Turkish court upholds life sentences without parole for four journalists
Istanbul, October 3, 2018–An Istanbul court of appeals yesterday upheld the sentences of life in prison without parole handed to four prominent Turkish journalists in February, media reported. Mehmet Altan, his brother Ahmet Altan, Nazlı Ilıcak, and Fevzi Yazıcı were convicted of having links to the U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gülen, whom Turkey accuses of being…
CPJ joins Malta fact-finding mission into murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia
New York, October 03, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists will join a group of international press freedom and freedom of expression organizations from October 15-17 on a mission to Malta. The group will support local civil society actions marking the one-year anniversary of the death of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, and conduct fact-finding into…
CPJ expresses concern for Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi
Beirut, October 3, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned about Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist who has been living in self-imposed exile in the U.S. since 2017, and urges Saudi authorities to immediately disclose his whereabouts. Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post and a former editor-in-chief of the Saudi newspaper Al-Watan who…
CPJ Safety Advisory: Pegasus spyware used to target journalists, civil society
[EDITOR’S NOTE: See CPJ’s updated safety advisory here https://cpj.org/2019/11/cpj-safety-advisory-journalist-targets-of-pegasus-.php.] In a report published on September 18, Citizen Lab said it had detected Pegasus, a spyware created for mobile devices, in over 45 countries. Pegasus, which transforms a cellphone into a mobile surveillance station, could have been deployed against a range of journalists and civil society…
CPJ welcomes Danya Hajjaji as 2018 Patti Birch fellow for Middle East research
New York, October 1, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists is pleased to announce that Danya Hajjaji has joined CPJ as a 2018 Patti Birch fellow for Middle East Research. Hajjaji is the third recipient of the fellowship. The fellowship was established following a generous grant by the Patti and Everett B. Birch Foundation.
CPJ’s Joel Simon speaks at Press Behind Bars panel
Committee to Protect Journalists Executive Director Joel Simon addressed a panel event at the 73rd session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York on September 28, 2018. The event highlighted global press freedom violations and the jailing of journalists in countries around the world, with a specific focus on cases in Egypt, Kyrgyzstan, Bangladesh,…
Press Behind Bars event highlights journalists imprisoned around the world
New York, September 28, 2018–At a panel discussion held today during the U.N. General Assembly, the Committee to Protect Journalists denounced several countries for imprisoning journalists, and others for failing to admonish those that do. The event highlighted global press freedom challenges, with specific emphasis on Myanmar, Bangladesh, Egypt, and Kyrgyzstan.
Slovakia charges three people with murder of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak
Berlin, September 28, 2018–Slovak police today charged three people with the murder of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kušnírová, according to news reports. The unnamed suspects were among eight people arrested in a raid yesterday, according to reports. The other five were released today, according to a prosecutor cited in news reports.
Live Stream – Press Behind Bars: Undermining Justice and Democracy
Event scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. EDT on Friday, September 28, 2018. Committee to Protect Journalists Executive Director Joel Simon, Reuters President and CPJ board member Stephen J. Adler, and human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, who represents the imprisoned Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, speak on a panel at the 73rd…
Kazakhstan detains French journalist and bans him from filming
New York, September 27, 2018–Kazakh authorities should allow French journalist Vincent Prado and his local fixer Danara Ismetova to work without obstruction, the Committee to Protect Journalists said. Prado and Ismetova were briefly detained by police this morning, before a judge fined Prado and banned the journalist from filming in the Manghystau region of Kazakhstan,…