Singapore police seize equipment, interrogate editor of The Online Citizen
On November 20, 2018, five police officers seized a desktop computer, mobile devices, and laptops from the Singapore home of Terry Xu, chief editor of the independent news website The Online Citizen, according to news reports. Xu was summoned to the city-state’s Cantonment Complex at 3pm that day, where authorities interrogated him for over eight…
One year after disappearance, CPJ calls for credible investigation into Tanzanian journalist Azory Gwanda’s fate
New York, November 21, 2018–One year after freelance journalist Azory Gwanda disappeared in Tanzania, the Committee to Protect Journalists reiterated its call for a credible investigation and public accounting of his fate.
CPJ gala honors brave journalists, highlights journalism’s role
International Press Freedom Awards go to Vietnamese blogger, Venezuelan reporter, Ukrainian broadcaster, and Sudanese freelancer New York, November 21, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists and media luminaries from around the world last night celebrated courageous journalists from Sudan, Ukraine, Venezuela, and Vietnam at the 28th annual International Press Freedom Awards. Also joining the ceremony were…
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of November 8, 2018
Court sentences former Zaman journalist A court in Uşak on November 14 convicted Ali Ünal, a former columnist for the shuttered daily Zaman, of “founding and leading an armed terrorist organization” and sentenced him to 19 years and six months in prison, the news website Diken reported. The court acquitted the journalist of coup-related charges,…
Kashmiri journalists face multiple restrictions, attacks in October
Journalists in Indian-controlled Jammu and Kashmir faced numerous incidents of restrictions and attacks between October 8 and October 30, 2018. During this period, journalists attempted to cover urban local elections in the state, as well as events surrounding the killing of militant commander Manan Wani by the security forces.
Panic buttons, cameras, and a gun under the desk: Local newsrooms update security in wake of Capital Gazette attack
The Capital Gazette shootings in Annapolis in June, in which a gunman killed five staff, forced many newsrooms across the U.S. to reassess the security of their offices. While journalists acknowledged that threats come with the job, the shooting comes in a year of increased hostility toward the press, including pipe bombs being sent care…
Angela Quintal recounts CPJ’s ordeal in Tanzania
Johannesburg, November 13, 2018–“We drove down a dirt road and entered the premises of what appeared to be a safe house, through a large gate. Several men in plain clothes stood in the front yard. At least one appeared to be armed with a rifle. Their animosity was palpable… We were ordered out of the…
CPJ outraged at Tanzania’s treatment of its Africa program team
New York, November 12, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed indignation at statements from Tanzanian authorities and South Africa’s foreign minister justifying the detention of CPJ’s Africa team in Dar es Salaam on November 7. Officials from both countries falsely claimed CPJ’s Africa program coordinator Angela Quintal and sub-Saharan Africa representative Muthoki Mumo were in…