Guinea-Bissau shuts down 2 Portuguese media outlets, expels their journalists
New York, August 19, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in Guinea-Bissau to rescind an August 15 order effectively suspending the work of the Portuguese state-owned news outlets LUSA and RTP and expelling Portuguese journalists working with them. Authorities ordered the immediate and indefinite closure of the LUSA and RTP offices and the discontinuation of…
Madagascar threatens criminal sanctions against 2 journalists
Nairobi, August 19, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Malagasy authorities to retract threats of criminal prosecution directed at Gaëlle Borgia, a freelancer who contributes to TV5 Monde, and Radio France Internationale (RFI) correspondent Pauline Le Troquier, and to ensure that the press can cover matters of public interest without interference. According to the…
Yemen authorities arrest journalist Hamoud Hazz’a on unknown charges in Marib
Washington, D.C., August 19, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the August 16 arrest of Yemen News Agency journalist Hamoud Hazz’a after security forces raided his home in Al-Jufaina camp, Marib Governorate, confiscated his mobile phone and laptop, and took him to an undisclosed location without legal justification. Before his arrest, Hazz’a warned in an August 16 Facebook post that security personnel…
CPJ calls on Kazakhstan to accredit, end ban on 16 RFE/RL journalists
Editor’s note: In a deferred hearing on August 20, the court upheld Kazakh authorities’ accreditation denial and ban against seven RFE/RL journalists; the appeal of a further nine journalists remains under consideration. RFE/RL said it would appeal the verdict. New York, August 18, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists urges Kazakh authorities to reinstate accreditation for 16 journalists with U.S. government-funded…
‘It has become extremely difficult for us’: Uncertain future for RFE/RL’s Kazakh service
Radio Azattyq director Torokul Doorov says it is “very difficult” for journalists not to become activists in the face of “unfairness and injustice” in Kazakhstan. “You just want to start screaming,” says Doorov, who joined the Kazakh arm of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in 2014, and the outlet grew to be one of Kazakhstan’s most influential…
Somaliland journalist detained for days without charge over Facebook post
Kampala, August 15, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in the breakaway region of Somaliland to unconditionally release Facebook-based journalist Ahmed Mohamud Dool, who has been in detention without charge since August 5. “Ahmed Mohamud Dool’s ongoing detention is the latest sign that Somaliland is becoming an unbearably hostile environment for the media,”…
Vietnam issues arrest warrant for journalist in hiding Doan Bao Chau
Bangkok, August 15, 2025—Vietnamese authorities issued an arrest warrant on August 14 for Doan Bao Chau for propagandizing against the state, according to a state media report and the reporter, who communicated with CPJ via messaging app. “Vietnam must repeal its arrest warrant, drop any pending charges, and cease its legal harassment of journalist Doan Bao Chau,”…
CPJ, partners urge Sri Lanka to end harassment of journalist Kanapathipillai Kumanan
The Committee to Protect Journalists joined seven other civil society organizations in calling on Sri Lankan authorities to immediately end the harassment of Tamil photojournalist Kanapathipillai Kumanan and withdraw the counterterrorism police summons for questioning on August 17. The Counter Terrorism Investigation Department did not state the reason for the summons, although the journalist, who…
CPJ, Free Press, partners call for ICE to release journalist Mario Guevara after 2-month detention
The Committee to Protect Journalists and Free Press led a coalition of local and national civil society and press freedom organizations in a Thursday letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) expressing alarm about the continued detention of journalist Mario Guevara. Guevara, a Spanish-language digital reporter, has been in detention for two months after his…
Gag orders against journalists raise South Africa press freedom concerns
When a South African solar panel company last month dropped its legal battle over a gag order preventing journalist Bongani Hans from reporting on allegations of misleading clients, Hans told the Committee to Protect Journalists that he saw it as “a victory for media and press freedom.” But for Hans and others in the country’s…