Hundreds of jailed journalists the new norm, CPJ census finds
Turkey, China, and Egypt responsible for jailing more than half of all journalists New York, December 13, 2018–For the third consecutive year at least 251 journalists are behind bars for their work, as authoritarian regimes increasingly use imprisonment to silence dissent, the Committee to Protect Journalists found.
Serbian investigative journalist targeted with arson attack
New York, December 12, 2018–Serbian authorities must ensure the safety and well-being of investigative journalist Milan Jovanović and bring those responsible for today’s arson attack on his property to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Journalists fleeing threats at home trapped in ICE detention over US asylum seeker policy
When Cuban police escorted Serafín Morán Santiago on to a plane to Guyana in 2016, they warned the journalist he could be jailed for 15 years if he tried to return. Authorities there had already detained and tortured him for his reporting. But when he was attacked in Guyana and then threatened in Mexico, Morán…
Militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham threatens to execute Syrian journalist Amjed al-Maleh
Beirut, December 11, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today expressed grave concern about the fate of Syrian journalist Amjed al-Maleh. According to news reports, Syrian militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham threatened to execute al-Maleh, a Syrian freelance journalist and media activist from the southwestern Syrian city of Madaya whom the group had been holding captive…
Israel raids Palestinian news agency, detains journalist in the West Bank
Washington D.C., December 10, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed concern at today’s raid on the offices of the Palestinian News and Information Agency (WAFA) by Israeli forces in the West Bank city of Ramallah and the detention of Al-Quds News Network writer and Quds Radio Tulkarm correspondent Sameh Manasra by Israeli authorities.
CPJ Safety Advisory: Covering 2018 protests in France and Belgium
Despite the French government announcing it will drop a proposed fuel tax rise, the gilets jaunes (yellow jackets) group, truckers, and farming groups have called for more protests, according to The Guardian. Mass demonstrations have taken place across France and Belgium as initial protests over the proposed increase in fuel duty on diesel spread to…
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of December 2
Journalists in court A Diyarbakır Court on December 5 ordered Rojhat Doğru, a journalist formerly with the northern Iraq outlet Gali Kurdistan TV, to be detained pending investigation, the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya Agency reported. According to the report, Doğru was taken into custody in Istanbul on the accusation of “being a member of a [terrorist] organization,”…