Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of February 5
German court upholds partial ban on poem satirizing Erdoğan A court in the German city of Hamburg today upheld a previous court’s ban on comedian Jan Böhmermann’s reciting 18 of 24 verses of a poem satirizing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that the comedian recited on television last year, according to press reports. Erdoğan pressed…
Surveillance of journalists and court orders puts Canada’s press freedom at risk
On February 6, VICE News reporter Ben Makuch is due to appear in court to appeal an order requesting that he hand over details of his communication with a source. The hearing comes ahead of a day of action being planned in Canada for February 25, when press freedom and privacy activists are due to…
British photographer wounded in eastern Ukraine
New York, February 3, 2017–British freelance photographer Christopher Nunn was injured last night while covering shelling in the eastern Ukrainian town Avdiivka, according to press reports. “I am alive,” the photographer wrote on Twitter after the incident. His translator Vladimir Subotovsky told CPJ today that Nunn was in stable condition after undergoing eye surgery.
Bangladeshi journalist fatally shot covering street battles
Washington, D.C., February 3, 2017–Bangladeshi authorities should vigorously investigate and bring to justice those responsible for killing Abdul Hakim Shimul, a journalist for the daily Samakal newspaper, who died today from gunshot wounds sustained while covering political unrest yesterday, according to news reports.
CPJ Safety Advisory: US executive order on immigration
On Friday January 27, 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump issued an executive order making significant changes to the country’s immigration system. In the week since the order was issued, there has been great uncertainty about how to interpret the changes and how these are being implemented by the U.S. agencies charged with immigration and border…
BBC journalist questioned by US border agents, devices searched
New York, February 1, 2017–Customs and Border Protection officers should respect the rights of journalists to protect confidential information when subjecting international reporters to screening on their arrival to the U.S., the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
CPJ urges Cameroonian President Paul Biya to free radio journalist Ahmed Abba
CPJ urges Cameroonian President Paul Biya to instruct military prosecutors to drop charges against Ahmed Abba–a correspondent for Radio France Internationale’s Hausa-language service who has been jailed for 18 months–so that he can be released without further delay. The journalist’s trial before a military tribunal is scheduled to resume on February 2.