Burundi media regulator suspends BBC and VOA, warns other broadcasters
Nairobi, May 7, 2018–Authorities in Burundi should immediately lift a six-month licensing suspension imposed on radio broadcasts of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and Voice of America (VOA), the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Burundi’s National Communication Council (CNC), the media industry regulator, on May 4 accused the two stations of breaching the country’s…
Cameroon military court orders radio journalist to be held for at least 6 months
New York, May 7, 2018–Cameroonian authorities must immediately release broadcaster Akumbom Elvis McCarthy from detention and ensure that the country’s military courts are not used to prosecute journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Uzbekistan releases remaining jailed journalists
New York, May 7, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release from custody today of Uzbek journalists Bobomurod Abdullaev and Hayot Nasriddinov, who had been on trial in Tashkent since March 5, 2018. With the pair’s release, there are no journalists behind bars in Uzbekistan for the first time in two decades, according to…
Five Palestinian journalists injured in week 6 of Gaza protests
At least five Palestinian journalists were injured on May 4, 2018, covering protests in the Gaza Strip, as the Israel Defense Forces used tear gas and fired live rounds to disperse demonstrators, according to news reports, social media posts by local journalists, and two local reporters — Moneeb Saada and Saud Abu Ramadan — with…
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of April 30, 2018
Feza Media Group trial ends, defendants sentenced An Istanbul court on April 30 convicted 10 people affiliated with the shuttered Feza Media Group, best known as the publisher of the daily Zaman, on terrorism-related charges, CNNTurk and the media news website P24 reported. All of the defendants were acquitted on charges of “attempting to eliminate”…
Joint report on press freedom in US details worsening media environment
Journalists and news organizations in the U.S. face a range of intensifying challenges that threaten their right to freedom of the press, according to a report launched today by international press freedom and free expression advocacy groups to mark World Press Freedom Day.
Israel shutters Palestinian youth media office in East Jerusalem, citing terrorism
Beirut, May 2, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the recent closure of the East Jerusalem office of the Palestinian Elia Youth Media Foundation by Israeli forces and called on authorities to allow the group to work freely.
Mumbai court sentences crime boss, 8 others to life in jail for journalist murder
New Delhi, May 2, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomed a Mumbai court’s convictions today of nine people, including the mastermind of the murder of investigative journalist Jyotirmoy Dey nearly seven years ago. A court that hears organized crime cases found crime boss Rajendra Sadashiv Nikhalje, alias Chhota Rajan, guilty of ordering Dey’s murder because…