the Next Digital media company and the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, to 13 months imprisonment over his alleged connection to a 2020 vigil marking the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, the Committee to Protect…
Myanmar authorities sentence Kanbawza Tai News journalists to 3 years in prison
Bangkok, December 13, 2021 – Myanmar authorities should release three Kanbawza Tai News journalists recently sentenced to prison for their work and drop all charges against them, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On December 10, a court at the Nyaung Shwe Taung Lay Lone Prison, in Shan state, sentenced editor Nang Nang Tai,…
Unidentified attackers beat Cuban journalist Mabel Páez at her home
Miami, December 10, 2021 – Cuban authorities should thoroughly investigate the recent attack on journalist Mabel Páez and swiftly bring those responsible to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On December 7, at about 8:30 p.m., two unidentified men with their faces covered broke into Páez’s home in the western province of Artemisa…