Turkish journalist sentenced to 21 months in prison for insulting Erdoğan
Istanbul, March 9, 2016 — Turkish prosecutors should immediately drop all charges against newspaper editor Barış İnce, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. An Istanbul court on Tuesday sentenced the editor to 21 months in prison for insulting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in an acrostic presented first as a court document in an…
Attackers beat group of journalists covering human rights abuses in North Caucasus
New York, March 9, 2016–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns today’s attack on a group of six journalists and two human rights activists from Russia, Norway, and Sweden, and urges authorities in the Russian region of Ingushetia to bring those responsible to justice.
Nigerian security forces assault journalists
Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps officers on February 20, 2016, detained three television journalists in Owerri, the capital of the southeastern Imo State, for refusing to hand over their phones to officials of the Federal Road Safety Commission who were allegedly demanding a bribe from a motorist, according to news reports and two of…
Syrian journalist attacked in southeastern Turkey
New York, March 9, 2016 – A Syrian journalist narrowly escaped an assault by two unidentified men in the southeastern Turkish city of Urfa on Tuesday. The incident follows a string of attacks against Syrian journalists believed to have been carried out by Islamic State operatives inside Turkey.
Gambia should free ailing, arbitrarily detained journalist
CPJ today joined with Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch to call on Gambia to free Alagie Abdoulie Ceesay, managing director of the independent radio station Teranga FM, who has been charged with sedition and “publication of false news.” Ceesay has been hospitalized twice since the beginning of 2016. Read the full statement here.
South Sudanese journalist found beaten
Nairobi, March 8, 2016 – South Sudanese authorities should immediately launch an independent, thorough investigation into the abduction and beating of journalist Joseph Afandi and punish those responsible, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Colleagues found Afandi dumped near a graveyard in Juba today, beaten and bearing marks of torture, according to press accounts.
On International Women’s Day, CPJ recognizes nine female journalists jailed for their work
Coverage of protests and riots. Revelations of official corruption and graft. Major natural disasters. Investigations into deplorable living conditions. These are some of the important issues journalists cover in their role as the Fourth Estate.
Ethiopian police detain journalists, translator for 24 hours
Ethiopian federal police detained Bloomberg correspondent William Davison, freelance journalist Jacey Fortin, and a translator they had hired near the eastern town of Awash at around 12:40 p.m. on March 3, according to the Foreign Correspondents Association of East Africa.
Journalists not welcome: Across Europe, press and migrants increasingly barred
“The press is not allowed in refugee centers.” The message from the Greek government could not have been clearer. “No permission will be given to television crews and reporters to enter such premises that hosts refugees,” Yannis Mouzalas, the minister in charge of immigration policy, said in a February 29 statement. In protest the Pan-Hellenic…