Taliban fighters shoot at car carrying Afghan journalists, briefly abduct them
On August 1, 2021, Taliban fighters in the outskirts of Herat city, in western Afghanistan, fired shots at a car carrying Shakib Shams, a correspondent with the national radio service Salam Wantadar, and Storai Karimi, a reporter for the independent news agency Pajhwok Afghan News, and abducted them for approximately 25 minutes, according to Shams,…
Former Capital Gazette editor on justice and healing after worst newsroom shooting in U.S. history
When CPJ interviewed Rick Hutzell at a café in Annapolis, Maryland, in July, he acknowledged that the decision to open up about his experiences as the former editor of the Capital Gazette, the site of the worst newsroom shooting in U.S. history, was a shift. Hutzell had been wary of giving interviews in the three…
Bangladesh authorities harass, threaten two Rohingya journalists
Washington, D.C., August 5, 2021– Bangladesh authorities should immediately cease harassing brothers and colleagues Sayful Arkane, a reporter, and Mohammad Aziz Arkane, a camera operator, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On August 2, the brothers, who cover Rohingya refugees for the YouTube channel of Rohingya news website The Arakan Times, participated in a…
CPJ joins call urging Zambia to maintain internet access during elections
The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 41 other human rights, free expression, and technology organizations in a letter to Zambian President Edgar Lungu, calling on him to ensure that the internet and digital communications remain uninterrupted throughout Zambia’s August 12 general election period. In the letter, dated August 5, members of the #KeepItOn coalition against…
Human rights reporter Zhou Weilin sentenced to 3.5 years in Chinese prison
Taipei, August 5, 2021 – Chinese authorities should immediately release reporter Zhou Weilin, and ensure that journalists are able to cover the country’s human rights issues freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On July 29, a court in Feidong county in Anhui province in eastern China sentenced Zhou, a reporter for the Chinese-language…
Russian authorities label The Insider a ‘foreign agent,’ search editor’s home
Stockholm, August 3, 2021 – Russian authorities should remove The Insider and all other media organizations and journalists from the country’s register of foreign agents and stop harassing the outlet’s editor-in-chief Roman Dobrokhotov, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On July 23, the Russian Justice Ministry added independent Latvia-based investigative news site The Insider…
Algeria revokes accreditation of Saudi channel Al-Arabiya over allegedly spreading misinformation
New York, August 2, 2021 – Algerian authorities should immediately reverse their decision to revoke the accreditation of Saudi news channel Al-Arabiya and ensure that the channel can operate freely in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On July 31, Algeria’s communications ministry withdrew Al-Arabiya’s press accreditation for allegedly spreading misinformation while…
CPJ welcomes priority inclusion of Afghan journalists in U.S. refugee program
Washington, D.C., August 2, 2021 — In response to the U.S. State Department’s announcement today of a priority designation granting U.S. Refugee Admissions Program access to “Afghans who are or were employed in Afghanistan by a U.S.-based media organization or non-governmental organization,” the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement: “We applaud the Biden…
David Kaye on the Pegasus Project and why surveillance reform should reach beyond NSO Group and Israel
In 2020, then-United Nations special rapporteur for freedom of opinion and expression David Kaye pressed Israeli firm NSO Group in a public letter for details about its human rights due diligence and assertions that Saudi Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi had not been targeted with its Pegasus spyware before his brutal 2018 murder. The group…
Zambian radio station transmitter damaged in arson attack
In the early hours of June 24, 2021, an unknown group of people tried to set fire to the Kalungwishi Radio Station in the Chienge district of Zambia’s northern Luapula Province, damaging transmission cables, a mixer, and air conditioning equipment, according to a news report quoting the local chapter of the regional press freedom group…