CPJ concerned for safety of injured journalist trapped in Turkish city
New York, February 4, 2016–The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned for the safety of Rohat Aktaş, a news editor and reporter for the Kurdish-language daily Azadiya Welat, who has been trapped in the southeastern town of Cizre with a gunshot wound since January 22.
Zimbabwe Constitutional Court Strikes Criminal Defamation Laws
New York, February 3, 2016–Today’s ruling by Zimbabwe’s Supreme Constitutional Court that the country’s criminal defamation laws are unconstitutional is a welcome step toward safeguarding press freedom, the Committee to Protect Journalists said.
Bulgarian journalist bludgeoned
Stoyan Tonchev, owner of the local news website Zad Kulisite (Behind the Scenes), was leaving a friend’s apartment in the Bulgarian Black Sea resort town of Pomorie at around 11 p.m. on January 14, 2015, when at least one man brutally beat him with a blunt object, according to local press reports.
CPJ urges full, independent investigation into killing of journalists in Yemen
New York, February 2, 2016 – Investigations into the killing in Yemen of journalists and other civilians in airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition should be thorough and impartial, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
CPJ condemns Equatorial Guinea’s decision to ban state media coverage of Gbagbo trial
New York, February 2, 2016–The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemns the decision of the government in Equatorial Guinea to ban state television from covering the trial of former Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo, which opened at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague on January 28. “We’ve been forbidden from airing Laurent Gbagbo’s…
Growing fears as more Afghan journalists and media workers come under the gun
New York, February 1, 2016 — The fatal shooting of senior Afghan broadcast journalist Mohammad Zubair Khaksar on Friday and the beating of freelance reporter Yahya Jawahari on Sunday further raise concerns for the safety of Afghan journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The attacks follow a suicide bombing attack on employees of…
CPJ Newsletter: January
Turkey releases jailed Iraqi journalist Following months of advocacy by VICE News, CPJ, and other groups, Iraqi journalist Mohammed Ismael Rasool was released from Turkish prison on January 5. Rasool was arrested in August along with his VICE News colleagues, Jake Hanrahan and Philip Pendlebury, while they were reporting from southeastern Diyarbakir province. The three…
Burundi arrests two foreign correspondents in wider crackdown
New York, January 29, 2016–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on authorities in Burundi to stop harassing journalists and allow them to freely report on events in the country. At least three journalists have been briefly detained in the past two days.
Chinese journalist held on extortion charges
New York, January 28, 2016–Chinese authorities should immediately release Zhang Yongsheng, a reporter for the state-owned Lanzhou Morning Herald, who has been imprisoned since January 7, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On Monday, authorities accused Zhang of extortion.