ECOWAS court rules Gambia violated rights of journalists
New York, February 14, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists called on the Gambian government to act on a judgment passed today by the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to immediately repeal its laws on criminal libel, sedition, and false news.
CPJ joins call for Uzbekistan to investigate claims jailed journalists were tortured
The Committee to Protect Journalists today joined a coalition of 11 other international press freedom and human rights advocacy groups, in calling on Uzbek authorities to conduct an investigation into allegations of torture and ill-treatment of jailed journalists Bobomurod Abdullaev and Hayot Nasriddinov. The coalition, led by Human Rights Watch, called for the journalists to…
Moroccan court convicts local publisher of criminal defamation
New York, February 14, 2018–Moroccan authorities should drop all charges against Akhbar al-Youm columnist and publisher Taoufik Bouachrine on appeal, and allow him to work without fear of reprisal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Kyrgyz journalist charged, put under travel ban following investigative report
New York, February 13, 2018–Kyrgyz authorities should immediately drop all charges against freelance journalist Elnura Alkanova, lift her travel ban, and allow her to report without fear of reprisal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Bangladesh’s press say they are losing the courage to report amid threats from all sides
Nazmul Huda pointed his TV camera at garment workers demonstrating for higher wages in Savar, on the outskirts of Dhaka, and at the police firing tear gas and rubber bullets at them. It took a while for police to notice the ETV reporter, and they were furious. After all, they had ordered him to leave…
Threats, arrests, and access denied as Myanmar backtracks on press freedom
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Esther Htusan is no longer safe to report from her home country, Myanmar. The Associated Press reporter fled the country late last year after being threatened for her critical reporting on various topics that authorities deem sensitive, from the ethnic Rohingya refugee exodus, the military’s controversial counterinsurgency operations in Rakhine State, to…
Airstrike injures Syrian media activist in northwestern Syria
Walid al-Rashed, a media activist for the Syrian pro-opposition Ma’arra Media Center, was seriously injured during an airstrike on February 7, 2018, in the northwestern Syrian city of Ma’arra al-Numan, 21 miles south of Idlib, according to news reports, the Syrian Journalists Association, and his employer.
Somali journalist arrested, held without charge
Nairobi, February 09, 2018–Somali authorities should immediately release Sabir Abdulkadir Warsame, a broadcast journalist with the privately owned Somali Cable TV, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Sabir was arrested by regional security forces in the semi-autonomous state of Jubbaland on February 8 and has been held without charge in the state capital of…
Ukrainian law enforcement raid Vesti offices in Kiev
Kiev, February 9, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a Ukrainian law enforcement raid at the Kiev offices of Media Holding Vesti, which includes Radio Vesti, the daily newspaper Vesti, and the news website Vesti-ukr. More than a dozen masked officers ripped open doors with crowbars, seized property, and fired tear gas in the offices…
Ethiopia’s Eskinder Nega refuses to sign false confession in exchange for prison release
New York, February 9, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Ethiopian government’s attempts today to compel Ethiopian journalist and blogger Eskinder Nega to sign a false confession before releasing him under a presidential pardon. Eskinder, who has spent almost seven years in jail for his work, was one of 746 prisoners due to be…