CPJ calls for withdrawal or modification of Hong Kong extradition bill
Hong Kong, May 13, 2019 — The Hong Kong government should withdraw a proposed bill amending its extradition law that potentially exposes journalists and others in Hong Kong to criminal trial in mainland Chinese courts, or modify the bill to include additional safeguards to prevent arbitrary rendition, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Mexican anti-corruption news website MCCI hit with cyberattack
New York, May 10, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned a cyberattack on Mexicanos Contra La Corrupción y Impunidad (MCCI), a Mexican nonprofit news outlet that publishes in-depth investigations into corruption in Mexico and Latin America.
Journalists injured in election-related violence in West Bengal
New Delhi, May 9, 2019 — The chief election officer of West Bengal should immediately intervene to prevent attacks on journalists covering the ongoing elections in the state, and the state government should ensure that those involved in the attacks are held accountable, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Polish investigative journalist Baca-Pogorzelska receives menacing text messages
Investigative journalist Karolina Baca-Pogorzelska of the daily Dziennik Gazeta Prawna received two menacing messages through an internet-based anonymous text messaging platform on January 28 and March 31, 2019, according to news reports and the journalist, who spoke with CPJ.
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of May 5, 2019
Journalist sentenced to 10 months in prison An Istanbul court on May 7 sentenced Cansu Pişkin, a reporter for the leftist daily Evrensel, to 10 months in prison for “making a target of a civil servant for terrorist organizations,” the television news website Medyascope reported. The court suspended Pişkin’s sentence barring a repeated offense in…
Libyan journalists Mohamed al-Qurj and Mohamed al-Shibani missing since May 2
New York, May 9, 2019 — The Committee to Protect Journalists is gravely concerned about the safety of Mohamed al-Qurj and Mohamed al-Shibani, Libyan journalists with Qatar-based private television broadcaster Libya Alahrar, who disappeared on May 2.
Singapore passes ‘fake news’ legislation that threatens press
Bangkok, May 9, 2019 — The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the Singapore parliament’s passage of legislation that could be used to stifle reporting and the dissemination of news, and called for the punitive measure’s immediate repeal.
Mexico’s press question president’s commitment to press advertising reform
When Andrés Manuel López Obrador won Mexico’s presidential elections last year with a promise to drastically cut the millions of dollars the government spends on press advertising each year, it appeared to signal the end to an opaque system that has been criticized as a way for governments to encourage favorable coverage.
Colombia sentences two ex-paramilitary fighters for 2000 attack on Jineth Bedoya
Miami, May 8, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the sentencing on May 6 of former paramilitary fighters Alejandro Cárdenas Orozco and Jesús Emiro Pereira Rivera for the kidnapping, rape, and torture of Colombian journalist Jineth Bedoya Lima in 2000.