“It is outrageous that journalist Sneha Barve, who was nearly killed for exposing wrongdoing, has been threatened once again, while the main suspect in her assault walks free,” said Kunāl Majumder, CPJ’s India representative. “Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis must urgently guarantee Sneha Barve’s safety to send a clear message that attacks on the press will not be tolerated and ensure those responsible are swiftly prosecuted.”

Barve told CPJ that on July 24, Prashant Pandurang Morde – who was arrested for his role in the earlier attack on the journalist – accosted her outside her office in the town of Manchar and threatened her, saying, “This time, we should finish the matter for good.”

On July 4, Barve, founder of the Samarth Bharat Pariwar YouTube-based news channel, was attacked by a group of men while reporting on alleged illegal construction on disputed land in Manchar, Pune district. A video of the attack shows a man striking Barwe with a wooden rod before she loses consciousness.

Five suspects were arrested but released on bail three days later.

The man accused of wielding the rod, Pandurang Sakharam Morde, a businessman with alleged political connections, was named in the First Information Report opening the investigation, but has not been arrested.

On July 18, Prashant Morde, son of Pandurang Sakharam Morde, went to Barve’s father’s office and threatened to harm the entire family, the journalist told CPJ. In a complaint to police, reviewed by CPJ, Barve said the three suspects had been collecting information about her family and requested police protection.

CPJ’s WhatsApp messages requesting comment from Fadnavis’ media advisor, Ketan Pathak, did not receive any reply. Pune Rural Superintendent of Police Sandeep Gill told CPJ by WhatsApp that he would reply, but did not immediately respond to queries. CPJ was unable to immediately source contact information for Morde.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“It is a grave injustice that Sandra Muhoza remains behind bars two months after an appeal court effectively invalidated her earlier trial and conviction,” said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Muthoki Mumo. “Authorities must do the right thing and release Muhoza without further delay.”

In December 2024, Mukaza High Court, in eastern Bujumbura province, convicted Muhoza of undermining the integrity of Burundi’s national territory and inciting ethnic hatred, in connection with comments she made in a journalists’ WhatsApp group, and sentenced her 21 months in prison.

The Bujumbura Mairie Court of Appeal, in a May 30, 2025judgment reviewed by CPJ, said that it and the lower court lacked the jurisdiction to hear Muhoza’s case. It cited a law on judicial procedures, which stipulates that a defendant should be tried by a court in the region where they were arrested, live, or where the crime was allegedly committed. 

Muhoza was arrested in the northern Ngozi region where she lived. The appeal court ordered that the case be referred to a competent court.

Burundian authorities have previously convicted other journalists for anti-state crimes, such as Floriane Irangabiye, who in 2023 was sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges of undermining the integrity of the national territory. She was released in August 2024, following a presidential pardon.

CPJ’s emails to the justice ministry, and text messages to justice minister Domine Banyankimbona, interior ministry spokesperson Pierre Nkurikiye, Prosecutor General’s Office spokesperson Agnès Bagiricenge, and government spokesperson Jérôme Niyonzima did not receive any replies.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“Iranian authorities must immediately clarify the legal basis for this mass detention of its citizens and cease treating those who communicate with the media as criminals,” said CPJ Chief Programs Officer Carlos Martinez de la Serna. “Labeling ordinary Iranians as ‘operational agents’ simply for their association with a news outlet is a dangerous tactic of intimidation and a blatant escalation in Iran’s violations of press freedom.

Iran’s intelligence ministry had been monitoring “the so-called citizen-journalists of the Zionist-Terrorist International Network” – a term the government uses to describe London-based Iran International – during the June 13 to 24 Iran-Israel war, state-owned Mehr News Agency reported. The ministry then “arrested and summoned 98 affiliated operational agents,” the agency said on July 28.

The ministry provided no evidence to support its allegations and did not disclose the names, locations, or legal status of those detained or summoned.

The Islamic Republic has previously arrested Iranians working with international media on vague charges, such as for “collaborating with hostile states” or “propaganda against the state.”

Iran’s reformist Ham Mihan newspaper reported that more than 100 journalists had been fired in the aftermath of the 12-day war, as authorities have cracked down on critical voices, with hundreds of arrests and several executions. 

CPJ emailed Iran’s mission to the United Nations in New York for comment but received no response.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

The submission details a sharp decline in media freedom in Georgia since the last review in 2021, as well as an ongoing crackdown on journalists and their newsrooms that appears designed to muzzle independent reporting.

Georgia, previously regarded as a democratic forerunner in post-Soviet Eurasia, is taking an authoritarian turn under the ruling Georgian Dream party, with mass protests against the country’s suspension of its European Union (EU) accession talks.

CPJ identified the following key areas of concern:

• Jailing of journalists on politically motivated charges. This includes the unwarranted pre-trial detention and trial of media manager Mzia Amaglobeli, who faces up to seven years in prison on charges widely condemned as excessive and retaliatory. A verdict is expected on August 1.

• Numerous large-scale incidents of apparently organized violence against journalists, particularly by law enforcement officers. For example, on July 5, 2021, more than 50 journalists covering a LGBTQ+ pride event in the capital Tbilisi were attacked by anti-LGBTQ+ protesters.

Between November 28, 2024, and May 1, 2025, rights organizations documented 145 incidents of attacks and other violations against 193 journalists reporting on protests against the suspension of EU accession talks, mostly by police. No police officers have yet been held accountable.

• The enactment of a raft of repressive laws targeting independent media.

These include:

-A 2024 “foreign agent” law and even harsher 2025 Foreign Agents Registration Act, with penalties of up to five years in prison;

-Amendments to the broadcasting law expanding the parliament-appointed regulator’s power to fine broadcasters and suspend their licenses;Amendments to the law on grants, requiring foreign donors to obtain government permission for grants. This adversely impacts online news outlets in particular, given their heavy reliance on foreign funding to ensure editorial independence;A “family values” law banning broadcasters from reporting on LGBTQ+ issues;

-Amendments to free speech laws abolishing key protections and facilitating defamation suits against the press.

–At least 16 foreign journalists have been denied entry since 2022. These denials appear to be in retaliation for critical reporting or views that conflict with Georgian Dream priorities.

–A significant increase in defamation lawsuits brought by politically influential individuals against critical media and journalists, with more than 40 such cases since 2021. These lawsuits, often referred to as Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs), aim to silence journalists.

–A sharp deterioration in access to public information and institutions. For example, in 2023 new regulations restricted journalists’ rights to film and conduct interviews in Parliament and granted Parliament the power to suspend their accreditation for violations. Since then, at least 15 journalists have had their accreditation suspended, all from critical media outlets.

–A marked rise in disinformation and hate speech.

Read the full 18-page report here.

Please send press inquiries to press@cpj.org.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Amaglobeli, founder and director of award-winning independent news outlets Batumelebi and Netgazeti, has been unjustly detained since January on the charge of attacking a police officer, for which she faces up to seven years in jail. The charge has been widely condemned as disproportionate and politically motivated.

The organizations condemned the smear campaigns against and degrading treatment of Amaglobeli, who has become a symbol of the resilience of Georgian independent media.

Read the full statement here.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“Sari Al-Shoufi risked his life to document critical events in a region of Syria that has recently plunged into renewed violence,” said Doja Daoud, CPJ’s Levant program coordinator. “His killing is a stark reminder of the grave dangers journalists face in conflict zones. Syrian journalists deserve safety and accountability from Syrian authorities.”

Rayan Marouf, editor-in-chief of the Druze-focused Suwayda 24 website, told CPJ that Al-Shoufi was last heard from in the early hours of July 14 while reporting from a checkpoint in his home village of Taara, near Sweida. “He told us around 1 a.m. that he was safe and staying with local armed residents,” Marouf said.

At approximately 6 a.m., Al-Shoufi began sending urgent messages. “He said the site was under heavy attack by drones and armored vehicles, and that everyone around him had been killed,” Marouf told CPJ. “He was wounded and trying to surrender, but no one was responding to his calls.”

Marouf said he spoke to Al-Shoufi by phone at around 6:20 a.m. and kept the line open. “I heard continuous gunfire, then the call abruptly ended,” he said.

CPJ has documented cases of journalists being wounded, targeted by gunfire, robbed, and obstructed from accessing areas during the ongoing sectarian violence between Syrian government and tribal forces against the Druze. Al-Shoufi’s killing was the first journalist death in 2025 that CPJ has documented in Syria.

CPJ reached out via messaging apps to Mohammad Al-Saleh, a spokesperson at the Syrian ministry of information, to request comment but received no response.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

On June 28, 2025, Baroshky’s lawyer, Reving Yaseen, informed CPJ that the court had reactivated a previously suspended six-month sentence from December 2021, citing a violation of its conditions — Baroshky was convicted in January of defamation over a January 2024 Facebook post. Baroshky, who is the director of privately owned Rast Media, was originally set to be released on July 31, after serving a six-month sentence for that conviction.

“The use of overlapping defamation charges and suspended sentences to keep journalists behind bars has become a dangerous pattern for press freedom in Iraqi Kurdistan,” said Doja Daoud, CPJ’s Levant program coordinator. “Omed Baroshky has already faced retaliation for his reporting. We urge Iraqi Kurdish authorities to stop criminalizing the work of opposition journalists and ensure that they can operate without fear of reprisal.”

According to Yaseen, Baroshky was sentenced in 2021 under the Misuse of Communication Devices law, following a lawsuit filed by then-Kurdish lawmaker Mala Ihsan Rekani. The case stemmed from Baroshky’s reporting that Rekani had returned to the Kurdistan Region without undergoing the required COVID-19 quarantine procedures, “but the sentence was suspended on the condition that he not commit any offense for three years,” he said. “The court has now ruled that his 2025 defamation conviction breached that condition and ordered that he serve the full 2021 sentence in addition to the current term.” 

CPJ called Aram Atrushi, the director of Zirka prison, where Omed is detained, for comment, but did not receive a response.

Baroshky previously served 18 months in prison between 2020 and 2022 under the same law because of social media posts critical of Iraqi Kurdish authorities. After Rast Media was raided and forcibly shut down in April 2023, he shifted his reporting to Facebook, which became his primary platform for publishing.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

His arrest follows a warrant issued by a specialized criminal court that also targets two other journalists — Sabri bin Mukhshen and Muzahim Bajaber. All three journalists have been critical of the local government in recent reporting and social media posts. The warrant violated Article 13 of Yemen’s Press and Publications Law, which protects journalists from prosecution for expressing their opinions.

“Bajabeer’s arrest is yet another example of the systematic campaign to silence journalists in Hadramout and the areas controlled by Yemen’s Internationally Recognized Government (IRG),” said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna. “We call on the IRG to immediately release Bajabeer and end all forms of intimidation against the three Hadramout-based journalists.”

The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate condemned the ongoing harassment, threats, and surveillance against Bajabeer, his family, and colleagues by local authorities in a July 4 statement.

Bajabeer’s arrest comes a week after the July 21 release of journalist Muzahim Bajaber, who had been detained for more than a month and still faces three open cases related to his journalism. He spent 12 days in the Criminal Investigation prison without being presented to a prosecutor, in violation of Article 76 of Yemen’s criminal procedure law.

Yemen has been embroiled in a civil war since Houthi rebels seized the capital in 2014. The Saudi-backed IRG intervened in 2015 in an effort to restore the government to power.

CPJ contacted the IRG’s Ministry of Human Rights for comment but did not receive an immediate response.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Zamora was arrested in 2022 following a raid in which he was not informed of the charges against him. In less than 72 hours, authorities fabricated charges of money laundering, blackmail, and influence peddling. His first hearing, however, did not take place within the 24-hour legal timeframe after his detention, marking the beginning of a judicial process plagued by irregularities.

Since then, the Guatemalan Public Prosecutor’s Office has opened three baseless criminal cases against Zamora, systematically violating his rights to due process, legal defense, and the presumption of innocence. The prosecution and judicial system have acted in bad faith, building a case designed to send a message that critical journalism will be silenced in the country.

This date now marks, in practice, the fulfillment of a sentence for crimes he did not commit.

The persecution did not stop with Zamora: Since his arrest, elPeriódico’s newsroom has faced relentless legal and financial attacks, ultimately leading to the newspaper’s closure. A criminal investigation was opened against nine additional journalists on staff and the remaining members of his family were threatened with criminal charges and forced into exile.  

Despite favorable rulings that have exposed the abuse of power by certain judicial entities, and despite international recognition from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and UN experts that his detention is arbitrary – and that he has been exposed to forms of torture – Jose Rubén Zamora remains behind bars.

The signatory organizations demand his immediate release, the full restoration of his fundamental human rights, and an end to his political persecution.

Signatory organizations

Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
Protection International Mesoamérica
Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA)
Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights (RFKHR)
Freedom House
Article 19 México y Centroamérica
Fundación para la Libertad de Prensa (FLIP)
Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
IFEX-ALC
Latin American Working Group (LAWG)

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

On July 23, KIS24 Info’s Steves Paluku, ElectionNet’s Paul Beyokobana, and Kisangani News newspaper’s Sébastien Mulamba visited the offices of Tshopo province’s Minister of Finance Patrick Valencio to ask him to respond to media criticism about his appearance in and alleged funding of a television series, Paluku and Beyokobana told CPJ.

Ministry officials beat the three journalists, who all work for privately owned outlets, with sticks and their fists, injuring Beyokobana’s hand, before armed police took them to a local police station and the Kisangani prosecutor’s office, where they spent the night, the journalists told CPJ.

The journalists’ lawyer, Andy Muzaliwa, told CPJ that they were released on July 24 and ordered to appear at the prosecutor’s office on Monday, July 28, to meet Valencio and his deputy chief of staff, Jacques Lomamisa.

Paluku told CPJ that the journalists did not appear in court on Monday because Muzaliwa was not available but were expected to do so in the coming days. Paluka added that on Monday he separately filed a complaint against Valencio at the Supreme Court of Kinshasa, the capital of the DRC, over his detention.

“The Congolese officials and police who attacked and detained journalists Steve Paluku, Paul Beyokobana, and Sébastien Mulamba must be held accountable and the legal proceedings against the journalists should be dropped,” said CPJ Regional Director Angela Quintal. “Authorities in the DRC should focus on ensuring the safety of journalists working to report the news, not violently silencing them for asking questions.”

Valencio’s office defended the minister, saying that Congolese law did not prohibit his participation in a film at a time when he was not a minister, the online outlet Boyoma Revolution reported.

CPJ’s calls to request comment from Valencio and Lomamisa rang unanswered.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

The report is based on a fact-finding mission carried out between October 2024 and January 2025, with investigators interviewing dozens of community journalists, indigenous radio station workers, and civil society representatives across nine departments in Guatemala.

The mission identified a pattern of serious and persistent threats, including legal harassment; violence; intimidation; gender-based attacks; structural racism, particularly against indigenous women journalists; and surveillance by both local authorities and private actors, among other threats.

Among its key recommendations, the report urges authorities to implement the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruling on indigenous community radio, develop tailored protection mechanisms for community journalists, and formally recognize the legitimacy of community media outlets.

Read an executive summary of the report in English and Español.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

The joint letter called for Israeli authorities to allow Gazan journalists and their families – many of whom, like the rest of the population, are starving and facing extraordinary challenges to their health and ability to report – to leave Gaza, and allow other journalists to enter Gaza to continue their work. Nearly two years into the war, no international journalists have independently been able to access Gaza.

“Protecting those who report from conflict is a duty shared by all,” the letter said. “Our local journalists have done their jobs with unimaginable resilience and bravery. Letting them leave Gaza if they wish to do so and allowing others in to offer respite and continue their work is a humanitarian obligation we cannot ignore.”

Read the full letter here.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“The authorities of the Republic of the Congo must urgently investigate the threats against journalist Rosie Pioth and ensure she can continue her work without the looming possibility of being killed,” said Angela Quintal, CPJ’s Africa regional director, from New York. “Many journalists working in the Republic of the Congo self-censor out of fear of reprisal, and the possibility that these threats will go without adequate response may only entrench those fears.”

Pioth, correspondent for the French government-owned outlet France 24 and director of the news site Fact Checking Congo, published an article on July 17, the anniversary of the bombing, which detailed how, after 43 years, victims’ families continue to demand justice and compensation.

Pioth emphasized how the story of the bombing had been “erased” with “No monuments. No textbooks. No national day. No public mention of this tragedy.” At the end of the report, she also announced intentions to publish further investigations on the bombing, which killed nine, and its aftermath.

The day after the article was published, unidentified individuals called and messaged death threats to Pioth, urging her to stop reporting about the bombing, according to Pioth and CPJ’s review of the messages. Pioth said her husband also received threatening messages directed at her.

“[A]re you the one encouraging your wife towards media provocations? You have 72 hours to decide to stop your publications. I am watching all your movements, and the unpredictable is not far away, dear infiltrator,” read one of the messages sent to her husband.

Pioth told CPJ that she went into hiding after the threats and intended to file a complaint with the prosecutor’s office in Brazzaville. The local professional association Journalism and Ethics Congo (JEC) also called for her protection.

CPJ’s calls and questions sent via messaging app to a Republic of the Congo government spokesperson and Minister of Communication and Media Thierry Moungalla did not receive a reply.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

On July 11, a group of men overran a polling station in Ablekuma North constituency and assaulted a candidate, forcing voting to be temporarily suspended.

Kwabena Agyekum Banahene, a reporter with GHOne TV, told CPJ that amid the turmoil, a police officer asked him to leave the area and slapped and pushed him. Banahene’s mouth was injured, according to GhanaWeb.

At the same polling station, ATV Ghana reporter Vida Wiafe was hit with pepper spray deployed by police, according to a video posted by Metro TV Ghana. CPJ could not confirm whether the journalist was deliberately targeted. 

In a third incident at the polling station, a partially masked man struck with his hand and shoved Joy News reporter Sally Martey from behind, a video posted by the outlet showed.

“The July 11 assaults on journalists Kwabena Agyekum Banahene and Sally Martey, as well as the tear-gassing of reporter Vida Wiafe, are just the latest examples of the threats regularly faced by journalists in Ghana,” said CPJ Regional Director Angela Quintal. “There has not been enough accountability for attacks on the press — it should be a top priority for authorities.”

In a July 12 statement, police promised to arrest anyone found to have engaged in acts of violence during the Ablekuma North elections. Banahene told CPJ that he reported his attack to the police and the officer involved was suspended and charged. 

In April, CPJ wrote to President John Dramani Mahama — on his 100^th day in office— to call for swift investigations into cases of attacks against the press.

CPJ’s calls and text messages seeking comment from police spokesperson Grace Ansah-Akrofi received no response.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee has stepped up his online attacks on Al-Sharif, by falsely alleging that he is a Hamas terrorist, since the journalist cried on air while reporting on starvation in Gaza. The 28-year-old journalist has been a key source of news from Gaza for international audiences since the war began more than 650 days ago.

“We are deeply alarmed by the repeated threats made by Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee against Al Jazeera’s Gaza correspondent Anas Al-Sharif and call on the international community to protect him,” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. “This is not the first time Al-Sharif has been targeted by the Israeli military, but the danger to his life is now acute. Israel has killed at least six Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza during this war. These latest unfounded accusations represent an effort to manufacture consent to kill Al-Sharif.”

The IDF have made unsubstantiated claims that many of the journalists they deliberately killed in Gaza were terrorists, including four Al Jazeera staff — Hamza Al Dahdouh, Ismail Al Ghoul, Rami Al Refee, and Hossam Shabat. CPJ classifies such cases as murder.

Shabat was one of six Al Jazeera journalists that the IDF accused in October 2024 of involvement with Hamas or Islamic Jihad militant groups, a claim that the Qatari-based channel rejected as “baseless.” Shabat was later killed and Talal Al Arrouqi was injured.

Two other Al Jazeera staff journalists – Samer Abu Daqqa and Ahmed Al-Louh — have been killed during the Israel-Gaza war, as well as eight journalists and media workers who freelanced for the channel, according to CPJ data.

‘Real-life threat’

“Adraee’s campaign is not only a media threat or an image destruction; it is a real-life threat,” Al-Sharif told CPJ. “All of this is happening because my coverage of the crimes of the Israeli occupation in the Gaza Strip harms them and damages their image in the world. They accuse me of being a terrorist because the occupation wants to assassinate me morally.”

Israel is coming under increasing pressure to stop shooting Palestinians at aid distribution points and allow more food in, amid global alarm over reports of deaths from hunger and images of emaciated children.

In a July 24 video, Adraee accused Al-Sharif of being a member of Hamas’ military wing, Al-Qassam, since 2013 and moving during the war “to work for the most criminal and offensive channel.”

In a July 23 video, Adraee described Al Jazeera’s reporting on starving Palestinians as “a fabricated drama starring Anas Al-Sharif, who sheds crocodile tears,” while playing a clip of the journalist crying while reporting on July 20.

In a July 20 video, Adraee played the same footage of Al-Sharif crying and accused him of “propaganda” and being part of a “false Hamas campaign on starvation.”

On July 12, responding to Al Sharif’s post calling for a ceasefire, Adraee described the journalist as “a mouthpiece for intellectual terrorism.”

‘My family is also in danger’

“I live with the feeling that I could be bombed and martyred at any moment. My family is also in danger, and I have already paid the price before,” Al-Sharif told CPJ.

In December 2023, Al-Sharif’s 90-year-old father was killed by an Israeli airstrike on their family home, weeks after the journalist received multiple telephone threats from Israeli army officers instructing him to cease coverage and leave northern Gaza.

In August 2024, Adraee accused Al-Sharif of “presenting a lie” in his coverage of an Israeli airstrike on a school that killed dozens of displaced Palestinians.

“This feeling is difficult and painful, but it does not push me back. Rather, it motivates me to continue fulfilling my duty and conveying the suffering of our people, even if it costs me my life,” said Al-Sharif.

Israel has banned Al Jazeera from operating inside the country and in the West Bank.

“These threats constitute clear incitement and an attempt to assassinate my voice, either through bombing or moral distortion. However, I will not stop conveying the truth,” Al-Sharif said.

In response to CPJ’s email query, the IDF’s North America Media desk referred CPJ to Adraee’s July 24 video.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Kapanda, a reporter with the privately owned broadcaster Notre Chaîne de Radio and the Identitenews news site, told CPJ that the death threats related to his coverage of the National Fund for the Repair of Victims of Sexual Violence and Crimes against Peace and Security of Humanity (FONAREV).

Established by the government in 2022, the fund has worked in response to the Kamuina Nsapu rebellion that erupted in August 2016 in Kasaï province, which killed thousands and displaced millions. Kapanda’s reporting has alleged fraud, manipulation, and nepotism by FONAREV Regional Coordinator Myrhant Mulumba, as Kapanda uncovered the identities of victims of the Kamuina Nsapu militias. 

“Journalists in the DRC too regularly face threats and intimidation from public officials. Authorities must investigate the death threats against journalist Sadam Kapanda wa Kapanda and ensure his safety,” said CPJ Regional Director Angela Quintal, from New York. “Reporting on matters of public interest, especially amid conflict, is essential for those with power to be held accountable and for the public to be informed about issues and actors that affect their lives.”

In separate calls and messages on July 2, 2025, Mulumba and Kasaï provincial Minister of the Interior Peter Tshisuaka threatened to kill Kapanda if he did not halt his critical coverage of the fund, according to the journalist and messages reviewed by CPJ. Kapanda said that Mulumba also offered him a job with the fund if he agreed to stop criticizing their operations, which Kapanda refused. 

Tshisuaka responded to CPJ’s request for comment by messaging app saying that, “The journalist does his job, and I do my job too, Kapanda should look for work elsewhere.” CPJ’s calls and messages to Mulumba went unanswered.

A third, unknown caller on July 2 threatened to have Kapanda killed, Kapanda told CPJ. On July 9, Kapanda said he received an additional death threat from an unidentified caller.

Around 2 a.m. on July 15, two unidentified, armed men arrived at Kapanda’s home and sought to enter, but fled when his neighbors began shouting, the journalist told CPJ. On July 16 and 17, Kapanda received further death threats via phone calls and messages, copies of which CPJ reviewed.

Kapanda told CPJ that he was unaware of police having opened an investigation into the threats.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“Israel is starving Gazan journalists into silence. They are not just reporters, they are frontline witnesses, abandoned as international media were pulled out and denied entry,” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. “The world must act now: protect them, feed them, and allow them to recover while other journalists step in to help report. Our response to their courageous 650 plus-days of war reporting cannot simply be to let them starve to death.”

On Tuesday, CPJ launched its Voices From Gaza video series of Palestinian journalists describing their challenges working in Gaza. In the first video, Moath al Kahlout said his cousin was shot dead while waiting for humanitarian aid.

As Israel partially eased its 11-week total blockade of Gaza in May, CPJ published the testimony of six journalists who described how starvation, dizziness, brain fog, and sickness threatened their ability to report.

Since then, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, while trying to get food aid, the majority near sites where Israel and the United States’ controversial, militarized Gaza Humanitarian Foundation was delivering supplies.

‘Gaza is dying’

In recent days, numerous Palestinian journalists have spoken out about their desperation:

• On June 20, Al Jazeera correspondent Anas Al Sharif posted online, “I am drowning in hunger, trembling in exhaustion, and resisting the fainting that follows me every moment… Gaza is dying. And we die with it.”

• Sally Thabet, correspondent for Al-Kofiya satellite channel, told CPJ that she fainted consciousness after doing a live broadcast on July 20 because she had not eaten all day. She regained consciousness in Al-Shifa hospital, where doctors gave her an intravenous drip for rehydration and nutrition. In an online video, she described how she and her three daughters were starving.

Another Palestinian journalist, Shuruq As’ad said Thabet was the third journalist to collapse on air from starvation that week, and posted a photograph of Thabet with the drip in her hand.

• During a live broadcast on July 20, Al-Araby TV correspondent Saleh Al-Natour said,

“We have no choice but to write and speak; otherwise, we will all die. At some point, journalists will collapse too, and they will fall to the ground in front of you, in front of the cameras, and on air … Today, the feeling of fainting came again, and to prevent that from happening, I ate some sugar that I had been saving for a while.”

• On July 21, CPJ International Press Freedom Awardee Shrouq Al Aila told CPJ that she was continuously losing weight due to lack of food and experiences severe weakness, fatigue, and dizziness.

• On July 21, Agence France-Presse’s union said that the news agency’s 10 freelance journalists reporting from Gaza were all threatened by famine, gunfire, and disease. “Without immediate intervention, the last reporters in Gaza will die,” it said.

APF and France’s foreign minister later said that Jean-Noël Barrot later said that they hoped Israel would allow the journalists to be evacuated.

• On July 22, a photo and video of Algerian state TV correspondent Wesam Abu Zaid taking part in a protest denouncing starvation of Gaza went viral online. Zaid held up a sign saying, “A hungry journalist reporting on hunger.”

“We have all suffered from weight loss, dizziness, and an inability to stand or walk as a result of not eating,” Zaid told CPJ, adding that it was hard for him to keep working.

• On July 23,  Al Jazeera Media Network called for an end to “this forced starvation that does not spare journalists who are the bearers of truth.”

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told CPJ via email that, “Despite the false claims that are being spread, the State of Israel does not limit the number of humanitarian aid trucks entering the Gaza Strip.” It said that delays in the collection of aid from crossing points into Gaza by international aid organizations “harm the situation and the food security of Gaza’s residents.”

COGAT, the Israeli unit responsible for humanitarian initiatives, told CPJ via email that, “Despite Hamas’s false propaganda campaign, the IDF, through COGAT, continues to work in coordination with international actors to allow and facilitate the continued entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, in accordance with international law.”

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

The statement also urged Egyptian authorities to drop charges against Omar’s wife, Nada Mougheeth, who was detained after speaking to the media about her husband’s detention and alleged human rights violations surrounding his arrest. Mougheeth was later released on bail pending investigation after she was accused of joining a terrorist organization and spreading false news.

Egypt remains one of the world’s top 10 jailers of journalists, with 17 currently behind bars, according to CPJ’s recent prison census. Seven journalists were arrested in 2024, Omar among them, amid an escalating crackdown tied to the country’s worsening economic crisis.

Read the full letter in English here.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

On June 30, the men abducted Yormie while he was on his way back to the community-based Lar-Wehyi radio station, shortly after he read on air a government order suspending activities of the Poro society, the journalist told CPJ.

The Poro is a centuries-old men’s society that traditionally enforces community laws. Their rituals still shape lives in rural areas, although they have been criticized for human rights abuses.

“The abduction and brutal attack on journalist Alex Seryea Yormie are grave reminders of the dangers the media face in Liberia from powerful non-state groups,” said CPJ Regional Director Angela Quintal. “Authorities must continue to investigate the incident and guarantee the safety of the press to report on sensitive subjects without facing retaliatory attacks.” 

Yormie told CPJ that nine assailants carried him to their office, where about 30 members of the group beat him with their hands, before taking him to another location, where they beat him with sticks, stripped him naked, and tied his genitals with ropes. 

After two hours, the men took Yormie to another location where they beat him for a further two hours, and then took him to a fourth site, where police intervened and rescued him, the journalist said. 

Yormie told CPJ he received medical treatment for cuts all over his body.

On July 1, a Poro leader, Melvin Duo, was arrested. On July 14, Duo was charged with “recklessly endangering someone, simple assault and felonious restraint,” the journalist told CPJ, but the case was adjourned because Yormie was injured in an unrelated accident and will resume once he recovers.

CPJ’s calls and text messages to request comment from Duo and police spokesperson Cecelia Clarke received no response.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

An Emmy-winning, Spanish-language journalist, Guevara was arrested on First Amendment-related charges— that Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of the press — while livestreaming a “No Kings” protest against the Trump administration in a suburb of Atlanta. 

“It is imperative that journalist Mario Guevara be released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention without delay,” said CPJ U.S., Canada, and Caribbean Program Coordinator Katherine Jacobsen. “With Guevara unable to report, a vital perspective on immigration issues has been lost. Guevara’s ongoing detention under the threat of deportation is a gross overreach of ICE authority and a crude form of censorship.” 

Representatives from the advocacy group Free Press, the Georgia First Amendment Foundation, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Georgia, Guevara’s lawyer, Giovanni Diaz, the journalist’s son and daughter, Oscar and Katherine Guevara, and CPJ Regional Director, Americas, José Zamora also spoke at Tuesday’s news conference at the Georgia State House.

Speakers made the following comments: 

• “We’re living in a climate of fear and retribution in which our community ties weaken and truth is undermined as the bedrock of our democracy,” said Nora Benavidez, Free Press’s senior counsel and director of digital justice and civil rights. “Mr. Guevara’s case is just the tip of the spear. So in pushing back today, we are not just calling for Mr. Guevara’s immediate release. His detention sends a chilling message to anyone who might want to exercise their rights. And it’s a rejection of the premise this country was founded on: to give people agency, dignity, autonomy and freedom to challenge those in power.”

• “We are stuck in a nightmare,” said Katherine Guevara, Mario’s daughter. “We don’t know how to explain how something like this could even happen. The pain we feel is indescribable. This is not just about one journalist. This is about what kind of country we want to be.”

• “The protections of the First Amendment extend to everyone regardless of citizenship status,” said Andrés M. López-Delgado, a senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Georgia. “The ACLU of Georgia is deeply concerned about Mario’s case and what it means for where we’re headed as a state and as a country. Journalists should not have to be concerned that they will face deportation or other retaliation when they are just trying to do their jobs reporting on matters of grave and deep public concern.”

On June 25, three initial charges of unlawful assembly, obstruction, and being a pedestrian on the roadway were dismissed due to insufficient evidence. On July 10, the remaining three charges that were filed after Guevara was already in ICE detention — reckless driving, failure to obey traffic signs, and unlawful use of a telecommunication device — were also dismissed due to insufficient evidence and legal deficiencies. 

Guevara is currently the only journalist in custody in the U.S. whose arrest was in relation to his work.

Guevara has lawfully resided in the U.S. for over 20 years and developed a large following in the Atlanta area, as well as national recognition, for his reporting on immigration issues. He frequently filmed ICE and law enforcement raids.

See CPJ’s timeline of Guevara’s arrest and detention proceedings here.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“The unwarranted seizure of Batumelebi and Netgazeti’s bank accounts confirms what has been clear from the start of Mzia Amaglobeli’s trumped-up trial – that authorities’ goal is to silence two of Georgia’s most respected news outlets and the courageous woman who runs them,” said CPJ Chief Global Affairs Officer Gypsy Guillén Kaiser. “Georgian authorities should lift all undue restrictions on media outlets’ accounts, release Amaglobeli, and end their campaign against the independent press.”

Batumelebi reported that Georgia’s Revenue Service seized the accounts of the outlets’ legal entity, Gazeti Batumelebi, on July 17, after previously giving it just five days to pay accumulated tax debts, interest, and penalties totaling around US$100,000.

CPJ and international partners monitored the July 14 trial of Amaglobeli, who was jailed over an altercation with a local police chief, and denounced the charges against her as “disproportionate and politicized.” A verdict is expected on August 1, with the prominent media manager facing between four and seven years in prison and declining health.

The measures “appear aimed at breaking [Amaglobeli] personally and, ultimately, destroying the media organization she founded,” Batumelebi said in its statement.

The outlet, which is known for its coverage of human rights issues and scrutiny of authorities, said it had been paying off the debt and pointed to the much higher arrears of pro-government media as a “telling example” of “the selectivity of this pressure.”

The Revenue Service said in a July 22 Facebook post that the seizure of Gazeti Batumelebi’s accounts was carried out “automatically” and it was ready to lift the measure and allow the company to cover its debts “in the event of a tax agreement.” 

Batumelebi said the Revenue Service repeatedly declined its proposed payment plans both before and after the seizure.

In recent weeks, two independent broadcasters have reported similar account seizures over tax arrears, alleging political pressure. The moves come amid an unprecedented media crackdown and authoritarian turn by the ruling Georgian Dream party, with a series of repressive new laws on the press and extensive police violence against journalists. 

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Segovia was pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital in Bislig city in the southern province of Surigao del Sur, the Inquirer newspaper reported.

“Philippine authorities must leave no stone unturned in identifying and prosecuting those responsible for the murder of journalist Erwin Labitad Segovia,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “If President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s administration fails to act more decisively, the cycle of impunity will persist — and so will the media killings.”

The Presidential Task Force on Media Security, set up in 2016 to investigate media murders, said authorities had activated the Special Investigation Task Group on New Cases to look into the killing and were conducting a “hot pursuit operation” to apprehend the suspects.

Segovia, popularly known as “Boy Pana,” hosted a regular radio program on local governance and social issues, as well as a program to boost former local mayor Carla Lopez-Pichay’s campaign for May’s mid-term elections, the Inquirer reported.

The Philippines ranked ninth on CPJ’s most recent Impunity Index, a global ranking of countries where journalists’ murderers are most likely to go free. The country has appeared on the index every year since its launch in 2008.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“Malawi’s Constitutional Court has taken a monumental step towards protecting press freedom and affirmed that criticism and dissent are essential to democracy by ruling criminal defamation to be unconstitutional,” said Muthoki Mumo, CPJ’s Africa program coordinator, in Nairobi. “Authorities should immediately comply with the judgment, and other laws that may unduly restrict the work of journalists must also be reformed.” 

In a unanimous decision, three constitutional court justices ruled that the defamation law was a “disproportionate and unjustifiable limitation on constitutional freedom,” according to a summary of the judgment reviewed by CPJ.

The ruling follows social media influencer and activist Joshua Chisa Mbele’s 2022 legal challenge of criminal defamation charges for his remarks about a military official.

In its decision, the court ordered that no further prosecutions on criminal defamation charges be brought under the law.

The Malawian chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa and other civil society organizations urged the government not to appeal the ruling and to reform other laws that restrict free expression. Section 60 of Malawi’s penal code criminalizes publishing false news, with penalties of fines or up to two years in jail, and the 2016 Electronic Transactions and Cyber Security Act makes unauthorized transmitting data or information punishable by a fine of 2,000,000 Malawian kwacha (USD $1,153) and a 5-year imprisonment. 

In 2022, Malawi amended its Protected Flag, Emblems, and Names Act of 1967, to decriminalize insults against the president but retained prison time for those convicted of insults to flags or protected emblems.

Malawi Attorney General Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda did not respond to CPJ’s calls or text messages for comment on the court’s decision.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“Palestinian journalists are the last witnesses on the ground,” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. “Their reporting is vital, and their suffering is not collateral damage; it’s part of a deliberate tactic: starve the press, silence the truth.”

Despite losing their homes, family members, friends, offices, and colleagues, Gazan journalists bravely continue to report on a war that’s taking away everything from them, including their ability to eat, sleep, and bear witness.

In CPJ’s video series, Gazan journalists describe the tremendous pressures they face as they report from Gaza, where the press corps is under fire and under threat of starvation. CPJ urges global leaders to act now: to protect the Palestinian press, ensure accountability, allow international media access, and finally allow them to eat and rest.

Learn more:

• CPJ data: Journalist casualties in the Israel-Gaza war
• CPJ data: Attacks, arrests, threats, censorship: The high risks of reporting during the Israel-Gaza war
• Q&A Feature: Journalist Shrouq Al Aila on what cameras can’t show about the war in Gaza
• CPJ Special Report: No justice for journalists targeted by Israel despite strong evidence of war crime
• Advocacy letter: CPJ and global media leaders call for urgent, unrestricted access to Gaza for journalists

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

The bill, which passed its second reading on July 17, 2025, is the “most serious step in censorship and the fight against dissent since 2022,” when lawmakers introduced penalties of up to 15 years in prison for disseminating “fake” news about the Russian army, according to the online independent news outlet The Bell. If lawmakers pass the bill and President Vladimir Putin signs it into law, it would take effect on September 1.

“Punishing people for seeking information online is a direct barrier to the free flow of information and an assault on access to independent news,” said CPJ Europe and Central Asia Senior Researcher Anna Brakha. “This vaguely worded, fast-tracked bill shows a clear disregard for open debate and create an even more repressive environment for the media and the public.” 

The bill provides for fines from 3,000 to 5,000 rubles (USD$38 to USD$64) for accessing or searching content that is either included in Russia’s federal list of extremist materials or that calls for or justifies extremist activities.

Russian authorities maintain a list of over 5,400 banned “extremist” materials, including books, religious texts, songs, and films. To date, while independent media have been widely branded as undesirable and foreign agents, none have been labeled as extremist.

“Nothing prevents the authorities from declaring media outlets ‘extremists’ — which will allow them to effectively ban reading such publications,” independent media outlet Meduza said, calling the bill a step toward the “criminalization of reading.” 

A representative from digital rights group Setevye Svobody, who spoke to CPJ on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, told CPJ he expects “the most massive example of chilling effect in the history” of the Russian internet. 

Fines for reading online articles featuring so-called extremist content “will make tens of millions of users prefer to unsubscribe from the channels and stop visiting sites with information of any unofficial nature,” the representative said. 

CPJ emailed the State Duma’s press service but did not immediately receive a reply. 

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“The forcible transfer of journalist Comlan Hugues Sossoukpé by Côte d’Ivoire to Benin, despite his refugee status in Togo, sends a worrying message to journalists across the region,” said Moussa Ngom, CPJ’s Francophone Africa representative. “He must be released immediately and unconditionally. Such aggressive, transnational tactics illustrate a cross-border collaboration to muzzle a critical journalist.”

On July 14, 2025, a judge at Benin’s Court for the Repression of Economic Offences and Terrorism (CRIET) upheld Sossoukpè’s detention in the southern city of Ouidah, pending a judicial investigation on charges of inciting rebellion, inciting hatred and violence, harassing through electronic communication, and apology for terrorism, according to a copy of the decision seen by CPJ.

Sossoukpè was in Côte d’Ivoire to cover a government conference when he was arrested. He has been living in Togo since 2019 and has held refugee status there since receiving threats in Benin, where he is from, related to his work.

Sossoukpè told Maximin Pognon, his lawyer, who spoke to CPJ, that four people identifying themselves as Ivorian law enforcement officers and a fifth as a “colonel of the gendarmerie” asked him to respond to a summons. But Sossoukpè recognized two of them as Beninese police officers, Pognon said.

Sossoukpè said he demanded that they bring him before a judge, which they agreed to, but did not. Instead, they seized his phone and computer, took him briefly to an Ivorian law enforcement headquarters, and then escorted him aboard a plane that took him to Benin.

Two people close to the case who asked not to be named for privacy reasons said that during the days before his arrest, Sossoukpè had alerted his friends that there were kidnapping plans against him.

CPJ’s calls and WhatsApp messages to Andy Kouassi, public relations director of the Ivorian ministry of communication, and to Wilfried Léandre Houngbédji, spokesperson for the Beninese government, as well as CPJ’s email to the Ivorian gendarmerie, went unanswered.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Cameroon is consistently among Africa’s worst jailers of journalists, with five journalists—Amadou Vamoulke, Manch Bibixy, Thomas Awah Junior, Tsi Conrad, and Kingsley Fomunyuy Njoka—currently behind bars in violation of international law, according to CPJ’s annual prison census. 

To meet AGOA eligibility requirements, reviewed by the Office of the United States Trade Representative, sub-Saharan countries must meet statutorily defined criteria, several of which relate to human rights. Given the ongoing detention of the journalists and the country’s poor press freedom record, CPJ and Freedom House said that Cameroon does not fully meet these criteria.

Read a copy of the comment in English here.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

The letter notes the persistence of serious issues in Greece, including surveillance, threats, harassment, physical attacks, and murders of journalists. It also cites government pressure on editorial and media independence, including Greece’s public broadcaster, as well as legal threats, such as Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) and criminal defamation.

The organizations asked national authorities to provide, in writing, an overview of the steps being considered to address the concerns, and to establish a national action plan.

Read the full letter here.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

A CPJ investigation found Bassène could never have committed the crime, yet Senegal’s Supreme Court dismissed Bassène’s final appeal of a life sentence on May 3, 2025. Bassène was finalizing a fourth book on the separatist conflict in southern Senegal at the time of his arrest.

“As a son of Casamance, I wrote out of duty, for posterity so that the history of this conflict would not disappear from the collective memory and that it would never happen again,” said Bassène from the Aristide Le Dantec hospital in Dakar, the Senegalese capital, where he underwent a June 4 to repair an eardrum perforated during his arrest. He added, “I thank from the bottom of my heart all the signatories who believe in my innocence and are fighting for my release.”

Read the full letter in English here and in French here.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

In response to the hearing, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), International Press Institute (IPI), and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) – called on Monday for Amaglobeli’s immediate release. Ambassadors and diplomats from the European Union mission and seven countries also attended the hearing, in which Amaglobeli provided detailed testimony for nearly three hours.

A prominent  journalist and founder of the online news outlets Gazeti Batumelebi and Netgazeti, Amaglobeli has been unjustly held in pretrial detention since her arrest on January 12.

“Today’s proceedings show that the trial of Mzia Amaglobeli is shrouded in a shocking smear campaign to destroy her credibility, personally and as a journalist. This, along with her deteriorating health, is deeply troubling and must end. Amaglobeli’s powerful testimony reflects her deep commitment to Georgia and to a free and independent media. Journalism is not a crime.”  

— Gypsy Guillén Kaiser, Chief Global Affairs Officer, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

“The proceedings we witnessed today only confirm our position that this charge against Mzia Amaglobeli is entirely disproportionate and must be dropped. We are also deeply concerned by what appears to be an effort to smear her and to call into question her credibility as a journalist. Mzia is a highly respected, veteran journalist known for her commitment to journalistic ethics and independence. We fully stand by her as an IPI member.”

 — Amy Brouillette, Director of Advocacy, International Press Institute (IPI).

“This hearing once again underlined the lack of foundation in this case. The defense pointed to serious procedural irregularities, including politically charged that should have no place in an ongoing trial. Video footage also called into question the credibility of the alleged victim. Mzia Amaglobeli gave a calm and determined testimony, recalling her arrest and reaffirming her commitment to independent journalism — values for which she is now being prosecuted.”

— Jeanne Cavelier, Head of RSF’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk

Amaglobeli has been charged under the criminal code with attacking a police officer – a charge widely viewed as excessive and politically motivated – which carries a sentence of up to seven years in prison. She has been held in pre-trial detention since January 12, during which time her health has declined and she has been struggling with deteriorating vision.

She is being held at the Rustavi Women’s Prison No. 5, south of the capital Tbilisi. CPJ, IPI, and RSF visited the prison site and stood outside in a gesture of solidarity on July 13. The court’s verdict on this case could be announced at a subsequent hearing, set for July 28.

Amaglobeli is the first woman journalist to be jailed since the country gained its independence in 1991. A widely respected figure known for upholding the highest journalistic standards, her arrest and detention are seen by many in the journalism community in Georgia as a deliberate attempt to intimidate and silence the independent press amidst a broader crackdown on civil society and dissent. Last week, 17 European foreign ministers and the European Union’s High Representative, expressed deep concern regarding “increasing repression” in Georgia.

The outlets founded by Amaglobeli nearly 25 years ago, have reported on human rights violations and corruption, serving the public with impartial, trustworthy news. These outlets have endured four political regimes in Georgia’s post-independence era, despite their journalists and editors being attacked, threatened, blackmailed and detained by authorities. 

Amaglobeli’s detention this January comes amid growing harassment of independent media in Georgia and a broader scaling back of democratic freedoms under the Georgian Dream ruling party. Over the past year, journalists in Georgia have been beaten, harassed, detained, jailed, smeared, and fined. Impunity for attacks on journalists, including those perpetrated by police, remains widespread. A wave of repressive legislation – such as the foreign agents law as well as amendments to the Law on Grants and the Law of Broadcasting – deliberately aims to prevent independent media from operating in Georgia. 

As members of the Media Freedom Coalition’s Consultative Network, CPJ, IPI and RSF have urged robust action regarding Amaglobeli’s detention, along with broader concerns about escalating attacks on press freedom that can weaken democracy in Georgia. 

Read more: CPJ’s remarks during a site visit to Rustavi Women’s Prison on July 13, 2025

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

In response to the hearing, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), International Press Institute (IPI), and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) – called on Monday for Amaglobeli’s immediate release. Ambassadors and diplomats from the European Union mission and seven countries also attended the hearing, in which Amaglobeli provided detailed testimony for nearly three hours.

A prominent  journalist and founder of the online news outlets Gazeti Batumelebi and Netgazeti, Amaglobeli has been unjustly held in pretrial detention since her arrest on January 12.

“Today’s proceedings show that the trial of Mzia Amaglobeli is shrouded in a shocking smear campaign to destroy her credibility, personally and as a journalist. This, along with her deteriorating health, is deeply troubling and must end. Amaglobeli’s powerful testimony reflects her deep commitment to Georgia and to a free and independent media. Journalism is not a crime.”  

— Gypsy Guillén Kaiser, Chief Global Affairs Officer, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

“The proceedings we witnessed today only confirm our position that this charge against Mzia Amaglobeli is entirely disproportionate and must be dropped. We are also deeply concerned by what appears to be an effort to smear her and to call into question her credibility as a journalist. Mzia is a highly respected, veteran journalist known for her commitment to journalistic ethics and independence. We fully stand by her as an IPI member.”

 — Amy Brouillette, Director of Advocacy, International Press Institute (IPI).

“This hearing once again underlined the lack of foundation in this case. The defense pointed to serious procedural irregularities, including politically charged that should have no place in an ongoing trial. Video footage also called into question the credibility of the alleged victim. Mzia Amaglobeli gave a calm and determined testimony, recalling her arrest and reaffirming her commitment to independent journalism — values for which she is now being prosecuted.”

— Jeanne Cavelier, Head of RSF’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk

Amaglobeli has been charged under the criminal code with attacking a police officer – a charge widely viewed as excessive and politically motivated – which carries a sentence of up to seven years in prison. She has been held in pre-trial detention since January 12, during which time her health has declined and she has been struggling with deteriorating vision.

She is being held at the Rustavi Women’s Prison No. 5, south of the capital Tbilisi. CPJ, IPI, and RSF visited the prison site and stood outside in a gesture of solidarity on July 13. The court’s verdict on this case could be announced at a subsequent hearing, set for July 28.

Amaglobeli is the first woman journalist to be jailed since the country gained its independence in 1991. A widely respected figure known for upholding the highest journalistic standards, her arrest and detention are seen by many in the journalism community in Georgia as a deliberate attempt to intimidate and silence the independent press amidst a broader crackdown on civil society and dissent. Last week, 17 European foreign ministers and the European Union’s High Representative, expressed deep concern regarding “increasing repression” in Georgia.

The outlets founded by Amaglobeli nearly 25 years ago, have reported on human rights violations and corruption, serving the public with impartial, trustworthy news. These outlets have endured four political regimes in Georgia’s post-independence era, despite their journalists and editors being attacked, threatened, blackmailed and detained by authorities. 

Amaglobeli’s detention this January comes amid growing harassment of independent media in Georgia and a broader scaling back of democratic freedoms under the Georgian Dream ruling party. Over the past year, journalists in Georgia have been beaten, harassed, detained, jailed, smeared, and fined. Impunity for attacks on journalists, including those perpetrated by police, remains widespread. A wave of repressive legislation – such as the foreign agents law as well as amendments to the Law on Grants and the Law of Broadcasting – deliberately aims to prevent independent media from operating in Georgia. 

As members of the Media Freedom Coalition’s Consultative Network, CPJ, IPI and RSF have urged robust action regarding Amaglobeli’s detention, along with broader concerns about escalating attacks on press freedom that can weaken democracy in Georgia. 

Read more: CPJ’s remarks during a site visit to Rustavi Women’s Prison on July 13, 2025

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

The ruling was the result of a lawsuit filed against the outlet by Kyrgyz prosecutors in April, which alleged “negative” and “destructive” coverage of the government. 

“The Kyrgyz authorities must allow Aprel TV to continue its work unhindered and should not contest any appeal of the court’s Wednesday order to shutter the independent broadcaster and terminate its broadcasting and social media operations,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Kyrgyzstan’s international partners – particularly the European Union, whose parliament and member states are in the process of ratifying a new partnership agreement – must hold Kyrgyzstan to account for its spiraling press freedom abuses.” 

The judge accepted prosecutors’ arguments that the outlet’s reporting, which often included commentary and reports critical of the government, could “provoke calls for mass unrest with the aim of a subsequent seizure of power,” according to CPJ’s review of the verdict. 

Aprel TV’s editor-in-chief Dmitriy Lozhnikov told privately owned news website 24.kg that criticizing the government isn’t a crime, but one of the core functions of the press. CPJ was unable to immediately confirm whether the outlet would appeal.

Kyrgyzstan’s State Committee for National Security (SCNS) summoned 10 current and former Aprel TV staff for questioning on July 1 in connection with a separate, undisclosed criminal investigation. 

The journalists’ lawyer told Radio Azattyk, the local service of U.S. Congress-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), that investigators’ questions appeared to indicate that authorities will open a case on allegations of incitement of mass unrest or acts against the constitutional order.

CPJ’s email to the SCNS for comment on the criminal investigation did not immediately receive a reply.

Aprel TV is highly critical of the government, often adopting an irreverent tone as it broadcasts via oppositional broadcaster Next TV and reports to its 700,000 followers on several social media accounts.

Following President Sadyr Japarov’s ascent to power in 2020, Kyrgyz authorities have launched an unprecedented assault on the country’s previously vibrant media, shuttering leading outlets and jailing journalists on the grounds that their critical reporting could lead to social unrest.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Frey is a journalist known for his reporting on the Israeli occupation in the West Bank for several outlets, including Haaretz and YNET, according to CPJ’s review of his work.

“Israeli authorities’ arrest of journalist Israel Frey underscores authorities’ growing intolerance of freedom of expression since the start of the war on October 7, 2023,” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. “Israeli authorities must immediately release Frey and all detained Palestinian journalists, and end their ongoing crackdown on the press and dissenting voices.”

After the news that five Israeli soldiers were killed by an explosive device in northern Gaza, Frey tweeted that “The world is a better place this morning without five young men who participated in one of the most horrific crimes against humanity.” 

Frey’s attorneys, Riham Nassra and Michal Pomeranz, told CPJ that the tweet does not legally constitute support for terrorism, describing the incident as a “political arrest.”

The State Attorney’s office responded to CPJ’s emailed request for comment with a copy of the court document about the case. The police and the Ministry of National Security issued a joint statement saying they would “deal firmly with anyone who incites or expresses support for the enemy.”

This is the third time Frey has been investigated, he told CPJ on Tuesday, before his arrest, adding that “In previous instances, it was alleged that my posts contained incitement, but the files were closed.” 

On October 16, 2023, Frey went into hiding after his home was attacked the previous day by a mob of far-right Israelis after he expressed solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

CPJ has documented Israeli authorities’ arrests of 85 Palestinian journalists since October 7, 2023, the start of the Israel-Gaza war. In that same time period, this is the first time Israeli authorities have arrested and opened an investigation against an Israeli journalist for expressing an opinion.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

The statement warns that Decree-Law 54 has become the government’s primary tool for targeting dissent, with Dahmani facing five separate cases for political commentary, three of which have already resulted in convictions. A fourth case, in which charges have been escalated to criminal offenses carrying a possible 10-year sentence, is scheduled for a key hearing on July 11. The statement also expressed deep concern about the harsh prison conditions faced by Dahmani. 

Her sister, Ramla Dahmani, was also sentenced in absentia to two years in prison for advocating for the journalist’s release on social media.

Organizations can still sign the statement here until Thursday, July 17.

Read the full statement here.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

The breaches were linked to two coordinated attacks – one in the summer of 2024 and another in January 2025 – that used malware-laced Telegram messages to infect staff devices, DW Persian reported.

“The use of spyware to harass journalists represents a chilling escalation in Iran’s campaign to intimidate and silence independent media,” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. “No journalist should be subjected to digital surveillance or coercion. Iran must immediately cease its transnational repression of the press.”

The operation was attributed to Banished Kitten, also known as Storm-0842, Dune, or Hanzaleh, a cyber unit within Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence led by Yahya Hosseini Panjkhi, whose identity was first revealed by the outlet’s reporting. 

Outlets reported that the hacker group Hanzaleh claimed responsibility for the attack. The group has not confirmed the claim on any of its affiliated platforms.

The outlet said it has strengthened digital security and alerted authorities following both attacks.

“We remain resolute in our mission to deliver accurate, uncensored news to our audience, and we will not allow these threats — online or offline — to disrupt our work. These attempts to intimidate us will not succeed,” the channel added.

Separately, Iranian lawmakers are considering a bill that press freedom advocates warn could criminalize independent journalism tied to foreign outlets as it imposes harsh penalties, including death, for alleged collaboration with “hostile” states or media. It would also allow courts to jail journalists and bar them from public service if their reporting is deemed to cause “fear and panic” or harm “national security.”

CPJ’s email to the Iranian mission to the United Nations in New York requesting comment on the cyberattacks and the proposed law did not receive a response.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“Tunisian authorities are not only jailing journalists but are now targeting their families in a clear effort to intimidate and isolate them even further,” said Carlos Martínez de la Serna, CPJ’s chief program officer. “The July 1 sentencing of Ramla Dahmani in absentia for defending her sister, jailed commentator Sonia Dahmani, is cruel and shows the extent to which Kais Saied’s government is willing to go to punish journalists.” 

Ramla Dahmani, who lives in an undisclosed location due to security fears, has become a public voice for her jailed sister. The charges stem from her public advocacy for her sister’s freedom on social media, including her Facebook page, which has more than 13,000 followers. Ramla Dahmani’s lawyers discovered the verdict on Tuesday, July 8, while reviewing court records, as no formal notice was issued, she told CPJ.

Sonia Dahmani is currently serving nearly five years in prison after being convicted of false news charges in three different cases, and she faces two more cases pending trial. One case, scheduled for a hearing on July 11, carries criminal charges that could lead to a 10-year sentence.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

The arrest followed an incident on July 5 in which a member of the same group allegedly shot at Yaqoub after he refused to surrender a Starlink device, which is essential for internet connectivity in the region, according to a Facebook post by Nazar, where he confirmed that Yaqoub was uninjured.

Yaqoub and Nazar were not covering an event during the arrest, but used the Starlink device to connect to the internet and cover the war on Facebook for 5,000 followers on Yaqoub’s page and almost 10,000 followers on Nazar’s page, according to a local journalist following the case who spoke with CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal.

“The July 7 arrest of freelance journalists Nasr Yaqoub and Mohamed Ahmed Nazar is a clear attack on the public’s right to know what is happening in Darfur,” said CPJ Middle East and North Africa Regional Director Sara Qudah. “Sudanese authorities must immediately release Yaqoub and Nazar and hold those responsible for firing at Yaqoub on July 5 to account.”

SLM–TC confirmed Yaqoub and Nazar’s detention to local news outlets after accusing the journalists of provocation and media incitement, according to the local journalist.

Residents in Darfur rely heavily on Starlink devices for internet access amid the collapse of war-torn Sudan’s formal communications infrastructure. Journalists using these networks face growing harassment and violence by armed groups operating with impunity, according to the journalist who spoke with CPJ.

CPJ’s email to the SLM–TC requesting comment on Yaqoub and Nazar’s arrest did not receive a response.

Since the war broke out between the SAF and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in April 2023, CPJ has documented at least fourteen killed journalists and media workers across Sudan.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Telemundo Atlanta reported on Monday morning that the activist group Indivisible had scheduled a protest for 6 p.m. that day at the jail.

“We are dismayed that immigration officials have decided to ignore a federal immigration court order last week granting bail to journalist Mario Guevara,” said CPJ U.S., Canada and Caribbean Program Coordinator Katherine Jacobsen. “Guevara is currently the only jailed journalist in the United States who was arrested in relation to his work. Immigration authorities must respect the law and release him on bail instead of bouncing him from one jurisdiction to another.”

The journalist, who was initially arrested while covering a June 14 “No Kings” protest in the Atlanta metro area and charged with three misdemeanors, which local officials declined to prosecute due to insufficient evidence. A local judge ordered Guevara to be released on bond, but he remained in custody after ICE opened a detainer against him.

The Department of Homeland Security headquarters and the department’s Atlanta field office did not immediately respond to CPJ’s emailed request for comment.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Guevara arrived legally in the United States from El Salvador in April 2004, and applied for asylum in 2005 due to the dangers he faced as a journalist in El Salvador. Over the next twenty years, Guevara developed a large following in the Atlanta area, as well as national recognition, for his reporting on immigration issues.

Below is a timeline of events in Guevara’s case.  

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

The warrant, reviewed by CPJ, was issued by a Specialized Criminal Court and violates Article 13 of Yemen’s Press and Publications Law, which protects journalists from punishment for publishing their opinions unless they violate the law.

“Bajaber’s arrest is the latest example of the deteriorating press freedom situation in areas controlled by the Internationally Recognized Government (IRG),” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. “We call on the IRG to immediately release Bajaber and to allow journalists to do their job without fear of reprisal.”

Yemen has been mired in civil war since 2014, when Houthi rebels seized the capital, Sanaa, and ousted the government. The Saudi-backed IRG intervened in 2015 in an effort to restore the government to power.

Journalists face grave threats in areas controlled by the Houthi, IRG, and Southern Transitional Council (STC). Violations—including arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, and unfair trials—are carried out with near-total impunity.

Bajaber, publisher and editor-in-chief of the independent, Hadramout-based media outlet, Al-Ahqaf Media Platform, was arrested by security forces in the IRG-controlled city of Al-Mukalla. 

In a separate incident, journalist Ahmed Maher—who was detained in August 2022 by security forces affiliated with the STC and released in January 2025—has recently over the last month been subjected to online incitement and threats, according to Yemeni press freedom and human rights organizations, as well as messages sent directly from the journalist to CPJ. 

CPJ emailed the Ministry of Human Rights in the IRG for comment on the arrest of Bajaber,      but did not receive an immediate response.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Parliament passed the bill, which would allow an authorized state body to decide which media outlets can operate, on June 25, rejecting a compromise draft of the bill that had been the product of two years of negotiations with a working group that included journalists.

“Considering Kyrgyzstan’s unprecedented media crackdown, Parliament’s last-minute reintroduction of repressive clauses into the new media law bill is dangerous and rightly sparks deep concern for the press,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “We call on President Japarov to give substance to his verbal commitments to press freedom by vetoing this version of the bill and returning it to Parliament so it can pass a version supported by the country’s journalists.”

The compromise draft was passed in a first reading by parliament in April; in mid-June, deputies reintroduced the disputed clauses before rushing the bill through in two readings on June 25.

Several journalists and media experts who worked on the compromise draft have asked the government to revert to a version based on the draft.

If the current version is ratified, “those who will print any criticism or alternative views, will simply not be registered and won’t be able to publish,” Semetey Amanbekov, a member of local advocacy group Media Action Platform, told RFE/RL, adding that it will mean journalism in Kyrgyzstan will come to an end.

Japarov withdrew a similar draft media law in March 2024 following criticism from journalists and international human rights bodies. 

Kyrgyzstan’s new media law comes amid a sustained assault on independent reporting in a country previously regarded as a regional beacon for the free press.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“This is a major blow for press freedom in the United States: A network news outlet has just caved to groundless threats from the president over its coverage,” said CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg in New York. “This signals that the current administration–as well as any future administrations–can interfere with, or influence, editorial decisions.” 

In a lawsuit filed last year, Trump accused CBS, whose parent company is Paramount Global, of deceptively editing a ’60 Minutes’ interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris to interfere with the election. Paramount Global will pay the settlement amount, including legal fees, to Trump’s future presidential library, according to news reports.

Last month, CPJ wrote to the chair of Paramount Global, Shari Redstone, warning her that a settlement would signal that political figures can pressure news organizations into altering or censoring editorial decisions.

The FCC is investigating a merger deal between CBS parent company Paramount and Skydance, a deal that could have been endangered by the possibility of litigation from Trump. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) earlier this year re-opened a news distortion investigation into CBS.

CPJ’s request to Paramount Global for comment on the settlement’s editorial implications did not receive an immediate reply.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Details on the depth of administration’s surveillance of journalists came to light after Brazil’s Federal Supreme Court unsealed a final investigative report filed by the Federal Police, which included names of media outlets and journalists targeted.

CDJor calls for all information about the monitoring be disclosed and that those responsible are held accountable swiftly, transparently, and independently.

Read the full statement in English here and Portuguese here.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Dahmani’s lawyers withdrew from Monday’s trial to protest that the court was illegally trying her twice for the same act, the journalist’s sister, Ramla Dahmani, told CPJ, referring to the legal principle of double jeopardy.

“Handing Tunisian lawyer and media commentator Sonia Dahmani an additional two-year sentence, on top of her existing term for the same media commentary, is not only harsh, but appears to be a targeted effort to silence her personally,” said CPJ Chief Programs Officer Carlos Martínez de la Serna. “Tunisian authorities must drop all charges against Dahmani and ensure that journalists can make political commentary without being targeted.”

In October 2024, Dahman, who is also a prominent lawyer, received a two-year sentence under Decree 54 on cybercrime on charges of spreading “false” news for commenting on the local independent radio station IFM about the mistreatment of sub-Saharan Africans in Tunisia.

The court said that the second sentence on June 30 was for her comments to a second outlet, the television channel Carthage Plus.

In September 2024, Dahmani was given an eight-month sentence following her May arrest over separate comments she made on Carthage Plus, where she criticized Tunisia’s living conditions and discussed immigration.

Her case is widely seen as part of a broader crackdown on journalists, opposition figures, and government critics that has intensified since President Kais Saied suspended parliament in 2021 and introduced a new constitution, giving himself nearly unchecked power.

According to CPJ’s latest annual prison census, at least five journalists were behind bars in Tunisia on December 1, 2024, the highest number since 1992.

CPJ’s email to the Presidency requesting comment did not receive any reply.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“Palestinian filmmaker Ismail Abu Hatab’s death in an Israeli strike on Al-Baqa Café is yet another grim reminder of the unfettered violence facing Gazan journalists, with more than 180 journalists  and media workers killed in the war so far,” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. “The world must not ignore these deliberate assaults, and the targeting of the popular café must be independently investigated.”

Freelance photographer Majdi Fathi, who was in the area during the attack, told CPJ that an Israeli warplane struck the café around 2:48 p.m. He added that the café was popular gathering place for both journalists and local residents in Gaza due to its internet access.

The blast killed Abu Hatab, more than 20 other civilians inside, and injured Abusultan, who was struck by shrapnel in the chest and head Fathi said. Her condition is unknown.

Hatab, founder of the Clight TV production company, worked with a range of media outlets and organized photo exhibitions highlighting life in Gaza. On November 2, 2023, he was seriously injured in an Israeli airstrike that targeted his office on the 16th floor of Al-Ghifari Tower in Gaza City.

Hatab’s death adds to a growing toll of at least 185 other killings, the vast majority of those Palestinian, documented by CPJ since the start of the Israel-Gaza war. In addition to those killed, 114 journalists have been reported injured. 

CPJ emailed the Israeli Defense Forces’ North America Media Desk to ask whether the journalists were targeted but did not immediately receive a response.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Despite the court order for Guevara’s release, CPJ is concerned by the government lawyer’s argument that livestreaming presented a danger to the public by compromising the integrity and safety of law enforcement activities.

Guevara, an Emmy-winning, Spanish-language journalist, born in El Salvador, who has lawfully resided in the U.S. for nearly 20 years, was placed in ICE custody on June 18, according to public records and Guevara’s lawyer. 

On Tuesday, the journalist was ordered released on $7,500 bond. 

“We are heartened to see that Mario Guevara was ordered to be released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody at his bond hearing, though we remain concerned about the arguments the prosecution made that Guevara’s work as a reporter presented a danger to the community,” said CPJ U.S., Canada, and Caribbean Program CoordinatorKatherine Jacobsen. “The fact that Guevara was arrested while exercising his First Amendment rights as a journalist and was subsequently held for over two weeks by various law enforcement bodies sends an alarming message to the media and has effectively silenced Guevara’s coverage of his community. We urge law enforcement to thoroughly investigate why Guevara was arrested in the first place.”

The judge said that there was a gray area between constitutionally protected speech and obstructive behavior. He noted that it was not for an immigration court to rule on that matter, but that if Guevara were to face additional charges or be convicted the court could reconsider his release.  

Guevara, who has authorization to work in the United States was wearing a vest marked “Press” at the time of his arrest. He covers immigration on his “MGNews” Facebook page, which has 112,000 followers, and other digital platforms. 

Guevara was arrested on three misdemeanor charges related to his First Amendment rights, guaranteeing freedom of the press. Those charges were dropped on June 25 due to insufficient evidence.

During the hearing, prosecutors relied on a 2015 Facebook post in which Guevara posed with a firearm to argue that he was a danger to the public and should remain in detention. Guevara’s lawyer objected to the claimed post, as it was not presented as evidence. 

Guevara appeared virtually at the hearing from the Folkston ICE Processing Center in southeast Georgia.

CPJ wrote to Gwinnett County Solicitor-General Lisamarie N. Bristol to express concerns about the misdemeanor charges levied against Guevara approximately one month after the alleged incidents occurred, and after ICE had issued a detainer.

“At this time, this matter does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Solicitor-General’s Office,” the solicitor-general told CPJ in an emailed response.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“The lethal attack that took Salomón Ordóñez’s life is a stark reminder of how little President Claudia Sheinbaum has done since assuming office late last year to change the cycle of violence and impunity that plagues journalists,” said Jan-Albert Hootsen, CPJ’s Mexico representative. “Mexican authorities can break this cycle by bringing the culprits of this devastating attack to justice.”

Ordóñez, the founder and editor of the Facebook-based Shalom Cuetzalan Produccions, was attacked by unknown assailants at approximately 8 p.m. in Cuetzalan, a town 110 miles northeast of Mexico City,  according to news reports. Witnesses found Ordóñez, 40, with at least two gunshot wounds, the reports added. The journalist died of his injuries at a nearby hospital.

Ordóñez mostly covered cultural news and political events related to local culture, which he shared to his news site’s over 75,000 followers—a significant number in Cuetzalan, which has 50,000 inhabitants. His coverage made him a popular figure in the community, according to a SPD Noticias report.

One journalist from the region, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of reprisal, told CPJ via messaging app that Ordóñez did not cover sensitive political topics, corruption or organized crime in the area.

The Puebla state government, in a short statement released June 24 on Facebook, said the office of the state prosecutor (FGE) is investigating the attack. Several calls by CPJ to the FGE went unanswered.

It is unclear whether Ordóñez had received threats. CPJ was unable to retrieve contact information for his family.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“The secret detention of journalist Hassan Zaza, without any explanation from Syrian officials, reflects a nationwide pattern of press intimidation,” said Sara Qudah, CPJ’s regional director. “Syrian authorities must immediately disclose Zaza’s whereabouts, ensure his safety, and drop any charges related to his journalistic activities.”

Mohammad Al-Saleh, Director of Press Relations at Syria’s Ministry of Information, confirmed Zaza’s arrest in the capital Damascus. He told CPJ that it was “related to security concerns and not connected to his journalistic work,” but he was not authorized to share further details as the matter was under investigation.

 “If nothing is found, he will likely be released this week,” Al-Saleh said via messaging app.

Zaza is the owner and editor-in-chief of Noos Social news site, a senior member of Syria’s Free Media Union, and the Syrian representative of the International Federation of Arab Journalists.

After December’s overthrow of long-ruling President Bashar al-Assad, Zaza returned to Damascus from northeast Syria, which is under the control of Kurdish-led, U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces. The group has since agreed to integrate with Syria’s new government. 

Zaza also worked with the Ronahi TV, which supports the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), outlawed by Turkey as a terrorist organization.

“We still have no information about his whereabouts or the reason for his arrest,” Avin Ibrahim, co-chair of the Free Media Union in northeast Syria, told CPJ. “The Syrian government bears full responsibility for the safety of our detained colleague Hassan Zaza, as well as any journalist who may be at risk in the future. These ongoing violations against journalists must end.”

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

It was the first time that Cumpio’s words have been heard outside her prison cell in Tacloban City in the eastern Philippines. Cumpio was arrested in February 2020 and later charged over illegal possession of firearms and terrorism financing.

She faces up to 40 years in prison if found guilty.

“How do we even combat a well-orchestrated lie? A story that’s so absurd that if this was a class debate, you wouldn’t even try to rebut,” Cumpio said in her letter, which Khan read on Tuesday at a U.N. Human Rights Council side event about freedom of expression in the Philippines, co-hosted by the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Cumpio’s letter was hand-carried to Khan in Geneva from the Philippines by CPJ’s Asia-Pacific
director Beh Lih Yi. Ronalyn Olea, secretary-general of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) was also present when the letter was handed over.

Khan, the U.N. special rapporteur on freedom of expression and opinion, called for Cumpio’s release at the U.N. on Tuesday and in her report to the UNHRC last week.

In 2024, the U.N. expert made an official visit to Cumpio and her co-accused Marielle Domequil, a church lay worker, in prison.

“She has been languishing in prison for five years, waiting for a trial for five years — that to me is a travesty of justice,” Khan said on Tuesday. “We need to stand with the Frenchies of this world.”

CPJ and the NUJP are part of the international #FreeFrenchieMaeCumpio coalition which includes the media rights groups AlterMidya, Reporters Without Borders, and Free Press Unlimited. The coalition was denied a joint prison visit to Cumpio in Tacloban City on June 16, with authorities citing documentary requirements.

Below is the extract from Cumpio’s letter read out by Khan:

“A lot has happened over a year [since Khan met Cumpio]. Marielle and I have already testified in court. I was presented three times. I am pleased to tell you that our lawyers have really exerted all of their efforts for our testimony.

Despite that I have to admit that nothing can really prepare you for your own trial.

At first, it felt like I didn’t really have anything to say. How do we even combat a well-orchestrated lie? A story that’s so absurd that if this was a class debate, you wouldn’t even try to rebut.

But after my testimony, I realised I still had a lot to say. That this more than five years of detention is robbing us of so many things — time, family, dreams, plans, future.

People call us brave for holding on, although I would have to admit I sometimes feel otherwise.

The truth is that what happened to us still happens to several others. The fact that they are capable of charging us through mere lies. The fear that we still won’t be safe even when we’re out of this facility.

I am never an ‘in between’ person. I am usually sure where I stand. But today, now that we’re almost near the end, I feel uncertain. And uncertainty bothers you in bed.

Nonetheless, we hold on.

Your visit last year has made a huge impact on how people perceive our case.

Thank you for amplifying our woes. Nothing is braver than fighting for those who are uncertain – the economically challenged, those who continue to suffer from discrimination, or people like us who are locked behind bars.”

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“Authorities in the DRC must not legitimize the detention of journalist Serge Sindani under the pretext of the ongoing war in the east of the country,” said CPJ Regional Director Angela Quintal, from New York. “Authorities must release Sindani without delay so that he can continue informing the local population about important public issues, including conflict in the region.”

The photo, taken from a distance, showed military planes at Bangoka International Airport in Kisangani, a city in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, with the caption: “RDC-Instant Kisangani — the city is calm and under control with our Sukhoi fighter jets. Happy Sunday,” according to a statement by the outlet, reviewed by CPJ and Kis24.info journalist Steves Paluku Mbusa, who spoke with CPJ.

According to the same sources, Sindani is detained in a military intelligence cell in Kisangani, a city in the northern central Tshopo province, and was questioned by Colonel Mwambi, who accused him of having bad intentions for showing military planes in the context of the current war in the region.

“Sindani is one of ours,” Mwambi told CPJ by phone. “He easily covers military activities in the Tshopo province. We are in an operational war province; he took the liberty of filming our war planes without any authorization from the military hierarchy. We do not know his intentions. Was it to inform our enemies? We are investigating his case.”

The DRC and Rwanda are set to sign a U.S.-brokered peace deal in Washington D.C. on June 27, aimed at ending decades of conflict in the eastern DRC.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Figueredo refused to comply with a June 23 police summons, reviewed by CPJ. On that same day she received three private number phone calls warning her that a police investigation had been opened against her and Correa for “dangerousness,” the journalists told CPJ. On June 16, a local police officer parked outside the journalists’ home told them that they weren’t allowed to leave in an incident witnessed by others in the neighborhood.

“The Cuban government must halt its harassment of journalists Yunia Figueredo and Frank Correa, and allow them to continue their work with the community media outlet, Amanecer Habanero,” said CPJ U.S., Canada and Caribbean Program Coordinator Katherine Jacobsen. “Reporters should not be threatened into silence with legal orders.” 

Cuba’s private media companies have come under increased scrutiny from a new communication law banning all unapproved, non-state media and prohibiting them from receiving international funding and foreign training.

Amanecer Habanero is a member of the Cuban Institute for Freedom of Expression and the Press (ICLEP), a network of six community media outlets, which has strongly condemned the actions of Cuban authorities against Figueredo, who became director of the outlet earlier this year.

In a statement, ICLEP said Figueredo has been the victim of an escalating campaign of intimidation by Cuban law enforcement, including verbal threats by state security agents; permanent police surveillance without a court order; restriction of her freedom of movement; psychological intimidation against her family; and police summonses without legal basis in connection with her work denouncing government.

Cuba’s private media companies have come under increased threat from a new communication law banning all unapproved, non-state media and prohibiting them from receiving international funding and foreign training.

Cuban authorities did not immediately reply to CPJ’s emailed request for comment.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

The statement warned that the Bahraini government’s claim of abolishing prison sentences for journalists is misleading when other repressive laws—such as the Penal Code and Anti-Terrorism Law—still allow for their prosecution. This dual legal system enables authorities to arbitrarily impose fines or prison terms based on an individual’s political profile, seriously undermining press freedom, said the statement’s signatories.

The statement also raised concerns about the government’s proposed licensing requirements for online and “media-related” activities, warning that broad definitions under Article 3 could have a chilling effect on online expression, including by bloggers and content creators. While Article 67 claims there will be no prior censorship, the licensing system could be used to restrict media through delays or denials—effectively enabling censorship and violating international standards on freedom of expression.

Read the full statement here.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Protesters took to the streets in most of Kenya’s 47 counties to mark the one-year anniversary of anti-tax demonstrations, in which at least 60 people were killed.

Several people were killed in Wednesday’s violence.

“Restricting protest coverage sends a clear message that President William Ruto’s government is not committed to democratic values or the constitutional freedoms he has vowed to protect,” said CPJ Regional Director Angela Quintal. “Authorities must investigate attacks on journalists, ensuring accountability, rescind the ban on live coverage, and desist from further censorship.”

In a directive, reviewed by CPJ, the Communications Authority of Kenya ordered “all television and radio stations to stop any live coverage of the demonstrations” or face unspecified “regulatory action.” The information technology regulator cited constitutional provisions that prevent freedom of expression involving “propaganda for war” and “incitement to violence.”

Police and Authority officials then switched off the broadcast signal of several privately owned media houses, including NTV, K24, and KTN, which continued to share content online and on social media.

Civil society organizations including the Kenya Editors’ Guild challenged the ban, citing a November High Court ruling that the Authority did not have the constitutional mandate to set or enforce media standards.

Late Wednesday, the Law Society of Kenya secured High Court orders, reviewed by CPJ, directing broadcast signals to be restored immediately.

NTV reporter Ruth Sarmwei was treated in hospital after being hit on the leg by an unknown projectile while interviewing protestors in the city of Nakuru, Joseph Openda, chairperson of the Nakuru Journalists Association, told CPJ. Standard Media Group said its photojournalist David Gichuru was “struck by a stone hurled by a protestor” in the capital Nairobi. 

CPJ’s requests for comment via email to the Communications Authority of Kenya and via messaging app to its director general David Mugonyi did not receive replies.

Police spokesperson Muchiri Nyaga declined to comment by phone. 

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Mostafa has faced threats, surveillance, and online gender-based violence across several countries—including Germany, Switzerland, Kenya, and Lebanon—in connection with her reporting as documented by the UN Special Rapporteurs’ report (AL EGY 6/2024).

Egypt remains one of the world’s top perpetrators of transnational repression, employing tactics such as arresting journalists’ relatives, blocking exiled media outlets, targeting journalists with spyware, and denying consular services.

Read the full statement in English here and Arabic here.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“Fatih Altaylı’s arrest is a blatant attempt to intimidate an influential commentator into self-censorship,” said Özgür Öğret, CPJ’s Turkey representative. “Authorities should immediately release Altaylı, stop targeting critical voices, and allow journalists to do their job without fear of reprisal.” 

On June 20, Altaylı—who regularly shares content to his 1.5 million YouTube subscribers and 2.8 million X followers—commented on a public poll in which 70% of Turkish voters indicated that they preferred to vote for another leader after Erdoğan, who won’t be eligible to run in the country’s 2028 elections due to a two-term limit. In his commentary, Altaylı said the Turkish people “love the ballot box” and wouldn’t want to abandon the right to determine their own future. He added, “This nation is a nation that strangled their sultan when they didn’t like things; didn’t want him. A nation that booed their sultan.”

In his testimony to the authorities, Altaylı said he didn’t threaten the president but merely voiced well known historical facts, and his comments meant to underline how the Turkish people value democracy. 

On Monday, a video of an empty chair was uploaded to Altaylı’s channel in protest of his arrest, which has been viewed more than 788,000 times. 

CPJ’s emailed request for comment on Altaylı’s arrest from the chief prosecutor’s office in Istanbul did not receive a reply.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

In a closed-door trial on Monday, columnist and peace activist Bahruz Samadov was sentenced by a court in the capital Baku to 15 years in prison for treason, after going on a hunger strike and attempting suicide the previous week.

On Friday, six journalists from Abzas Media, widely regarded as Azerbaijan’s most prominent anticorruption investigative outlet, were found guilty of acting as an organized group to commit multiple financial crimes, including currency smuggling, money laundering, and tax evasion, linked to alleged receipt of illegal Western donor funding:

• director Ulvi Hasanli, editor-in-chief Sevinj Vagifgizi (Abbasova), journalist Hafiz Babali – sentenced to 9 years
• reporters Nargiz Absalamova and Elnara Gasimova – sentenced to 8 years
• project coordinator Mahammad Kekalov – sentenced to 7 ½ years

In addition, journalist Farid Mehralizada from U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Azerbaijani service received a 9-year sentence as part of the same trial.

“The heavy sentences meted out to seven journalists in the Abzas Media case and to columnist Bahruz Samadov signal Azerbaijani authorities’ intent to wipe out what remains of independent coverage,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Reports that Samadov has attempted suicide are particularly concerning. Authorities should ensure Samadov’s wellbeing and immediately release all wrongly jailed journalists.”

Abzas Media told CPJ in a statement that the charges against their staff were “absurd and fabricated” and their “only ‘offense’ was exposing corruption, abuse of power, and informing the public of inconvenient truths.”

RFE/RL condemned Mehralizada’s sentence as a “sham” and “unnecessarily cruel.”

Treason case shrouded in secrecy

More than 20 leading Azerbaijani journalists have been jailed on charges of receiving funds from Western donors since late 2023, amid a decline in relations with the West and a surge in authoritarianism following Azerbaijan’s recapture of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, ending decades of separatist Armenian rule. 

Azerbaijan was the world’s 10th worst jailer with 13 journalists behind bars in CPJ’s latest annual prison census on December 1, 2024.

Full details of the charges against Samadov, who contributes to Georgia-based OC Media and U.S.-based Eurasianet and was detained by state security officers while visiting his family in Azerbaijan in 2024, have not been made public. Authorities classified as secret the case against Samadov, a prominent advocate for peace with neighboring Armenia and a doctoral student in the Czech Republic.

Pro-government media, which receive regular “recommendations” from authorities on what to publish, have denounced Samadov for writing “subversive” articles for the “anti-Azerbaijan” Eurasianet. His reporting, reviewed by CPJ, focuses on growing Azerbaijani militarism and authoritarianism.

‘Absurd’ charges in reprisal for corruption reporting

As the June 20 verdicts were read out, Abzas Media journalists turned their backs on the judges and held up posters of the outlet’s corruption investigations into senior officials, including the president’s family.

President Ilham Aliyev took over from his father in 2003 and won a fifth consecutive term in 2024.

Abzas Media continues to operate from exile.

Western-funded ‘spies’

Amid a major state media campaign against Western-funded “spies,” police raided Abzas Media’s office in November 2023 and said they found 40,000 euros (US$45,900), accusing U.S., French, and German embassies of funding the outlet illegally.

Police arrested the six journalists over the following three months. In 2024, Mehralizada was also detained, though he and Abzas Media denied that he worked for the outlet.

Azerbaijani law requires civil society groups to obtain state approval for foreign grants, which authorities accuse Abzas Media of failing to do.

Defense arguments, reviewed by CPJ, said that such an omission was punishable by fines, not criminal sanctions, and prosecutors did not provide evidence the journalists engaged in criminal activity. Rights advocates accuse Azerbaijan of routinely withholding permission for foreign grants and refusing to register organizations that seek them.

In February, Aziz Orujov, director of independent broadcaster Kanal 13, was sentenced to two years in prison on illegal construction charges. In December, Teymur Karimov, head of independent broadcaster Kanal 11 was sentenced to eight years in prison.

Five journalists from Toplum TV and 10 with Meydan TV face trial on similar foreign funding allegations.

Editor’s note: This text has been amended in the ninth paragraph to correct the number of journalists facing charges of receiving funds from Western donors.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi and Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir announced Friday that broadcasting from those locations without advance, written permission, would be a criminal offense, as Israel seeks to control reporting about its week-old conflict with Iran.

“We are deeply concerned by the Israeli authorities’ escalating efforts to suppress press freedom through censorship and intimidation,” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. “Journalists must be allowed to report on the Iran-Israel conflict without obstruction or fear of retaliation. Silencing the press deprives the world of a clear, unfiltered view of the reality unfolding in the region.”

On Thursday, Israeli police said they stopped international media transmitting live broadcasts from missile landing sites, which revealed their exact locations, including “news agencies through which Al Jazeera was illegally broadcasting.” That same day, the Government Press Office banned live broadcasts from crash sites.

The Union of Journalists in Israel denounced the move and said there were no teams filming in Israel for Al Jazeera, which purchases live broadcasts from other international networks operating legally in Israel. Israel banned Al Jazeera’s operations in the country in May, citing security concerns.

On June 18, IDF military censors issued an order, which CPJ reviewed, requiring anyone seeking to broadcast, including via social media, the aftermath of Iranian rocket and drone attacks on Israel’s military sites to obtain prior approval from the army.

On June 16, Israeli police raided a hotel in the northern port city of Haifa where Palestinian journalists were covering the attacks, confiscated their equipment, and launched an investigation.

CPJ emailed the police, the IDF’s North America Media Desk, and the government spokesperson requesting comment but did not immediately receive a response.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

During the June 16-20 mission, CPJ, Reporters Without Borders, and Free Press Unlimited took part in a series of high-level engagements, including meeting Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla and Jose Torres Jr., head of the Presidential Task Force on Media Security, as well as hosting discussions with local media, journalists, and their families.

CPJ, represented by Asia-Pacific Director Beh Lih Yi, and the groups raised several key cases at those meetings, including advocating for the release of journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio and for full justice to be served in the murders of broadcasters Gerry Ortega in 2011 and Percival Mabasa in 2022.

The three press freedom groups are members of the MFC’s consultative network, which advises the MFC on the coalition’s work and facilitates selection of cases that it believes require state intervention.

Read the full statement here.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Tuan, who was arrested in 2020 and is serving an 11-year sentence for “conducting propaganda against the state” due to his journalism, has suffered from internal hemorrhoids and severe bleeding during bowel movements for the past three weeks, a family representative told CPJ on condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisals.

Tuan told his family in a June 19 phone call that his condition had not improved despite receiving three antibiotic injections, the representative said. The journalist told his family that authorities had not responded to a prison nurse’s diagnosis that he was suffering from issues relating to his colon and rectum.   

“Vietnamese journalist Le Huu Minh Tuan has been experiencing serious health problems for several years now, with symptoms similar to colon cancer, according to his family,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “Tuan’s pain and suffering during the last five years in prison is Vietnam’s shame and he should be freed now.”

Tuan, a member of the Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam (IJAVN), has suffered periodically since 2022 from bloody stools, abdominal pain and other gastrointestinal problems, according to his family.

In 2024, Tuan’s health declined with severe weight loss, indigestion, numbness in both calves, chest pain, breathing difficulties, and an inability to eat solid foods, among other ailments, the U.S. Congress Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission reported.

Vietnam was the world’s seventh worst jailer of journalists, with at least 16 behind bars, when CPJ conducted its latest annual prison census on December 1, 2024.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security, which oversees the country’s prison system, did not respond to CPJ’s emailed requests for comment. 

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Tuan, who was arrested in 2020 and is serving an 11-year sentence for “conducting propaganda against the state” due to his journalism, has suffered from internal hemorrhoids and severe bleeding during bowel movements for the past three weeks, a family representative told CPJ on condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisals.

Tuan told his family in a June 19 phone call that his condition had not improved despite receiving three antibiotic injections, the representative said. The journalist told his family that authorities had not responded to a prison nurse’s diagnosis that he was suffering from issues relating to his colon and rectum.   

“Vietnamese journalist Le Huu Minh Tuan has been experiencing serious health problems for several years now, with symptoms similar to colon cancer, according to his family,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “Tuan’s pain and suffering during the last five years in prison is Vietnam’s shame and he should be freed now.”

Tuan, a member of the Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam (IJAVN), has suffered periodically since 2022 from bloody stools, abdominal pain and other gastrointestinal problems, according to his family.

In 2024, Tuan’s health declined with severe weight loss, indigestion, numbness in both calves, chest pain, breathing difficulties, and an inability to eat solid foods, among other ailments, the U.S. Congress Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission reported.

Vietnam was the world’s seventh worst jailer of journalists, with at least 16 behind bars, when CPJ conducted its latest annual prison census on December 1, 2024.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security, which oversees the country’s prison system, did not respond to CPJ’s emailed requests for comment. 

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

The statement warned that independent media in Georgia may only have months left before they are forced to close as outlets now require government approval for foreign grants, broadcasters face arbitrary fines, and journalists can be jailed for up to five years for violating the “foreign agent” law.

The group also called for the immediate release of prominent media manager Mzia Amaghlobeli, who has been in pre-trial detention since January and faces up to seven years in prison on charges widely perceived as retaliatory.

Read the full statement here.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

The Salvadoran Journalists Association (APES) has raised concerns of alleged watchlists and threats of arrest targeting journalists and human rights defenders.

The document calls on the Salvadoran government to “guarantee the physical integrity and freedom of all journalists and immediately cease any form of persecution, surveillance, or intimidation.”

Read the full statement in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

In a letter sent to Paramount Global chair Shari Redstone, CPJ emphasized that the lawsuit lacks merit and that CBS journalists acted lawfully and ethically. CPJ warned that the settlement could set a harmful precedent, signaling that political figures can pressure news organizations into altering or censoring editorial decisions, and threatening freedom of the press in the U.S. and around the world.

Read the letter here:

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

On May 20, the European Union committed to reviewing the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which sets out the EU’s legal and institutional framework for political dialogue and economic cooperation with Israel. Kallas is expected to present the review to EU member states at the next meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council on June 23.

CPJ’s letter calls for the EU to take “decisive action” by preparing “an immediate proposal for the full suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement” in light of the “overwhelming” evidence of abuse against the press and crimes against international law.

The full letter can be found here.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

CPJ wrote a letter to DeKalb County Chief Executive Officer Lorraine Cochran-Johnson requesting that charges against Guevara be dropped and has not immediately received a reply from the office.

“We are deeply concerned by the ongoing detention of Spanish-language journalist Mario Guevara by authorities in DeKalb County, Georgia. He must be released immediately and the charges against him dropped,” said CPJ U.S., Canada and Caribbean Program Coordinator Katherine Jacobsen. “Guevara was doing his job and reporting the news at the time of his arrest. It is alarming that the charges he is now facing could be a pretext to begin deportation proceedings against him.” 

Guevara, an Emmy-winning reporter who covers immigration on his “MGnews” Facebook page, and other social media platforms was livestreaming the protest in the Embry Hills neighborhood northwest of Atlanta when he was detained by police. At the time of his arrest, Guevara was wearing a press pass and clearly identified himself as a journalist to law enforcement, according to video footage of his arrest.

Originally from El Salvador, Guevara has work authorization in the United States and has been in the process of obtaining a green card through his son, who is a U.S. citizen. 

Guevara was charged with improperly entering a roadway; obstruction of law enforcement officers; and unlawful assembly, according to reports. During a court appearance yesterday, a judge granted Guevara bond. However, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a “detainer” against the journalist, which often precedes the deportation process, his lawyer, Giovanni Díaz, told reporters. 

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“Alistair Kitchen’s deportation is a clear case of retaliation in connection with his reporting, and such action sends a chilling message to journalists that they must support the administration’s narratives or face forms of retribution,” said CPJ U.S., Canada and Caribbean Program Coordinator Katherine Jacobsen. “Foreign media operating on U.S. soil are covered by First Amendment protections, and it is incumbent upon U.S. officials—from Customs and Border Patrol to the White House—to allow journalists to do their jobs and travel freely without fear of reprisal.”

Kitchen said he left Melbourne for New York on June 12 and was detained for 12 hours by US Customs and Border Protection officials during a layover in Los Angeles after being pulled aside for secondary screening. Kitchen told The Guardian that he was questioned in connection with his reporting on the pro-Palestinian Columbia student protests, which he published on his personal blog, Kitchen Counter.

Kitchen, who moved back to Australia from New York in 2024, said that interrogators asked him about his views on a one-state, versus two-state solution in relation to Israel and Palestine.

Earlier this year, CPJ issued its first-ever travel advisory for journalists entering the United States, which includes warnings about searches of electronic devices.

During the first Trump administration, CPJ published a report on the press freedom challenges posed by the U.S. border agency’s stop-and-search powers at the border.  

CPJ emailed the Customs and Border Patrol office in southern California but did not immediately receive a reply. 

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Footage showed an explosion in the studio and Sahar Emami, a presenter for the outlet, ducking for cover as debris and smoke filled the frame. CPJ was unable to immediately verify reports of journalists killed and injured at the scene.

“CPJ is appalled by Israel’s bombing of Iran’s state television channel while reporters were live on air,” said CPJ Middle East and North Africa Regional Director Sara Qudah. “Israel’s killing, with impunity, of at least 185 journalists in Gaza has emboldened it to target media elsewhere in the region. This bloodshed must end now.”

“Listen, what you hear is the sound of the aggressor,” Emami said on air before the strike. “You hear the sound of the aggressor attacking the truth.” Minutes after the strike, Emami continued reporting from another studio and said reporters were killed.

Another anchor for the outlet said reporters were injured. 

“I don’t know how many of my colleagues were martyred or injured,” said Younes Shadlou, a senior correspondent for IRIB,  in an Instagram video. Shadlou is seen with blood on his hands in front of the building with fire and smoke. 

The Israel Defense Forces had issued an evacuation warning for the area in which the headquarters was located. The IDF later confirmed the precision strike in a statement saying it had targeted a communication center that was being used by the Iranian military “under the guise of civilian activity.” CPJ was unable to independently confirm these allegations.

“The Iranian regime’s propaganda and incitement broadcasting authority was attacked by the IDF after a widespread evacuation of the area’s residents,” said Israel Defense Minister Israel Katz. “We will strike the Iranian dictator everywhere.”

CPJ’s email to IDF’s North America Media Desk to ask about the targeting of journalists did not immediately receive a response.

CPJ’s multiple attempts to contact officials from the broadcaster were unanswered, as Iran imposed severe internet restrictions since the outbreak of the conflict on Friday. Despite broadcasting, the outlet’s website is inaccessible.

“There is absolutely no logical reason for Israel to target a media outlet or facility in Iran that holds no weapons and poses no threat to anyone,” said Peyman Jebelli, head of IRIB. “In any war or conflict around the world, attacking a media outlet is unjustifiable…But when we look at the history of the Zionist state and its wars against the people of this region, we see that journalists and media organizations have consistently been among its targets.”

As of June 16, 2025, CPJ’s preliminary investigations showed at least 185 journalists and media workers were among the more than tens of thousands killed in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel, and Lebanon since the Israel-Gaza War began, making it the deadliest period for journalists since CPJ began gathering data in 1992.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“Reports that journalist Austin Tice was executed in 2013 are horrifying and demand immediate answers,” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. “Tice’s family has endured more than a decade of unbearable grief and ambiguous loss. CPJ urges United States and Syrian authorities to break their silence, disclose the full truth, and finally provide closure. Accountability cannot be delayed any longer.”

Tice was a freelance photojournalist who contributed to The Washington Post, McClatchy, Al Jazeera English, and other news outlets. He was detained at a checkpoint outside the Syrian capital Damascus in 2012 and has not been heard from since.

Major General Bassam Al Hassan, a former commander, is said to have told FBI and CIA investigators in early 2025 that Assad ordered Tice’s execution, sources familiar with the conversation told the BBC. The account has not been corroborated by the U.S. government.

Tice’s family told The New York Times that they did not believe Hassan’s account.

CPJ‘s email to the FBI and text message to Ali Al Rifaii, director of public relations in Syria’s information ministry, requesting comment did not immediately receive any responses.

CPJ’s latest annual prison census on December 1, 2024, showed that five journalists were imprisoned in Syria, including Tice, and that eight were missing after disappearing between 2012 and 2015, at the height of Syria’s civil war.

After al-Assad’s overthrow on December 8, thousands of prisoners were freed, including only one of the five jailed journalists, Tal al-Mallohi.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Saudi authorities arrested al-Jasser in 2018 and seized his devices, believing that he was behind an X, then known as Twitter, account that documented allegations of corruption within the Saudi royal family. Saudi officials have been accused of spying on Saudi X users and journalists, including Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, in October 2018.

“We are outraged by Saudi Arabia’s execution of prominent journalist Turki al-Jasser, who was detained for seven years because the regime believed he reported on allegations of corruption within the Saudi royal family,” said CPJ Chief Program Officer Carlos Martínez de la Serna. “The international community’s failure to deliver justice for Jamal Khashoggi did not just betray one journalist; it emboldened de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to continue his persecution of the press, and today, another Saudi journalist has paid the price.” 

Al-Jasser was a prominent Saudi journalist who wrote on sensitive issues, including women’s rights, the Arab Spring, and corruption. He contributed to the now-shuttered Saudi newspaper Al-Taqrir and his personal blog between 2013 and 2015. 

While detained, Al-Jasser was subjected to enforced disappearance, denied access to legal representation and his family, and allegedly endured multiple forms of physical and psychological torture.

In 2024, Saudi Arabia executed 330 people — nearly double the 172 recorded the previous year and the highest in decades. So far in 2025, over 100 executions have already taken place.

UN experts and rights groups have repeatedly called on the Saudi government to halt executions, raising serious concerns about due process.

CPJ’s email to the Saudi embassy in Washington, D.C., requesting comment about al-Jasser’s execution did not receive an immediate response.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Secretary Rubio’s proposed plan, announced in May, would drastically downsize the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL), which is responsible for documenting and responding to press freedom violations and providing assistance to journalists at risk around the world. In addition, the reorganization plan would significantly cut staff working on human rights policy, including those supporting journalists and press freedom. These changes would significantly degrade the U.S. government’s capacity to address press freedom violations of press freedom and support journalists at risk globally.

“The U.S. government’s diplomatic capacity, built over decades of bipartisan collaboration and sustained by dedicated expert staff, is instrumental in defending fundamental freedoms and democratic values worldwide, including press freedom. Its strength is critical for America’s national security and global standing, and provides a consequential lifeline for journalists and media outlets who find themselves in the crosshairs for their reporting,” said CPJ’s U.S. Advocacy Representative Loghman Fattahi in a joint press release.

CPJ therefore urges Congress to reject this proposed reorganization and ensure the continued strength of U.S. efforts to protect fundamental freedoms, including press freedom and journalists globally.

Read the letter here.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Secretary Rubio’s proposed plan, announced in May, would drastically downsize the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL), which is responsible for documenting and responding to press freedom violations and providing assistance to journalists at risk around the world. In addition, the reorganization plan would significantly cut staff working on human rights policy, including those supporting journalists and press freedom. These changes would significantly degrade the U.S. government’s capacity to address press freedom violations of press freedom and support journalists at risk globally.

“The U.S. government’s diplomatic capacity, built over decades of bipartisan collaboration and sustained by dedicated expert staff, is instrumental in defending fundamental freedoms and democratic values worldwide, including press freedom. Its strength is critical for America’s national security and global standing, and provides a consequential lifeline for journalists and media outlets who find themselves in the crosshairs for their reporting,” said CPJ’s U.S. Advocacy Representative Loghman Fattahi in a joint press release.

CPJ therefore urges Congress to reject this proposed reorganization and ensure the continued strength of U.S. efforts to protect fundamental freedoms, including press freedom and journalists globally.

Read the letter here.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“DRC authorities should have never detained Willy-Albert Kande or questioned Marcelin Mwananteba, Don Kubutana, and Laurent Ngala, and must end their efforts to intimidate the press over coverage of matters of public interest,” said CPJ’s Africa Regional Director Angela Quintal.

Local media reported that stadium manager Dadou Ethambe lodged a complaint against RTNC after the state-run outlet’s June 8 broadcast of the complex littered with trash and Kande raised concerns on air about the stadium’s conditions ahead of hosting a 2026 World Cup qualifying match. 

Police officers summoned and detained Kande and Mwananteba at a Kinshasa station on June 9 and questioned them about their reporting before releasing Mwananteba the same day and transferring Kande to the office of the National Cyberdefense Council (CNC), an intelligence service of the presidency, according to media reports and an RTNC journalist with knowledge of the case who spoke with CPJ on condition of anonymity.

According to those sources, Kande was accused of denigrating the stadium in a way that promoted Kamalondo Stadium in the south-eastern city of Lubumbashi, which is owned by Tout Puissant Mazembe, the local football team managed by opposition politician Moïse Katumbi.

On Thursday, June 11, authorities additionally arrested RTNC cameraperson Kubutana and reporter Ngala, who filmed the conditions at the stadium and took them to the CNC offices, according to the same RTNC journalist and a post on X by a local reporter. Kande, Ngala, and Kubutana were released later that day evening following the intervention of minister of sports and leisure Didier Budimbu Ntubuanga and the chief of staff for the minister of communication and media, Nicolas Liyanza.

CPJ’s calls to Budimbu and Ethambe received no responses. A WhatsApp message to Ethambe also went unanswered.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

The letter underscores the right of the press to inform the public without fear of assault or injury and calls on Noem to ensure that federal personnel and other institutions under her command refrain from the use of force against members of the press.

A copy of the letter, authored by the First Amendment Coalition, Freedom of the Press Foundation, and the Los Angeles Press Club, can be found here.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Statement signatories have also submitted an April 7 report to the United Nations Universal Periodic Review Working Group, warning of the ongoing crisis of freedom of expression in Honduras.

Read the full statement in English here and Spanish here.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Government officials confirmed that Torres was detained May 13 but have since provided no information on the charges against him.

The letter calls on Venezuelan authorities to “guarantee that human rights defenders can carry out their work freely and safely, without fear of harassment, reprisals or imprisonment” and to allow Torres regular communication with family members and trusted lawyers.

Read the full letter in English here and Spanish here.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Described as a local farmer and woodworker in reports, Loeuy was also ordered to pay a 55 million riel (US$13,500) fine to Chheng’s family.

“The conviction and sentencing of Chhoeung Chheng’s must herald an end to the chronic violence and intimidation faced by journalists in Cambodia,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “Authorities should build on this rule-of-law milestone by protecting reporters who cover the environment.” 

Loeuy shot Chheng, a reporter for the local Kampuchea Aphivath news site, on December 4, 2024, while he was investigating reports of illegal logging in Siem Riep’s Boeung Per Wildlife Sanctuary. Chheng died of his injuries shortly after the attack.

CPJ has documented other cases in Cambodia in which environmental reporters have been killed and denied entry in connection with their work, as well as the arrest and temporary detention of reporter Ouk Mao last month.

Cambodia’s Ministry of Information did not respond to CPJ’s emailed request for comment.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

President Donald Trump deployed 2,000 National Guard members to the state, against California Governor Gavin Newsom’s and LA Mayor Karen Bass’s wishes. 

“We are greatly concerned by the reports of law enforcement officers’ shooting non-lethal rounds at reporters covering protests in Los Angeles. Any attempt to discourage or silence media coverage by intimidating or injuring journalists should not be tolerated,” said CPJ U.S., Canada, and Caribbean Program Coordinator Katherine Jacobsen. “It is incumbent upon authorities to respect the media’s role of documenting issues of public interest.” 

Officers shot Ryanne Mena, a crime reporter with the LA Daily News, and freelance reporter Sean Beckner-Carmitchel with pepper balls and tear-gassed them on Friday and Saturday while they reported. 

Nick Stern, a British freelance photojournalist based in LA, had emergency surgery after a three-inch plastic bullet struck his leg on Sunday. Stern told the BBC that he was wearing a press card around his neck and carrying his camera when he was shot. 

Officers shot Lauren Tomasi, a reporter for Australia’s 9News, in the leg with a rubber bullet as she reported on air Sunday. 

Adam Rose, secretary of the Los Angeles Press Club, has documented more than 20 incidents of obstruction and attacks against members of the media since protests began on June 6. CPJ has not independently verified all the incidents listed.

CPJ’s emails to the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, and the California National Guard did not receive an immediate reply. 

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

President Donald Trump deployed 2,000 National Guard members to the state, against California Governor Gavin Newsom’s and LA Mayor Karen Bass’s wishes. 

“We are greatly concerned by the reports of law enforcement officers’ shooting non-lethal rounds at reporters covering protests in Los Angeles. Any attempt to discourage or silence media coverage by intimidating or injuring journalists should not be tolerated,” said CPJ U.S., Canada, and Caribbean Program Coordinator Katherine Jacobsen. “It is incumbent upon authorities to respect the media’s role of documenting issues of public interest.” 

Officers shot Ryanne Mena, a crime reporter with the LA Daily News, and freelance reporter Sean Beckner-Carmitchel with pepper balls and tear-gassed them on Friday and Saturday while they reported. 

Nick Stern, a British freelance photojournalist based in LA, had emergency surgery after a three-inch plastic bullet struck his leg on Sunday. Stern told the BBC that he was wearing a press card around his neck and carrying his camera when he was shot. 

Officers shot Lauren Tomasi, a reporter for Australia’s 9News, in the leg with a rubber bullet as she reported on air Sunday. 

Adam Rose, secretary of the Los Angeles Press Club, has documented more than 20 incidents of obstruction and attacks against members of the media since protests began on June 6. CPJ has not independently verified all the incidents listed.

CPJ’s emails to the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, and the California National Guard did not receive an immediate reply. 

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

President Donald Trump deployed 2,000 National Guard members to the state, against California Governor Gavin Newsom’s and LA Mayor Karen Bass’s wishes. 

“We are greatly concerned by the reports of law enforcement officers’ shooting non-lethal rounds at reporters covering protests in Los Angeles. Any attempt to discourage or silence media coverage by intimidating or injuring journalists should not be tolerated,” said CPJ U.S., Canada, and Caribbean Program Coordinator Katherine Jacobsen. “It is incumbent upon authorities to respect the media’s role of documenting issues of public interest.” 

Officers shot Ryanne Mena, a crime reporter with the LA Daily News, and freelance reporter Sean Beckner-Carmitchel with pepper balls and tear-gassed them on Friday and Saturday while they reported. 

Nick Stern, a British freelance photojournalist based in LA, had emergency surgery after a three-inch plastic bullet struck his leg on Sunday. Stern told the BBC that he was wearing a press card around his neck and carrying his camera when he was shot. 

Officers shot Lauren Tomasi, a reporter for Australia’s 9News, in the leg with a rubber bullet as she reported on air Sunday. 

Adam Rose, secretary of the Los Angeles Press Club, has documented more than 20 incidents of obstruction and attacks against members of the media since protests began on June 6. CPJ has not independently verified all the incidents listed.

CPJ’s emails to the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, and the California National Guard did not receive an immediate reply. 

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

The Madleen ship, which had on board climate activist Greta Thunberg and French member of the European Parliament Rima Hassan in addition to the two journalists, Yanis Mhamdi and Omar Faiad, was intercepted and seized by the Israeli forces, after which communication with the crew was completely cut off.

“Israeli authorities must immediately release the humanitarian crew of the Madleen ship, which includes two French journalists, heading to Gaza,” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. “EU leaders, including French authorities, should pressure Israel to release these journalists and stop all assaults on press freedom and protect journalists.”

The British-flagged yacht, which is operated by the pro-Palestinian Freedom Flotilla Coalition, had aimed to deliver a symbolic amount of aid to Gaza later on Monday and raise international awareness of the humanitarian crisis there.

Faiad, a correspondent with Al Jazeera Mubashar, was photographed waving his hands up while the Israeli forces were boarding the ship.

Mhamdi, a journalist with independent French media outlet Blast and a documentary filmmaker, posted on his X account as the ship was being intercepted, “I am a journalist, and after covering the Freedom Flotilla convoy for a week, my arrest by the Israeli army is imminent. Humanitarian workers and journalists should not be arrested. I call on all my colleagues to mobilize.”

A video of Mhamdi was circulated on social media less than an hour later in which he says, “If you are seeing this, I have been detained by the Israeli forces while performing my role as a journalist.”

Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, said all passengers will be transported to the port of Ashdod. The government has not yet clarified what it intends for the seized crew and the journalists who were aboard.

CPJ’s email to the North America media desk for the IDF, inquiring about the situation of the journalists and when they and the crew would be released, didn’t receive an immediate response.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

The Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Zambia sued privately owned News Diggers after the outlet shared a May 20 teaser on Facebook for its film, “Chinese Investment in Zambia: The Good, The Bad and The Dangerous,” according to a copy of the court order, reviewed by CPJ, and News Diggers Editor-in-Chief Joseph Mwenda, who spoke to CPJ. 

“The prior censorship of News Diggers’ documentary is a stark reminder that press freedom is imperiled in Zambia,” said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Muthoki Mumo. “Zambian authorities should stand vigilant against efforts to silence the media and should support, rather than undermine, public interest journalism.”

The Lusaka High Court issued the gag order on May 22, the day before the film was due to be broadcast. The film’s trailer included images of alleged labor abuses and violence.

In a letter to News Diggers, reviewed by CPJ, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce said the teaser was aimed at “disparaging, demeaning and tainting” the image of Chinese investments and asked to have its formal response included in the film.

The court said the outlet could be guilty of contempt of court if it aired the documentary in breach of the injunction, which carries a penalty of a six-month jail term or a fine of up to 300 kwacha (US$12).

CPJ’s calls to the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Zambia’s president Tie Li and an email requesting comment did not receive any replies.

CPJ has documented numerous attacks and arrests of journalists in Zambia and April’s new cyber laws further threaten press freedom.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“The authorities in the DRC should reverse the prohibition of coverage related to former President Joseph Kabila and his political party and cease threatening legal action for reporting on matters of public interest,” said Angela Quintal, CPJ’s Africa regional director. “Escalation of fighting in eastern DRC has brought heightened dangers for journalists, which the government should be seeking to mitigate, not enhance. The Congolese people need unfettered access to information, not censorship.”

On June 2, the Higher Council for Audiovisual and Communication (CSAC), the DRC’s media regulator, ordered the media to cease coverage on the party’s activities for 90 days. The order, which CPJ reviewed, also forbids communication channels from “offering space” to PPRD members or Kabila “under penalty of very heavy sanction in accordance with the law,” with the prosecutor general in charge of enforcement.

As justification, the order claimed that Kabila and the party financially and ideologically support the M23 and AFC rebel groups in the eastern part of the country. It follows other government efforts to curb the influence of Kabila and his party, including the suspension of its activities in April. On May 22, the DRC’s Senate lifted immunities that were previously granted to Kabila, who became a life-long senator when his presidency ended in 2019. The government has accused the former president of treason, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and participation in an insurrectionist movement for his alleged support of the M23 rebellion.

On May 23, Kabila broadcast a nationwide speech on his YouTube channel, which has since been taken down, in which he criticized current DRC President Félix Antoine Tshisekedi and proposed his own solutions for restoring peace in the east. Since late May, Kabila has been engaging in discussions with various actors in the eastern city of Goma, which is under M23 control.

CPJ’s calls and messages to Oscar Kabamba, a spokesperson for the CSAC, went unanswered.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

The two men, part of a Maltese criminal gang, are due to be sentenced in the coming weeks.

The joint statement said that the June 5 verdict marks a vital step toward full justice — a crucial development in the fight against impunity that will hopefully strengthen the case against the alleged mastermind, businessman Yorgen Fenech, who is awaiting trial. To date, five individuals have been found guilty of involvement in Caruana Galizia’s murder.

Read the full statement here.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“These are not isolated incidents, but systematic attacks by Israel on the media. This disturbing and deliberate pattern must end,” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. “The killing of journalists in a hospital courtyard on the holy day of Yawm Al-Arafah — preceding Eid al-Adha — underscores the relentless dangers facing the media in Gaza.”

The drone strike on Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital courtyard killed correspondent Suleiman Hajjaj and camera operator Ismail Baddah of Palestine Today TV, a channel affiliated with the Islamic Jihad militant group, and Samir al-Rifai, an administrator for the local, privately owned Shams News Agency.

The Israel Defense Forces said on Telegram that they had “precisely struck an Islamic Jihad terrorist who was operating in a command and control center in the yard of the Al-Ahli Hospital.”

Palestine Today TV described the killings as a “double war crime” for “direct targeting” its journalists and a hospital, both protected under international law.

Palestine Today TV correspondent Emad Daloul was also injured, as well as three journalists with Qatari-funded Al-Araby TV: reporter Islam Badr and camera operators Imam Badr and Ahmed Qulaja.

“The strike happened at around 10:20 a.m. with a single missile fired by an Israeli drone directly at a group of journalists who were sitting in the courtyard, working on their laptops,” Islam Badr, who started filming minutes after his right leg was hit, told CPJ.

“Qulaja was critically injured by shrapnel,” added Islam Badr, brother to Imam Badr.

Al-Mayadeen TV journalist Akram Daloul, a relative of injured Emad Daloul, told CPJ that the correspondent’s condition was serious because he had previously undergone a kidney transplant.

CPJ emailed the Israel Defense Forces’ North America Media Desk to ask if the military was aware of the presence of journalists in the area and if they were deliberately targeted but did not immediately receive a response.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

BBC Persian journalists in London told The Guardian and CPJ that their families back in Iran have faced threats in recent months, including interrogations, travel bans, asset seizure warnings, and passport confiscations. BBC Director-General Tim Davie said in a statement that the Iranian government’s campaign represented a “significant and increasingly alarming escalation” against the news outlet.

“The Iranian government’s escalating harassment of BBC Persian journalists’ families is a deliberate attempt to silence the press,” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. “Interrogations, passport seizures, and other threats are tools of transnational repression, and a direct assault on press freedom and human dignity.”

Rozita Lotfi, the news editor of BBC Persian, told CPJ that the intimidation began with the 2009 launch of BBC Persian’s TV channel, calling it “a testament to the impact and reach of our independent and impartial journalism.” 

“No journalist should have to pay the personal price we are paying, and no family member should ever be punished because of our work,” Behrang Tajdin, a BBC Persian correspondent, told CPJ.

The developments come weeks after British police charged three Iranian nationals in a counterterrorism investigation involving alleged plots against Iran-linked targets in the U.K., including journalists. 

CPJ emailed the Iranian mission to the United Nations in New York requesting comment but did not receive a response.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

The security directorate in eastern Hadramout Governorate issued the three arrest warrants against Sabri bin Mukhshen, Abduljabar Bajabeer, and Muzahim Bajaber based on an April order by the Specialized Criminal Prosecution, which prosecutes high-level cases, including those against journalists. The order did not specify the alleged offense.

The arrest warrants violate Article 13 of Yemen’s Press and Publications Law, which protects journalists from punishment for publishing their opinions unless these break the law. 

On May 23, journalists Abdulrahman Al-Humaidi and Najm Al-Din Al-Subari were detained in Marib over Al-Humaidi’s Facebook post that criticized an armed assault on Al-Subari by a militia member affiliated with the state security forces in the western city of Marib. The journalists said in an official complaint to the Media Freedoms Observatory, a local press freedom group, that they were threatened, had their phones confiscated, and were held without legal justification, and that Al-Humaidi was forced to delete the post and sign a pledge not to report on Marib Governorate without prior approval from its security forces. 

“The arrest warrants against journalists Sabri bin Mukhshen, Abduljabar Bajabeer, and Muzahim Bajaber, and the detention and intimidation of Abdulrahman Al-Humaidi and Najm Al-Din Al-Subari, are further evidence of the alarming decline in press freedom in areas controlled by Yemen’s Internationally Recognized Government,” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. “We call on the government to immediately drop the arrest warrants, hold those responsible for the illegal detention accountable, and allow all journalists to report freely.”

Yemen has been mired in civil war since 2014, when Houthi rebels ousted the government from the capital Sanaa. In 2015, a Saudi-backed coalition intervened to try and restore the government to power.

Journalists face grave threats in areas controlled by both groups. Violations — ranging from arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance to unfair trials — are carried out with near-total impunity.

CPJ emailed the Ministry of Human Rights for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Issued on World Environment Day, UNIVAJA’s open letter calls for “more than promises” as Brazil prepares to host the COP30 climate change conference in Belém, the capital of the state of Pará, in November. “We demand protection for the guardians of the forest. We demand real, urgent and transformative action.”

Phillips and Pereira went missing during a reporting trip in the Indigenous territory of the Javari Valley, and their remains were found 10 days later, with gunshot wounds.

Read the full manifesto in Portuguese.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

After 20 months of almost complete exclusion of international media from Gaza, the letter demands the protection of Palestinian journalists currently reporting under siege in the territory.

Israeli authorities have prevented international journalists from entering Gaza since the start of the war, except for brief excursions, tightly controlled by the military. Meanwhile, local Palestinian journalists have risked their lives to report under extreme conditions of violence, displacement, and hunger. At least 181 journalists and media workers have been killed – 179 of them by Israel in Gaza and Lebanon since the war started, making it the deadliest conflict for the press since CPJ started recording data in 1992.

“When journalists are killed in such unprecedented numbers and independent international media is barred from entering, the world loses its ability to see clearly, to understand fully, and to respond effectively to what is happening. Access must be restored, and the rights of journalists must be respected,” said CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg. “Journalists must be allowed to report without fear for their lives.”

The letter notes that, at a critical time of renewed military operations and humanitarian efforts in Gaza, ensuring the presence of independent journalists is essential for transparency, accountability, and the public’s right to know.

In addition, the signatories called on Israel to meet its international obligations to protect journalists and immediately allow unrestricted access to Gaza for international media. The letter also appealed to world leaders and international institutions to demand protections for all journalists working in Gaza.

The full letter and list of signatories are available in Arabic, English, French, and Spanish. 

About the Committee to Protect Journalists

The Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent, nonprofit organization that promotes press freedom worldwide. We defend the right of journalists to report the news safely and without fear of reprisal.For media queries, please contact press@cpj.org.

Read the full letter below

Open letter from media and press freedom organizations on Gaza access

We, the undersigned, call for immediate, independent, and unrestricted international media access to Gaza and for full protection of journalists who continue to report under siege.

For 20 months, the Israeli authorities have refused to grant journalists outside of Gaza independent access to the Palestinian territory — a situation that is without precedent in modern warfare. Local journalists, those best positioned to tell the truth, face displacement and starvation. To date, nearly 200 journalists have been killed by the Israeli military.

Many more have been injured and face constant threats to their lives for doing their jobs: bearing witness. This is a direct attack on press freedom and the right to information. We understand the inherent risks in reporting from war zones. These are risks that many of our organizations have taken over decades in order to investigate, document developments as they occur, and understand the impacts of war.

At this pivotal moment, with renewed military action and efforts to resume the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, it is vital that Israel open Gaza’s borders for international journalists to be able to report freely and that Israel abides by its international obligations to protect journalists as civilians.

We call on world leaders, governments, and international institutions to act immediately to ensure this.

Signed by:

1. Actualite.cd, Patient Ligodi, Founder (Democratic Republic of Congo)
2. Agence France-Presse, Phil Chetwynd, Global News Director (France)
3. Agência Pública, Natália Viana, Executive Director (Brazil)
4. Al Araby Al Jadeed, Hussam Kanafani, Director of Media Sector
5. Al Jazeera Center of Public Liberties & Human Rights, Sami Alhaj, Director (Qatar)
6. Al-Masdar Online, Ali al-Faqih, CEO (Yemen)
7. Alternative Press Syndicate (Lebanon)
8. Amazônia Real, Kátia Brasil, Director (Brazil)
9. Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ), Rawan Daman, Director General
10. ARTICLE 19
11. Asia Pacific Report, David Robie, Editor (New Zealand)
12. Associated Press, Julie Pace, Executive Editor and Senior Vice President (USA)
13. Association of Foreign Press Correspondents, Nancy Prager-Kamel, Chair (USA)
14. Bahrain Press Association (Bahrain)
15. Birama Konaré, Director General, Joliba (Mali)
16. BirGun Daily, Yasar Aydin, News Coordinator (Turkey)
17. Brecha, Betania Núñez, Journalistic Director (Uruguay)
18. British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Tim Davie, Director-General, (UK)
19. Bulatlat, Ronalyn V. Olea, Editor-in-Chief (Philippines)
20. CamboJA, Nop Vy, Executive Director (Cambodia)
21. Casbah Tribune, Khaled Drareni, Editorial Director (Algeria)
22. Cedar Centre for Legal Studies (CCLS) (Lebanon)
23. Center for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro (CIN-CG), Milka Tadić Mijović, Editor-in-Chief
24. Churchill Otieno, Executive Director, Eastern Africa Editors Society & Africa Editors Forum, President (Kenya)
25. Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Jodie Ginsberg, CEO
26. Community Peacemaker Teams (CPT) (Iraqi Kurdistan)
27. Confidencial.digital, Carlos F. Chamorro, Director (Nicaragua, in exile)
28. CONNECTAS, Carlos Eduardo Huertas, Director
29. Daraj Media, Hazem al Amin, Editor-in-Chief, Alia Ibrahim, CEO and Diana Moukalled, Managing Editor (Lebanon)
30. Dawn newspaper, Zaffar Abbas, Editor (Pakistan)
31. De Último Minuto, Hector Romero, Director (Dominican Republic)
32. Delfino.CR, Diego Delfino Machín, Director (Costa Rica)
33. Deník Referendum, Jakub Patocka, Editor-in-Chief and publisher
34. Digital Radio-télévision DRTV, William Mouko Zinika Toung-Hou, Assistant Director of Information (Congo-Brazzaville)
35. Droub, Murtada Ahmed Mahmoud Koko, General Director (Sudan)
36. Efecto Cocuyo, Luz Mely Reyes, Director (Venezuela)
37. Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) (Egypt)
38. El Ciudadano, Javier Pineda, Director (Chile)
39. El Diario de Hoy, Óscar Picardo Joao, Editorial Director (Salvador)
40. El Espectador, Fidel Cano Correa, Director (Colombia)
41. El Faro, Carlos Dada, Co-founder and Director
42. El Mostrador, Héctor Cossio, Director (Chile)
43. El Sol de México, Martha Citlali Ramos, National Editorial Director (Mexico)
44. El Universal, David Aponte, Directeur Général éditorial (Mexico)
45. elDiarioAR, Delfina Torres Cabreros, Journalistic Director (Argentina)
46. ENASS, Salaheddine Lemaizi, Director (Morocco)
47. Équipe Média, Mohamed Mayara, General Coordinator (Western Sahara)
48. European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), Ricardo Gutiérrez, General Secretary
49. European Broadcasting Union, Noel Curran, Director General
50. Eyewitness Media Group, Patrick Mayoyo, Director Editorial Innovations
51. Financial Times, Roula Khalaf, Editor (USA)
52. Forbidden Stories, Laurent Richard, Founder (France)
53. Foreign Press Association, Deborah Bonetti, Director (UK)
54. Foreign Press Association, Tania Kraemer, Chair (Israel)
55. Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), Fisayo Soyombo, Founder and Editor (Nigeria)
56. France 24 (France)
57. Free Press Unlimited, Ruth Kronenburg, Executive Director
58. Front Page Africa, Rodney Sieh, Editor-in-Chief and Editor (Liberia)
59. GabonClic.info, Randy Karl Louba, Director, (Gabon)
60. Geneva Health Files, Priti Patnaik, Founder
61. Geo News, Azhar Abbas, Managing Editor (Pakistan)
62. Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN), Emilia Diaz-Struck, Executive Director
63. Global Reporting Centre, Sharon Nadeem, Producer and Head of Partnerships
64. Guineematin.com, Nouhou Baldé, Founder and administrator (Guinea)
65. Haaretz, Aluf Benn, Editor-in-Chief (Israel)
66. Hildebrandt en sus trece, César Hildebrandt, Director (Peru)
67. HuMENA for Human Rights and Civic Engagement
68. Independent Television News, Rachel Corp, Chief Executive (UK)
69. Inkyfada, Malek Khadhraoui, Director of Publication (Tunisia)
70. International News Safety Institute (INSI), Elena Consentino, Director (UK)
71. International Press Institute (IPI), Scott Griffen, Executive Director
72. IWACU, Abbas Mbazumutima, Editor-in-Chief (Burundi)
73. Klix.ba, Semir Hambo, Editor-in-Chief (Bosnia-Herzegovina)
74. L’Alternative, Ferdinand Ayité, Publishing Director (Togo)
75. L’Événement, Moussa Aksar, Publishing Director (Niger)
76. La Voix de Djibouti, Mahamoud Djama, Publishing Director (Djibouti)
77. Le Jour, Haman Mana, Publication Director, (Cameroon)
78. Le Monde, Jérôme Fenoglio, Director (France)
79. Le Reporter, Aimé Kobo Nabaloum, Publishing Director (Burkina Faso)
80. Lebanese Center for Human Rights (CLDH) (Lebanon)
81. Luat Khoa, Trinh Huu Long, Editor-in-Chief (Vietnam)
82. Mada Masr, Lina Atallah, CEO (Egypt)
83. Mail & Guardian, Luke Feltham, Acting Editor-in-Chief (South Africa)
84. Malaysiakini, RK Anand, Executive Editor (Malaysia)
85. Mekong Review, Kirsten Han, Managing Editor (Singapore)
86. MENA Rights Group
87. Mizzima Media, Soe Myint, Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief (Myanmar)
88. Muwatin Media Network, Mohammed Al-Fazari, CEO & Editor-in-Chief (UK)
89. National Public Radio (NPR) Edith Chapin, SVP & Editor-in-Chief (USA)
90. New Bloom Magazine, Brian Hioe, Founding Editor (Taiwan)
91. Nord Sud Quotidien, Raoul Hounsounou, Publishing Director (Benin)
92. OC Media, Mariam Nikuradze, Co-founder and Co-director (Georgia)
93. Organización Editorial Mexicana, Martha C. Ramos Sosa, Directora General Editorial (Mexico)
94. People Daily, Emeka Mayaka Gekara, Managing Editor (Kenya)
95. Photon Media, Shirley Ka Lai Leung, CEO (Hong Kong)
96. Plan V, Juan Carlos Calderón, Director (Equador)
97. Prachatai, Mutita Chuachang, Executive Editor (Thailand)
98. Premium Times, Musikilu Mojeed, Editor-in-Chief/Chief Operating Officer
99. Pressafrik, Ibrahima Lissa Faye, Publishing Director (Senegal)
100. Prospect Magazine, Alan Rusbridger, Editor
101. Pulitzer Center, Marina Walker Guevara, Executive Editor
102. Rádio Ecclesia, Gaudêncio Yakuleingue, Directeur (Angola)
103. Radio Universidad de Chile, Patricio López, Director, (Chile)
104. Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Thibaut Bruttin, Director General
105. Rory Peck Trust, Jon Williams, Executive Director
106. SMEX (Lebanon)
107. SMN24MEDIA, Kamal Siriwardana, Director News (Sri Lanka)
108. Society of Professional Journalists, Caroline Hendrie, Executive Director (USA)
109. Stabroek News, Anand Persaud, Director (Guyana)
110. Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, SCM (Syria)
111. Taz – die tageszeitung, Barbara Junge, Editor-in-Chief (Germany)
112. Tempo Digital, Wahyu Dhyatmika, Chief Executive Officer (Indonesia)
113. The Globe and Mail, Editor-in-Chief & World Editors Forum of WAN-IFRA, President, David Walmsley (Canada)
114. The Independent, Geordie Greig, Editor-in-Chief (UK)
115. The Intercept Brasil, Andrew Fishman, President & Co-Founder (Brazil)
116. The Legal Agenda (Lebanon)
117. The Magnet, Larry Moonze, Editor (Zambia)
118. The Nairobi Law Monthly, Mbugua Ng’ang’a, Editor-in-Chief (Kenya)
119. The New Arab, Hussam Kanafani, Director of Media Sector
120. The Point, Pap Saine, Publishing Director (Gambia)
121. The Reckoning Project, Janine di Giovanni, CEO
122. The Shift, Caroline Muscat, Founder (Malta)
123. The Wire, Seema Chishti, Editor (India)
124. The World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), Vincent Peyrègne, CEO & Andrew Heslop, Executive Director for Press Freedom
125. TV Slovenia, Ksenija Horvat, Director (Slovenia)
126. Twala.info, Lyas Hallas, Publication Director
127. Unnu.news, Lkhagvatseren Batbayar, Editor-in-Chief (Mongolia)
128. Wattan Media Network (Palestine)
129. Woz – die Wochenzeitung, Florian Keller, Daniela Janser, Kaspar Surber, Editorial
     Board (Switzerland)

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

On the evening of May 31, Hércules, who also worked as a taxi driver, was shot and killed by two unidentified assailants on a motorcycle while driving his taxi in the western department of Copán, according to news reports and the Honduran Journalists Association (CPH). The 50-year-old journalist, originally from Santa Ana, El Salvador, died at the scene.

Hércules, who reported on organized crime for the local television outlet ATN a Todo Noticias, had been enrolled in Honduras’ National Protection System for Journalists, which has provided protection measures like police escort, relocation, and risk assessments since 2023, according to local news outlet Proceso Digital. He had previously received threats and, in November 2023, was abducted by two armed men, beaten, and left in a remote area. 

Despite being placed under state protection after this, the government did not assign Hércules bodyguards. 

“The killing of Javier Hércules tragically illustrates the failure of Honduras’ journalist protection mechanism, as well as the severe risks faced by reporters covering organized crime,” said Cristina Zahar, CPJ’s Latin America program coordinator, in São Paulo. “Authorities must urgently determine whether he was targeted for his journalism, and act decisively to break an ongoing cycle of impunity.”

Hércules’ daughter, Karina, told La Prensa that the family was unaware of any recent threats.

Angelica Cárcamo, director of the Central American Network of Journalists, told CPJ that the organization believes he was targeted because of his reporting. 

CPJ sent a message to the Honduran Security Secretariat but did not receive a response.

Honduras remains one of the most dangerous countries in the region for journalists. CPJ has documented numerous cases of threats, harassment, criminalization, and killings of members of the press, many of which remain unsolved. A report submitted by CPJ and partners to the United Nations in April as part of the Honduras Universal Periodic Review recommended the strengthening of regulations in the country’s Protection Law.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Local press freedom groups said those abducted between May 21 and 23 included:

• Abduljabbar Zayad, freelance photographer
• Hassan Ziyad, journalist with London-based newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadeed
• Abdulaziz Al-Noum, Director of the Soorah Media Production Center,
• Walid Ali Ghalib, deputy head of the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate

On May 24, the Specialized Criminal Court in the capital Sanaa sentenced well-known Yemeni journalist Mohamed Al-Miyahi to 1½ years in prison for criticizing Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi online. Al-Miyahi was also ordered to sign a pledge not to resume his journalistic work and to pay a guarantee of 5 million riyals (US$20,500), which he would forfeit if he were to resume publication of material critical of the state.

“The kidnapping of at least four Yemeni journalists and media workers and the sentence issued against Mohamed Al-Miyahi exemplify the Houthis’ escalating assault on press freedom,” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. “We call on Houthi authorities to immediately release all detained journalists and stop weaponizing the law and courts to legitimize their repression of independent voices.”

The Iranian-backed rebels, who control Sanaa and govern more than 70% of Yemen’s population, have been fighting a Saudi-backed coalition since 2015. The group is designated a terrorist organization by the United States.

Al-Miyahi criticized the Houthis in his last article prior to his September abduction and enforced disappearance for over a month. In January, he appeared in court, accused of “publishing articles against the state.” 

Al-Miyahi’s prosecution violates Article 13 of Yemen’s press law, which protects journalists from punishment for publishing their opinions, unless these are unlawful.

CPJ has criticized the establishment of parallel justice systems by non-state groups, like the Houthis, as they are widely seen as lacking impartiality.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Local press freedom groups said those abducted between May 21 and 23 included:

• Abduljabbar Zayad, freelance photographer
• Hassan Ziyad, journalist with London-based newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadeed
• Abdulaziz Al-Noum, Director of the Soorah Media Production Center,
• Walid Ali Ghalib, deputy head of the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate

On May 24, the Specialized Criminal Court in the capital Sanaa sentenced well-known Yemeni journalist Mohamed Al-Miyahi to 1½ years in prison for criticizing Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi online. Al-Miyahi was also ordered to sign a pledge not to resume his journalistic work and to pay a guarantee of 5 million riyals (US$20,500), which he would forfeit if he were to resume publication of material critical of the state.

“The kidnapping of at least four Yemeni journalists and media workers and the sentence issued against Mohamed Al-Miyahi exemplify the Houthis’ escalating assault on press freedom,” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. “We call on Houthi authorities to immediately release all detained journalists and stop weaponizing the law and courts to legitimize their repression of independent voices.”

The Iranian-backed rebels, who control Sanaa and govern more than 70% of Yemen’s population, have been fighting a Saudi-backed coalition since 2015. The group is designated a terrorist organization by the United States.

Al-Miyahi criticized the Houthis in his last article prior to his September abduction and enforced disappearance for over a month. In January, he appeared in court, accused of “publishing articles against the state.” 

Al-Miyahi’s prosecution violates Article 13 of Yemen’s press law, which protects journalists from punishment for publishing their opinions, unless these are unlawful.

CPJ has criticized the establishment of parallel justice systems by non-state groups, like the Houthis, as they are widely seen as lacking impartiality.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

On May 16, Nicaraguan lawmakers approved a constitutional amendment that allows the government to strip Nicaraguan nationality fromcitizens who opt for a second nationality.

On May 20, El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly approved a “foreign agents” law mandating that any person or organization receiving funds from abroad register with the Ministry of Interior as a foreign agent.

Read the full statement in English and Español.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

On May 16, Nicaraguan lawmakers approved a constitutional amendment that allows the government to strip Nicaraguan nationality fromcitizens who opt for a second nationality.

On May 20, El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly approved a “foreign agents” law mandating that any person or organization receiving funds from abroad register with the Ministry of Interior as a foreign agent.

Read the full statement in English and Español.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“President Nayib Bukele’s foreign agents law is a blatant move to silence dissent and dismantle what remains of El Salvador’s independent press,” said Cristina Zahar, CPJ’s Latin America program coordinator, in São Paulo. “By forcing journalists and civil society organizations to register as foreign agents and taxing foreign support, the government is adopting the repressive tactics of authoritarian regimes like Nicaragua and Russia. This law must be repealed.”

Approved May 20 by Bukele’s Nuevas Ideas party-controlled legislature, the law mandates that any person or organization receiving funds from abroad register with the Ministry of Interior as a foreign agent. Those designated must pay a 30% tax on all foreign income and submit to extensive oversight, including sworn declarations. Violations of the law carry fines ranging from US$1,000 to US$150,000.

While the government claims the law is meant to promote transparency and protect national sovereignty, press freedom and human rights advocates warn it is intended to intimidate critics and financially cripple the independent press.

Óscar Martínez, editor-in-chief of El Faro, told CPJ the law’s vague language grants authorities sweeping discretion. It applies not only to organizations, but also to individuals, so freelance journalists, academics, and trainers who receive honoraria or stipends from abroad could be labeled foreign agents.

“This law is designed to suffocate the press,” said Martínez. “We rely on international donors because local advertisers are too afraid of government retaliation. Now the government wants to criminalize that support.”

Angélica Cárcamo, director of the Central American Journalists Network, called the measure “a tool of persecution.” She told CPJ the law is “intended to shut down NGOs, silence critical journalism, and tighten the government’s control over public discourse.”

CPJ emailed the office of the Salvadoran president for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“President Nayib Bukele’s foreign agents law is a blatant move to silence dissent and dismantle what remains of El Salvador’s independent press,” said Cristina Zahar, CPJ’s Latin America program coordinator, in São Paulo. “By forcing journalists and civil society organizations to register as foreign agents and taxing foreign support, the government is adopting the repressive tactics of authoritarian regimes like Nicaragua and Russia. This law must be repealed.”

Approved May 20 by Bukele’s Nuevas Ideas party-controlled legislature, the law mandates that any person or organization receiving funds from abroad register with the Ministry of Interior as a foreign agent. Those designated must pay a 30% tax on all foreign income and submit to extensive oversight, including sworn declarations. Violations of the law carry fines ranging from US$1,000 to US$150,000.

While the government claims the law is meant to promote transparency and protect national sovereignty, press freedom and human rights advocates warn it is intended to intimidate critics and financially cripple the independent press.

Óscar Martínez, editor-in-chief of El Faro, told CPJ the law’s vague language grants authorities sweeping discretion. It applies not only to organizations, but also to individuals, so freelance journalists, academics, and trainers who receive honoraria or stipends from abroad could be labeled foreign agents.

“This law is designed to suffocate the press,” said Martínez. “We rely on international donors because local advertisers are too afraid of government retaliation. Now the government wants to criminalize that support.”

Angélica Cárcamo, director of the Central American Journalists Network, called the measure “a tool of persecution.” She told CPJ the law is “intended to shut down NGOs, silence critical journalism, and tighten the government’s control over public discourse.”

CPJ emailed the office of the Salvadoran president for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“Following Kloop’s forced shutdown last year, the arrest of eight current and former Kloop staffers and incitement charges against journalists Aleksandr Aleksandrov and Joomart Duulatov is a grave escalation of Kyrgyz authorities’ vendetta against Kloop for its critical coverage of government corruption,” said Carlos Martínez de la Serna, CPJ’s program director. “All press members swept up in these targeted raids must be released without delay.”

Between Wednesday and Friday, officers with Kyrgyzstan’s State Committee for National Security (SCNS) raided Kloop’s offices and the homes of journalists and staffers in the capital of Bishkek and the southern city of Osh, seizing electronic devices, before taking them to SCNS offices for questioning, according to multiple reports.

Kloop founder Rinat Tuhvatshin called the arrests “abductions,” stating that the SCNS conducted searches and questioned the journalists without lawyers present and did not allow them to make any phone calls. 

In a May 30 statement, the SCNS accused Kloop of continuing to work despite the liquidation of its legal entity and said its “illegal work” was “aimed at provoking public discontent … for the subsequent organization of mass unrest.”

With Aleksandrov and Duulatov, an unnamed Kloop accountant detained Friday also remained in SCNS custody. If found guilty on the incitement charges, Aleksandrov and Duulatov could face up to eight years in prison.

A local partner in the global investigative network Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), Kloop regularly reports on alleged corruption and abuses by government officials. The outlet’s website has been blocked in Kyrgyzstan since 2023.

The charges against Aleksandrov and Duulatov echo those brought last year against 11 current and former staffers of investigative outlet Temirov Live. 

CPJ’s email to SCNS for comment did not immediately receive a reply.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

On May 22, the Fafen Zone High Court in Jigjiga, the capital of Ethiopia’s eastern Somali Region, sentenced Ahmed, whose legal name is Ahmed Abdi Omar, to two years in prison. He had been detained since his April 23 arrest on incitement charges related to an interview he conducted with a man whose son died following an alleged police beating, as well as for commentary on Ahmed’s Facebook page. The charge was later changed to “propagation of disinformation and public incitement,” under the 2020 anti-hate speech law, according to the charge sheet, which was reviewed by CPJ.

“Ahmed Awga’s conviction and two-year prison sentence, based on a Facebook post he didn’t write, is outrageous and a stark illustration of Ethiopia’s escalating assault on press freedom,” said Angela Quintal, CPJ’s Africa regional director, from Durban. “Ethiopian authorities must cease using the legal system to silence critical voices.”

The charge sheet alleges that on April 17, Ahmed posted statements on his Facebook page, describing a regional election as a “so-called election,” accusing regional government officials of holding the population hostage, and claiming specific districts were seized by certain individuals. He was also accused of inciting residents by allegedly stating, “we have no justice — only killing and death.”

A CPJ review of the prosecution’s evidence, corroborated by an analysis by VOSS TV, an online media outlet, shows his conviction was primarily based on a post he didn’t write. His account was merely tagged in an April 20 post, which clearly originated from another Facebook page, not Ahmed’s. None of Ahmed’s April 17 posts appeared to reference the allegations in the charge sheet, according to CPJ’s review.

Ahmed’s conviction is part of a broader crackdown on media in Ethiopia. At least six other journalists were arrested in the month of April alone, as the government tightened its control over the media regulator, the Ethiopian Media Authority (EMA).

In a May 27 interview with BBC’s Somali service, Somali Region President Mustafa Mohammed Omar rejected suggestions that people were being jailed simply for what they posted online. The four people currently in custody — “a journalist, a former official, and two activists” — face charges of “harming the reputation of security agencies, spreading false information about jail conditions, and exploiting the death of an inmate to incite the public,” he said, adding that the regional judiciary is independent.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

The Supreme State Security Prosecution released Qandeel the same day on bail of 50,000 Egyptian pounds (about US$1,004).

“Accusing Qandeel after questioning her journalistic integrity is another example of Egypt’s legal harassment and use of vague charges to silence independent voices,” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. “We urge Egyptian authorities to drop all charges against her and stop targeting independent journalism.”

Qandeel, a well-known former BBC Arabic presenter, said she has faced increased verbal attacks from pro-regime Egyptian media presenters after publishing articles last month criticizing the Egyptian army’s arms purchases amid the country’s economic hardships.

If convicted, Qandeel could face up to five years in prison, a fine up to half a million Egyptian pounds, or both, under Article 80(d) of the Penal Code—a provision that raises penalties for spreading “false news” abroad.

Qandeel told Cairo-based news outlet Al-Manassa that the charges followed 31 citizen complaints filed over two weeks in May—all related to investigative reports she published last year.

Egypt ranked as the sixth-worst country globally for press freedom last year, with 17 journalists behind bars.

CPJ’s request for comment from the Egyptian Public Prosecutor’s Office regarding Qandeel’s case did not receive an immediate response.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

On May 15, the Tamaulipas Electoral Institute (IETAM) ordered de Mauleón – one of Mexico’s most well-known investigative journalists – to take down his May 1 column, which mentioned corruption allegations against a relative of a candidate, Tania Contreras, in the northern state and to refrain from publishing articles linking her to criminal individuals or acts. The woman sued de Mauleón and his newspaper El Universal on May 15 for slander and political violence based on gender. De Mauleón was found guilty, but the dates of the verdict and his sentencing were not made public.

Such vexatious lawsuits are an increasingly popular tool for Mexican politicians to censor critical journalism, and CPJ has documented their use since 2016, when a court in Mexico City eliminated the maximum compensation plaintiffs could sue for in moral damages suits. Over the past five years, at least 158 journalists faced libel suits, according to the office in Mexico of Article 19, a London-based advocacy group and CPJ partner organization.

It’s a global trend. In Europe and the United States, Strategic Lawsuits against Public Participation, commonly known as SLAPPs, are widely used as retaliatory measures to intimidate journalists and suppress public interest reporting.

Political violence based on gender

The crime of political violence based on gender, introduced in 2020, was designed to protect female candidates in a country where gender violence is among the highest in the world, including against women running for or holding public office, numerous studies found.

Reporter Arturo Ángel Arrellano Camarillo of Al Calor Político news site has been found guilty of the same crime in the eastern state of Veracruz. In January of this year he was ordered to pay an unspecified fine and reparations to Mara Chama, a woman he named in a 2021 article about politicians’ relatives running for office, according to the court ruling, reviewed by CPJ.

Arellano’s name will also be added to a register of Persons Sanctioned for Political Violence against Women held by the National Electoral Institute, which organizes Mexico’s federal elections.

“The rulings against journalists Héctor de Mauleón and Arturo Arellano are clear examples of judicial harassment, with politicians abusing the law to silence critical reporting – an increasingly common phenomenon in Mexico,” said CPJ Mexico Representative Jan-Albert Hootsen. “We call on Mexican politicians to stop bringing meritless cases to court to prevent the publication of news that is in the public interest.”

In both cases, lower courts rejected the charges, but their rulings were overturned.

The charges against the two journalists appear to be baseless, as there was no evidence of political violence or of the journalists singling out the women because of their gender, human rights lawyer Jorge Ruiz del Ángel told CPJ. “There appears to be little merit in these cases”, he said. “In either one the damage the articles would have caused is not clear, nor the specific component of gender.”

At risk

De Mauleón did not withdraw the article, despite the risk of arrest. He told CPJ that retracting it would create a dangerous precedent of self-censorship for journalists in Mexico.

He is used to being harassed over his work. For the last decade, De Mauleón been threatened multiple times for his reporting on organized crime, extortion, drug trafficking, and corrupt networks involving politicians and celebrities.

But this case concerned him because the court order was handed to him at his Mexico City home.

“I was told that my personal information was given to the IETAM, which I believe places me at risk,” De Mauleón told CPJ.

Mexico is the deadliest country in the Americas for journalists, according to CPJ research. Since 2020, 40 journalists and media workers were killed in work-related, or possibly work-related incidents, according to CPJ research. Mexico ranked eighth on CPJ’s 2024 Global Impunity Index.

CPJ made several attempts to reach Tania Contreras via calls to her campaign’s office in Tamaulipas and to Mara Chama via the Teocelo municipal government in Veracruz for comment, but none of the calls were answered.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Ahead of the Council’s forthcoming session, which opens on 16 June, the rights groups also called for an extension of the mandate of the independent U.N. Special Rapporteur on human rights in Eritrea, which expires in July.

As of December 1, 2024, Eritrea remained the worst jailer of journalists in sub-Saharan Africa, with 16 behind bars without charge or trial, according to CPJ’s latest annual global prison census. Of these, 13 have been in detention since 2000 or 2001.

In 2024, the Special Rapporteur Mohamed Abdelsalam Babiker expressed concern about prolonged, arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances in the Horn of Africa nation and described the imprisoned Eritreans as the “longest-detained journalists in the world.”

Read the full letter in English and French.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“Journalist Bijay Pradhan’s brutal attack is yet another grave reminder of the growing dangers faced by local journalists across India, particularly those targeted in the eastern state of Odisha,” said CPJ India Representative Kunāl Majumder. “Authorities must ensure a swift and impartial investigation and bring those responsible to justice.”

Pradhan, a reporter with the privately-held Odia-language news outlet Bada Khabar, was tied up and brutally beaten by a group of men on May 23 while reporting on alleged irregularities in a local construction project in the Kulthipali village of Bolangir district. A video of the assault widely shared on social media, shows Pradhan being kicked and dragged by a group. The assault went on for two hours and resulted in the rupture of his right eardrum. He is undergoing treatment for his injuries in Bhima Bhoi Medical College and Hospital, Pradhan told CPJ. 

Pradham said his attackers also snatched his mobile phone, on which he had recorded the incident, his microphone, and other equipment to stop him from reporting.

Five individuals named in the official complaint including the prime suspect have been arrested. They are being investigated for charges including assault, voluntarily causing hurt (including by dangerous means), misappropriation, theft, and property damage. 

News reports quoted a senior police officer saying “the contractor involved in the retaining wall construction may have instigated the assault” and that his “involvement is under thorough investigation.” However, Pradhan told CPJ he fears he could be targeted again if he resumes field reporting.

CPJ has documented multiple attacks in Odisha on journalists such as Jyotiranjan Mohapatra,  Pratap Patra, Tarun Kumar Acharya—including murder, physical assault, and targeted violence explicitly linked to their reporting on sensitive topics such as sand mining, child labor, and local corruption. 

CPJ’s requests for comment sent to Abilash G., the superintendent of police in the Bolangir district, did not receive any reply.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

The statement expresses grave concern over Pakistan’s “Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan,” which was publicly announced on October 3, 2023. The plan has faced widespread criticism from local and international bodies, including the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and the International Organization for Migration, which have called on Pakistan to uphold its international obligations and continue offering protection to at-risk Afghans.

The joint statement also appeals to the international community to provide safe and legal pathways for Afghan journalists, writers, artists, human rights defenders, and other vulnerable individuals seeking refuge from Taliban persecution due to their peaceful expression.

Read the full joint statement here.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“The abduction-like arrest of blogger and veteran journalist Abduljalil Mohamed Abduljalil over his reporting on alleged corruption on his Facebook page is a clear example of how journalists are targeted in Sudan,” said Carlos Martínez de la Serna, CPJ’s chief of programs. “Authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Abduljalil, guarantee his safety, and stop targeting journalists for their work.”

On May 25, SAF security forces stormed Abduljalil’s home in the eastern city of Kassala, arrested him, without a warrant, and barred him from notifying his family, changing his clothes, and packing medicine for his many health conditions, according to a statement by the Sudanese Journalists Syndicate and news reports. He was held incommunicado for hours before his family received confirmation of his arrest later that night.

Abduljalil was arrested in connection to his posts critical of the government, especially those alleging corruption in the pilgrimage authority, a government body that oversees and organizes travel, logistics, and permits for Muslims traveling to Saudi Arabia to perform the pilgrimage, according to those sources, and a local journalist who is following the case and spoke with CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal. Abduljalil’s Facebook posts regarding the pilgrimage authority has since been removed.

The journalists’ union condemned Abduljalil’s arrest as an act of enforced disappearance and a dangerous escalation in targeting Sudanese journalists, and it called for an immediate investigation into the incident. 

Abduljalil, a blogger with 29,000 followers on his Facebook page and a former sports correspondent for Sudan Radio, is considered one of Kassala’s most prominent journalists. He regularly provides political commentary to local newspapers. His arrest comes amid rising public anger in Kassala over electricity and water cuts.

In a separate incident on May 10, SAF security forces arrested freelance journalist Mounir Al-Taraiki from his home in the Northern Sudan state and detained him for two days without charge. 

Ever since the ongoing war between the SAF and the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces broke out in Sudan in April 2023, CPJ has documented dozens of violations against the press, including arbitrary arrests, assaults, and the killing of at least fourteen journalists and media workers.

CPJ’s email to SAF about Abduljalil and Al-Taraiki’s arrests received no reply.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“DRC authorities must swiftly, thoroughly, and transparently investigate journalist Samy Kambere Malikidogo’s shooting and hold the officer responsible to account,” said Angela Quintal, CPJ’s Africa regional director, from Durban. “Journalists covering events of public interest, such as public demonstrations, must be protected by law enforcement, not targeted.”

Kambere, a reporter with the privately owned broadcaster Kibali FM, was shot in his right arm on May 23 by an officer with the Congolese National Police (PNC), according to the journalist, who spoke with CPJ, and a press release from the local press freedom organization L’Observatoire de la Liberté de la Presse en Afrique (OLPA).

Kambere told CPJ that he was wearing a clearly distinguishable press badge around his neck when police shot him as he reported on the protests against increased insecurity, including the May 22 killing of a store owner by unidentified armed men. Kambere received medical treatment at a local health clinic following the attack and was released. 

A local police commander known as Major Dakota told CPJ by phone that he was on medical leave but had been informed that the shooting was under investigation.

CPJ has previously documented attacks on journalists covering insecurity protests in the DRC.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

In the early hours of Sunday, May 18, police officers raided Mejía’s home in the Peña por Bajo neighborhood of Tegucigalpa, beat him, stole personal belongings, and subjected him to “cruel and inhuman treatment,” according to multiple news reports and local press group C-Libre.

Mejía told the Facebook news page Perspectiva Informativa that he was held for about three hours and threatened with death. Mejía said officers also seized his phone and stole $80 in cash.

“Authorities must treat these serious allegations with the urgency and transparency they demand, and hold the officers responsible to account,” said CPJ Latin America Program Coordinator Cristina Zahar, in São Paulo. “There can be no tolerance for abuses committed under the guise of security operations, especially when they target members of the press.”

Mejía, who self-publishes Comando Maya newspaper, filed a formal complaint on May 20, with the Honduran Public Prosecutor’s Office in Tegucigalpa. He was accompanied by his legal representative and son, Stuart Mejía. 

According to Perspectiva Informativa, Stuart said his father, who has no criminal record, was tortured and humiliated in a “gross violation of human rights,” and their family fears for their safety. The journalist underwent a forensic medical examination, and its findings were submitted to prosecutors along with the formal complaint.

Honduran Security Minister Gustavo Sánchez said on X that he directed the Inspector General’s Office to begin inquiries.

The national police director, Juan Manuel Aguilar, told the newspaper El Heraldo that the police denied any misconduct. The agency said the operation was based on a 911 emergency alert reporting a possible kidnapping at Mejía’s residence.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Public consultations for the proposed Shield, which European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced in 2024, closed on May 26.

The Commission has stated that defense of the press will be an “important part” of the initiative, which seeks to address foreign interference online, and counter disinformation and information manipulation, as well as other threats to democratic processes. 

During its 2019 to 2024 term, the European Commission stepped up its defense of media freedom, with actions including: 

• The 2024 European Media Freedom Act to stop media capture by vested interests;
• A 2022 Directive and Recommendation to limit the use of vexatious lawsuits filed to censor critical reporting, known as SLAPPS, or Strategic Lawsuits against Public Participation;
• The 2021 Recommendation on journalists’ safety, which guides member states on how to protect journalists.

“Brussels has created the tools for strengthening media freedom in Europe, but journalists need to see that they work,” said CPJ Deputy Advocacy Director, EU, Tom Gibson. “The European Democracy Shield should provide a clear roadmap to push existing reforms forward. EU member states should respond with both financial commitments to ensure its success and renewed political will to save journalism in Europe.”

The impact of recent initiatives has yet to be seen. As CPJ noted in its 2023 report, “Fragile Progress: The struggle for press freedom in the European Union”, improved and sustained action from Brussels is needed to ensure member states deliver on the reforms.

The question of Europe’s political will coincides with a dire financial outlook for the media worldwide, including a shift to digital platforms and declining advertising revenues. The Trump administration’s withdrawal of U.S. financial support has plunged many independent media outlets in Europe into crisis.

Negotiations over the EU’s 2028 to 2034 budget, the Multiannual Financial Framework, are likely to be tense, in part because of diverging outlooks from member states and economic pressures. 

Read CPJ’s full recommendations to the European Commission on the European Democracy Shield here.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Trang, who is serving a nine-year sentence on anti-state charges, received CPJ’s 2022 International Press Freedom Award for her courage in the face of persecution.

Tuesday’s statement is timed to commemorate Trang’s 47^th birthday on May 27. It also raises concerns about Trang’s deteriorating health after nearly five years in detention and calls on authorities to allow her access to adequate medical treatment.

Read the full joint statement here.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

González, 39, was ambushed and shot dead by unidentified men around 6 p.m. on May 14 in Acapulco’s city center, in the southern state of Guerrero, according to news reports. He died at the scene as his attackers fled. González was leaving a studio interview when he was attacked.

“José Carlos González’s brutal killing the latest in a string of deadly attacks on the press in Mexico – yet another reminder that President Claudia Sheinbaum’s promise that press freedom would be respected in the country continues to be an empty one,” said Jan-Albert Hootsen, CPJ’s Mexico representative. “If Mexican authorities finally want to show their commitment to press freedom, they must bring González’s attackers to justice, lest the impunity that fuels these killings continues unabated.”

González used Facebook as his news site’s platform, where he frequently published short articles, videos and photos on local politics, crime, security, sports, culture, and social protests to his over 143,000 followers. González also posted commentary videos, in which he donned a lucha libre (Mexican wrestling) mask under the pseudonym “Ave Fénix,” without his name or a byline.

González was previously injured in a June 2023, attack, according to a report in El Financiero, a Mexico City newspaper. It is unclear whether he had received any death threats leading up to his killing. 

The Guerrero state public prosecutor’s office has not publicly commented on the killing, and several phone calls by CPJ for comment went unanswered. An official with the Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, a federal agency that provides protection to reporters at risk, told CPJ that González was not incorporated into a protection program sanctioned by the office. The official asked to remain anonymous due to not being authorized to publicly comment on the matter.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“The threats against Adela Navarro, amid a spike in violence against Mexican reporters since the beginning of the year,are deeply troubling,” said Jan-Albert Hootsen, CPJ’s Mexico representative. “Mexican authorities cannot stand by idly and leave reporters like Navarro vulnerable against such threats.”

Navarro, whom CPJ honored with its International Press Freedom Award in 2007 for her work covering crime and corruption in Tijuana, told CPJ that the magazine had received a total of eight calls between April 29 and May 16. Each time, an unidentified male, who called the reception desk of the magazine, only said “tell Adela Navarro to be careful” and then hung up, she said.

Navarro said she believes the calls may be related to an April 28 article Zeta published online and in print asserting that state authorities hid information about a clandestine grave in Tijuana allegedly used by organized crime to dump victims’ bodies.

Navarro and Zeta, one of Mexico’s most widely respected investigate magazines, are a frequent target of attacks, threats, and harassment by both authorities and organized crime. In January, the magazine reported that it had been threatened in a so-called “narcomanta,” a banner hung in the La Libertad neighborhood of Tijuana. Police attributed the banner, which included a warning about Zeta’s reputation, to organized crime.

Several journalists from the magazine have been murdered, including co-founder Héctor Félix Miranda in 1988, editor Francisco Ortiz Franco in 2004, and photographer Margarito Martínez in 2022, while Zeta’s other co–founder, Jesús Blancornelas, survived an attempt on his life in 1997.

CPJ reached out to Laureano Carrillo Rodríguez, Baja California’s state secretary of citizen security, for comment via messaging app, but has not yet received a reply.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

The statement urges the government to publicly disclose the legal basis for the actions against these websites and ensure access to effective legal remedies to challenge blocking decisions before an independent judiciary, in line with constitutional and international standards. The statement also asks for a comprehensive review of the 2023 Cybercrime Law through a transparent and participatory process involving civil society organizations, media actors, and legal experts.

The organizations affirm that protecting press freedom and media pluralism is not incompatible with the rule of law; but is a prerequisite for it.

Read the full letter in English and العربية here.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

The Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP), InMedia, The Witness, ReNews, and Boomhead are among the outlets that have received backdated tax demands from the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) since November 2023, according to the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA), the city’s main press union. The HKJA said it is also under audit.

“Hong Kong is taking a page out of the playbook of authoritarian regimes elsewhere that are using similar intimidation tactics,” said Beh Lih Yi, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “Targeting journalists with tax audits without sufficient evidence not only rings alarm bells for press freedom but also raises concerns more broadly about Hong Kong as a safe and reliable location to do business.”

Tax authorities claimed that the news outlets, journalists and some of their family members had not reported their full income from 2017 to 2019, according to HKJA chairperson Selina Cheng, who said the audits contained errors and were “unreasonable.” Cheng and her parents are among those under tax probes.

The HKJA said the IRD sent separate back tax demands to each media outlet and to the association itself, with a combined total of around HK$700,000 (US$89,450), based on the union’s calculations. It added that more than 20 individuals — including journalists, former board members, and some of their family members — also received tax demands, with the total amount requested reaching up to HK$1 million (US$127,900).

In a statement, the HKFP said that it is undergoing a seven-year audit after being “randomly selected” by the IRD.

Hong Kong has seen a dramatic decline in press freedom since the enactment of the Beijing-imposed national security law in 2020. Several independent media outlets, including Apple Daily and Stand News, have been forced to shut down, while journalists have been assaulted, arrested and imprisoned. 

In response to CPJ’s request for comment on the audits, an IRD spokesperson said the department follows “established procedures” and the industry or background of a taxpayer “has no bearing” on such audits.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

During the raid Tuesday morning, the TV station temporarily suspended operations, and employees were barred from entering their offices. According to IvanovoNews, a sister outlet in the same media group, authorities seized a computer case and documents from Kustov´s work office. Kustov returned to work after the raid on his home.

“This latest raid and criminal case against Russian broadcaster Bars and its editor-in-chief, Sergey Kustov, is a blatant act of intimidation and censorship,” said Attila Mong, CPJ’s Europe representative. “Russian authorities must stop using defamation laws and other criminal charges to silence journalists who report on matters of public interest and should immediately return all confiscated materials and stop harassing Kustov.”

The raid was part of a criminal investigation into alleged defamation, which IvanovoNews reported is linked to a February report by Bars on missing Russian soldiers in Ukraine. The case may also relate to the use of the slang term “менты,” a derogatory word for police, in the report, the outlet said.

“This case is directly related to our journalistic work,” Bars’ editorial staff told CPJ.

Kustov, who said he had received threats in the days leading up to the raid, wrote on his Telegram channel Wednesday that he had been “very wrong to take it as just psychological pressure.” He added that “there was no slander in the publication.”

On February 12, Kustov was fined 100,000 rubles (US$1,114) for discrediting the armed forces. In March 2024, he was beaten while covering a plane crash and sent to jail for 10 days on charges of disobeying police orders.

CPJ filled out an online form requesting comment Russia’s Ministry of Interior, but did not immediately receive any reply.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Abdelfattah has spent nearly a decade in prison and now faces an additional two years of detention—despite Egyptian legal provisions that should have guaranteed his release last September. On May 20, the journalist’s 69-year-old mother, Laila Soueif, resumed a near-total hunger strike in protest.

On March 4, CPJ led a joint letter signed by 50 prominent human rights leaders, Nobel laureates, writers, and public figures, urging President el-Sisi to issue a presidential pardon for Abdelfattah.

Read the full letter in English here.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Plainclothes officers arrested Mao without a warrant on May 16. He is being held in pre-trial detention on criminal incitement and defamation charges over his reporting on environmental issues, including illegal logging and deforestation.

The joint statement calls on Cambodian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Mao, drop all charges against him, cease the judicial harassment and intimidation of journalists, and guarantee the rights to freedom of expression and press freedom.  

Read the full statement here.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“The charges against Landry Ulrich Nguéma Ngokpélé over a publication in his newspaper sends a chilling signal across the media sector in the Central African Republic,” said Moussa Ngom, CPJ’s Francophone Africa representative. “Central African Republic authorities must secure his immediate release and ensure journalism is not criminalized.”

Ngokpélé’s was arrested by a man in civilian clothes, who pointed a gun at him and threatened to shoot if the journalist refused to cooperate, according to his lawyer, Roger Junior Loutomo, who spoke with CPJ.

On May 14, an investigating judge ordered Ngokpélé’s transfer to Ngaragba prison in Bangui from a gendarmerie office, where he had been held since his arrest.

On May 19, the judge charged Ngokpélé with complicity in rebellion, spreading information likely to disturb public order, inciting hatred andrevolt, and subversion against the constitution and the state, according to Loutomo and copies of the charge sheet, which CPJ reviewed.

Loutomo told CPJ the case was related to a report published in the paper’s April 22 edition, which said that the former president, who has been living in exile in Guinea Bissau, had returned to the capital.

Bozizé, who is sought by the International Criminal Court for possible crimes against humanity, seized power in 2003 and was toppled in 2013. In 2020, he set up a rebel group seeking to overthrow the government, for which Central African authorities sentenced him in absentia in 2023 to life in prison.

The charge sheet cites sections 11, 12, 292, 295, 381, and 382 of the penal code, so Ngokpélé would face time in prison if found guilty. However, the country’s press law holds that offenses involving journalism should fall under that law, which would only carry fines.

Ngokpélé was previously detained for more than two months in 2021.

Government spokesperson Maxime Balalou told CPJ via messaging app that he was “closely” following Ngokpélé’s case. Balalou asked to be sent questions via email, but when CPJ requested his email address, he did not respond.  

CPJ’s calls to the gendarmerie and the Bangui court went unanswered.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“The prosecution of Öznur Değer is yet another example of the witch hunt against critical journalists in Turkey. Reporting on sensitive issues does not equate with promoting violence,” said Özgür Öğret, CPJ’s Turkey representative. “Turkish authorities should quickly free Değer, drop the charge against her, and put an end to such vindictive prosecutions.”

Değer, news director for the pro-Kurdish site JİNNEWS, was taken into police custody during a February 7 raid on her home in the southeastern city of Mardin and put under arrest by a court.

The court subsequently charged her with making propaganda for the PKK, which Turkey recognizes as a terrorist organization.

The PKK, which has been fighting Turkish security forces since 1984, announced in May that it was planning to disband as part of a new peace process.

In the four-page indictment, reviewed by CPJ, prosecutors said PKK-related news, photographs, and videos that Değer posted on the social media platform X between 2021 and 2024 were terrorism propaganda.

The indictment also said Değer was under investigation for “insulting a public officer,” who filed a complaint about comments Değer made at a funeral wake in December.

Değer is appealing a six year and three month sentence issued against her and seven other journalists in June 2024 for membership of a terrorist organization. She spent almost seven months in jail, from October 2022 to May 2023, awaiting trial.

CPJ’s email requesting comment from the chief prosecutor’s office in Mardin did not receive a reply.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“Liberian authorities must hold to account those who attacked Smile FM, beat media technician Cyrus Gbeway, and prevented the station from broadcasting for two weeks,” said Angela Quintal, CPJ’s Africa regional director, from Durban. “The safety of journalists and the Liberian people’s access to information should be a top priority for authorities.”

The shutdown, which ended on May 19, came amid a dispute at Smile FM between two rival boards over leadership of the community radio station in Zwedru, the capital of eastern Grand Gedeh County.

Gbeway told CPJ that two of the men who forced their way into the station’s compound at dawn, smashed his phone, and evicted him were known associates of county superintendent Alex Chersia Grant. The president appoints 15 superintendents nationally, whose roles are administrative.

Grant told CPJ he was one of the station’s founders and rejected news reports that he ordered the raid. Grant said that he did know the two men identified by Gbewey but he did not know why they participated in the raid and declined to explain his relationship with them.

Solo Uriah Lewis, who was recently ousted as station manager, told CPJ that he called the police when he arrived at the radio station and saw it had been occupied.

Since the end of Liberia’s civil war in 2003, the media has grown significantly but is often reliant on financial support from government or politicians. CPJ has documented journalists being beaten, threatened, and harassed by politicians and security forces.

The Press Union of Liberia described the incident as “disturbing” and called on the police to ensure Smile FM could operate without interruption.

CPJ’s calls and text messages to request comment from national police spokesperson Cecelia Clarke did not receive any replies.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

The review could in principle lead to a suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. CPJ has been calling for a suspension, as well as for the EU to adopt targeted sanctions against IDF officials and others responsible, since August 2024, on the basis of Israel’s violations of international human rights and criminal law.

Ireland and Spain had previously pressed for an EU review; however, divisions remained within the bloc on openly and publicly challenging Israel. The EU’s decision, along with today’s UK move to pause “its free trade agreement negotiations with Israel” could signal a shift in political opinion in Europe. 

“Although today’s decision is welcome, it comes too late,” said Tom Gibson, CPJ’s deputy advocacy director, EU. “A review must now be carried out swiftly and EU member states must be ready to finally hold Israel to account for its unprecedented attack on press freedom and egregious abuses of international law.”

A suspension of the EU agreement would need to be made unanimously by member states and with the agreement of the European Commission.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“We are shocked by the killing of freelance photojournalist Al-Shykh Al-Samany Saadaldyn Mousa Abdulla ‘Sheikho,’ who lost his life while documenting events on the frontlines of Sudan’s war. His death is yet another tragic reminder of the extreme dangers Sudanese journalists face while doing their jobs,” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. “All parties to the war must stop targeting members of the press, ensure that journalists can work safely, and hold those responsible for Sheikho’s killing to account.”

The drone attack in the Al-Butna area in the central eastern region of Sudan killed Sheikho, at least 7 soldiers from the Sudan Shield Forces, and injured 14 others, according to a local journalist who told CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal.

Sheikho is a freelance photojournalist who covers the Sudan war on his Facebook page, which has over 20,000 followers. 

Since the war erupted between the SAF and the RSF in April 2023, at least 12 other journalists and media workers have been killed in the country.

CPJ’s email to the RSF seeking comment on Sheikho’s death did not receive a response.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“Turkish authorities in Ankara must take the threats made against journalist İsmail Arı and his relatives seriously and take decisive steps to better ensure their safety,” said Özgür Öğret, CPJ’s Turkey representative. “The authorities should swiftly and comprehensively investigate the threats and hold those responsible to account, so all journalists in Turkey can safely do their jobs.”

Arı, based in the capital Ankara, said in a post on X that he filed a criminal complaint on May 16 notifying authorities that he was insulted, threatened and sent a list of his relatives via messaging app by an unknown foreign number earlier in the day, and at least one of his relatives was threatened in a phone call, according to the complaint reviewed CPJ.

Arı told CPJ via messaging app on Monday that the police provided a “caution protection” number for him to call and report incidents for 90 days. The journalist also contacted the Interior Ministry about the matter but did not receive a reply as of Monday evening.

Arı was previously targeted with death threats in late 2023 in connection with his reporting on an Islamist group in southern Turkey.

CPJ’s emailed request for comment to Turkey’s Interior Ministry, which oversees the police, did not receive a reply. 

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Plainclothes officers, who did not produce an arrest warrant, handcuffed Mao on Friday at his home in northeastern Stung Treng province and took him to the provincial prison, where he is being held on unclear charges,  media reports said.

“Ouk Mao’s seizure and detention, without any explanation, is just the latest assault in Cambodia on journalists who report on environmental issues and crimes,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “Cambodia should stop treating environmental reporters as criminals and protect, not harass, journalists like Mao.”

Before his May 16 detention, Mao faced physical attacks, threats and legal intimidation, including criminal incitement and defamation charges, in retaliation for his reporting on environmental crimes, Mongabay reported.

On March 24, four men tried to force Mao to delete video footage and photos he took of them while documenting illegal logging in the extensive Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary — some of which is in Stung Treng province — a confrontation he posted on Intriplus News’ Facebook page.

Police refused to act against the assailants seen in the clip, among them an ex-police officer, tried to seize his phone, and demanded that Mao take down the video, which he refused to do, Mongabay reported.

Cambodia is an increasingly dangerous place for environmental reporters.

In January, authorities denied re-entry to British Mongabay reporter Gerald Flynn after he appeared in a France 24 documentary critical of the United Nations-backed global carbon offsetting scheme REDD+. Flynn had previously worked with Mao in reporting on allegations of land grabbing associated with the military.

In December, environmental reporter Chhoueng Chheng died after being shot while reporting on illegal logging in the northwestern Boeung Per Wildlife Sanctuary.

The Ministry of Information did not respond to CPJ’s emailed request for comment on Mao’s arrest and legal status.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Later Thursday, an Istanbul court arrested Karabay, pending trial, on suspicion of “making targets of those who were tasked to combat terrorism” and “insulting” Turkish President Recep Tayyip. The arrest order, which CPJ reviewed, cites the journalist’s social media posts in April about the prosecution of Ekrem İmamoğlu, the arrested opposition mayor of Istanbul, according to the arrest order.

Karabay’s posts on X after March 21 have been deleted. CPJ couldn’t confirm when these posts were deleted or by whom. On May 16, his account on X was blocked in Turkey “in response to a legal demand.”

“Courts in Turkey keep arresting reporter Furkan Karabay on similar suspicions year after year, which points to a pattern of making him an example of due to his reporting,” said Özgür Öğret, CPJ’s Turkey representative. “Turkish authorities should free Karabay without delay and end the chokehold they have on the flow of the news in the country.” 

In a separate trial last month, Karabay was found guilty of defamation and “insulting” Erdoğan. He received a delayed prison sentence of 25 months in total due to reporting on the main opposition party’s claims of corruption against the president’s family.

On November 9, 2024, an Istanbul court arrested Karabay, pending trial, on a similar charge of suspicion of “making targets of those who were tasked to combat terrorism,” “insulting a public servant,” and “knowingly distributing misleading information to the public,” due to reporting on the arrest of an opposition mayor. He was released on the next day, and that trial is yet to begin.

On December 28, 2023, another Istanbul court arrested Karabay on suspicion of “making targets of those who were tasked to combat terrorism,” as well as defamation, due to his reporting on allegations of corruption in the judiciary. He was released pending trial in January 2024, and acquitted from both charges in October.

Journalists in Turkey who report on members of the judiciary or judicial developments are frequently charged with “making targets of those who were tasked to combat terrorism.”

CPJ’s email to the Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office did not receive a reply.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“Denying medical care to journalist Chadha Hadj Mbarek, whose health is deteriorating in prison, is inhumane and risks further endangering her life,” said Carlos Martínez de la Serna, CPJ’s chief of programs. “Tunisian authorities must ensure Mbarek receives proper medical attention and should release her immediately, as she never should have been imprisoned in the first place.”

Mbarek, a journalist and a social media content editor with local independent content firm Instalingo, is being held at the Al-Mas’adin prison in Sousse, south of the capital Tunis, according to a Facebook statement by the journalist’s brother Amen Hadj Mbarek, and news reports. She suffers from vision loss, spinal and joint pain, and gastrointestinal issues that prevent her from taking painkillers, and has experienced vomiting, fainting, and constant pain, according to her brother, who told CPJ that her condition is rapidly deteriorating.

Her brother said Mbarek’s requests to speak with prison officials about her care have gone unanswered despite repeated hospitalizations and doctors recommending spinal tests and possible surgery. 

Mbarek, arrested in July 2023, is serving a five-year prison sentence under Tunisia’s 2022 cybercrime Decree-Law No. 2022-54. Authorities have barred her from receiving lawyer or family visits until an appeal hearing is scheduled.

CPJ’s email to the presidency requesting comment on Mbarek’s denial of medical treatment did not receive any reply.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.