CPJ joins call for Turkey to release Cumhuriyet journalists
The Committee to Protect Journalists has joined an appeal alongside 13 other international advocacy groups, calling on Turkey to release Can Dündar, editor-in-chief of the Turkish pro-opposition daily Cumhuriyet, Erdem Gül, the paper’s Ankara bureau chief, and all other journalists currently imprisoned in Turkey for their work.
Turkey arrests two Cumhuriyet journalists over weapons claims
On November 26, 2015, an Istanbul court ordered Can Dündar, chief editor of the independent daily Cumhuriyet, and Erdem Gül, the daily’s Ankara bureau chief, to be held in pre-trial detention on charges of espionage and aiding a terrorist group, according to reports. The journalists’ arrests are connected to reports published in Cumhuriyet in May…
Journalists honored for courageous reporting
International Press Freedom Awards go to Ethiopian bloggers, Malaysian cartoonist, Paraguayan crime reporter, Syrian citizen journalists New York, November 25, 2015–Journalists from Ethiopia, Malaysia, Paraguay, and Syria were honored Tuesday night at the Committee to Protect Journalists’ 25th annual International Press Freedom Awards for courageous work amid risks such as physical attack, imprisonment, exile, and…
Ugandan journalist severely injured covering peaceful procession
Isaac Kugonza, a cameraman with the privately owned station Delta TV, was seriously injured while covering a peaceful procession led by Kampala mayor Erias Lukwago on November 16, 2015, in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, according to news reports. Lukwago is seeking re-election as mayor of Kampala, reports said.
CPJ calls on Vatican to drop charges against two Italian journalists
New York, November 23, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the Vatican to drop charges against Italian journalists Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi. The journalists are due to face a trial Tuesday over claims they pressured a source to “obtain and publish confidential information” in their respective books alleging corruption, according to a statement…
In Pakistan, second journalist shot dead in a month
New York, November 23, 2015–Local television reporter Hafeez Ur Rehman was killed Sunday morning while riding a motorcycle in Kohat, the provincial capital of a district in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to media reports. Rehman, a television reporter, is the second journalist this month to be shot dead in Pakistan’s tribal regions.
Iran says Jason Rezaian sentenced to prison, gives no detail
New York, November 22, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Iranian authorities to release Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian, who has been sentenced to an unspecified prison term, according to state media reports that provided no additional details. Last month, state media reported that Rezaian, a U.S. citizen who faces espionage and other…
Journalist attacked while covering student protest in Kinshasa
Francine Bishti, a reporter for the privately owned station Radio Télévision par Satellite 1 was attacked on November 16, 2015 while covering student protests in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to reports. Bishti was filming a group of about 16 students, who were protesting an increase in academic fees, when…
Puntland authorities arrest Somali Channel TV presenter
Nairobi, November 20, 2015–Authorities in Somalia’s semi-autonomous region of Puntland arrested Jama Yusuf Deperani, a reporter and presenter with Somali Channel TV, on Thursday, according to one of his colleagues and a member of the Media Association of Puntland, who both spoke to CPJ.