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 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.

“These systematic attacks are clear examples of censorship, media repression, and obstruction of the free flow of information,” said Sara Qudah, CPJ’s regional director. “We condemn the Iranian authorities’ ongoing persecution of journalists and media outlets, which creates an environment of fear and intimidation.”

Between April 14 and April 21, six media directors and founders were convicted by political-press courts in Iran, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA). The convictions involved both private and state-affiliated outlets, including:

• Mehdi Rahmanian, director of the private reformist Shargh Daily on unknown charges
• A director of the state-run Fars News Agency, on charges of disclosing confidential information
• The director of the reformist newspaper Ebtekar, on charges of spreading rumors
• The director of the official state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), on charges of insult, slander, and dissemination of falsehoods
• The director of the independent Eslahat News platform, on charges of publishing false content
• The director of the economic news website Nabze Bazaar, on charges of disseminating fabricated material

The campaign of intimidation by Iranian authorities has continued to escalate. On April 22, security forces in Tehran threatened Kerman-based photojournalist Hassan Abbasi with arrest. Abbasi, the director of the banned news website Ashkan News, was summoned on charges of spreading false information.

On April 27, Karaj-based freelancejournalist and media activist Omid Faraghat, who focuses on political affairs, was also summoned.

That same day, security forces raided the home of journalist Mohammad Parsi, editor-in-chief of Kandoo magazine and director of two other media outlets, and seized his electronic devices. He was charged with offenses that include “propaganda against the state” and “spreading false information.”

In the wake of the April 26 explosion at a port near Bandar Abbas, in southern Iran, authorities have aggressively sought to suppress independent reporting, with an aim to control public discourse through the intimidation and censorship of media professionals.

Meanwhile, Nasrin Hassani, a journalist being held at Bojnourd Prison in Iran’s eastern Khorasan province, is enduring inhumane and degrading conditions, according to the recent report by press freedom group Defending Free Flow of Information in Iran (DeFFI). Hassani, a reporter for the state-run local newspaper Etefaghyeh and editor-in-chief of the social media-based outlet East Adventure Press, is serving the 15th month of her 19-month sentence in the general crimes ward, with inadequate access to medical care, poor sanitation, and denial of regular visits with her teenage son.

CPJ emailed the Iranian mission to the United Nations in New York requesting comment on the suppression and detention of journalists but did not receive a response.

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

“The Addis Standard raids are the latest moves in the Ethiopian government’s campaign to silence independent media. The confiscation of the outlet’s equipment raises grave concerns about potential misuse of sensitive data,” said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Muthoki Mumo. “Authorities should drop their investigations into Addis Standard and return its equipment.”

Six plainclothes officers, who identified themselves as police, raided the Addis Standard office on April 17 and took a newsroom manager and HR manager to the capital’s Federal Police Crime Investigation Unit for interrogation, according to the outlet’s publisher and its founder Tsedale Lemma, who spoke to CPJ. 

The police, who said they had warrants but did not produce copies, told staff that they were under investigation on suspicion of preparing to produce a documentary that might incite violence, Tsedale said, adding that the allegation was untrue and outlet does not have the capacity to make documentaries.

Earlier that morning, police raided the home of an Addis Standard IT manager, who was assaulted in front of family members and taken to a police station in the capital’s Woreda 13, Lemi Kura Subcity, Tsedale said. All three employees were released later that day, without charges, she said.

Police confiscated laptops, computers, cell phones, data storage devices, and external processing units, for which they demanded and were given passwords, and told staff not to speak publicly about the raids, Tsedale said.

Addis Standard’s publisher, JAKENN Publishing PLC, expressed concern about how the seized devices might be used in custody. “We cannot guarantee the integrity of any messages or emails sent from the compromised devices,” it said.

On April 22, the police said the devices might be released the following week, Tsedale said.

Federal police spokesperson Jeylan Abdi told CPJ via messaging app that he could not answer queries on a matter “currently pending in court.” Jeylan did not answer CPJ’s follow-up calls or a message requesting clarification on the specific court proceedings, including the charges or when the police referred the matter to court. Tsedale told CPJ that an Addis Standard staffer and the outlet’s legal counsel visited the federal police earlier Tuesday and were not informed of any pending court proceedings.

CPJ did not receive any response to its requests for comment via emails to the justice ministry or via calls to government spokesperson Legesse Tulu.

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

Protests erupted and grew in multiple cities across Turkey following the government crackdown on Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who was due to be selected as an opposition party presidential nominee on March 23, alongside other politicians and municipal staff last week. Multiple journalists have been placed in police custody, while several have been hurt by the police in the field since March 21.

“Neither the police violence targeting journalists who are covering the street protests, nor the raiding of their homes, is acceptable under any conditions,” said Özgür Öğret, CPJ’s Turkey representative. “Turkish authorities should immediately release the journalists in custody and allow the press to operate freely and safely.”

Police in Istanbul took at least five photojournalists into custody while raiding their homes on Monday morning: Yasin Akgül of Agence France-Presse (AFP) and Ali Onur Tosun of NOW Haber, along with freelancers Bülent Kılıç, Zeynep Kuray, and Hayri Tunç. Another freelance photojournalist, Murat Kocabaş, was also detained by the police in Izmir on Monday.

Zişan Gür, a reporter for the leftist news website Sendika, was taken into custody by the police while in the field in Istanbul on Sunday evening.

Turkish police have also beaten or used rubber bullets on multiple field reporters since Friday, according to local press freedom advocacy groups, including: Akgül, Egemen İsar of the Nefes newspaper, Hakan Akgün of the state-owned Anadolu Agency, Dilara Şenkaya of Reuters, Ali Dinç of Bianet, Eylül Deniz Yaşar of İlke TV, Yusuf Çelik of Özgür Gelecek, and freelancers Kemal Aslan and Rojda Altıntaş. The journalists also had their equipment damaged by the police, according to those groups.

Meanwhile, Ebubekir Şahin, the government-appointed chair of the media regulator RTÜK, has threatened Turkish TV channels broadcasting the protests and opposition rallies with license cancellations. İlhan Taşçı, an opposition-appointed member of the RTÜK, argued that the regulator has no authority to suppress broadcasts before they air and can only review what has already run.

CPJ emailed RTÜK and the Turkey’s Interior Ministry, which oversees the police, for comment but didn’t receive any replies.

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

“The aggressive treatment meted out to journalists by Erbil security forces while covering a peaceful protest is deeply concerning,” said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna, in New York. “We urge Iraqi Kurdistan authorities not to target journalists during protests, which has been a recurring issue.”

Kurdistan has been in a financial crisis since the federal government began cutting funding to the region after it started exporting oil independently in 2014. In 2024, the Federal Supreme Court ordered Baghdad to pay Kurdistan’s civil servants directly but ongoing disagreements between the two governments mean their salaries continue to be delayed and unpaid.

Since the end of Kurdistan’s civil war in 1998, the semi-autonomous region has been divided between the dominant Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in Erbil and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in Sulaymaniyah. While the KDP has discouraged the teachers’ protests, the PUK has sometimes supported them, including through affiliated media outlets.

At the February 9 protest, a crowd of teachers from Sulaymaniyah tried to reach Erbil, the capital, and were stopped at Degala checkpoint, where CPJ recorded the following attacks:

• Pro-opposition New Generation Movement NRT TV camera operator Ali Abdulhadi and reporter Shiraz Abdullah were stopped from filming by about seven armed security officers, known in Kurdish as Asayish, according to a video posted by the outlet.

“One of them chambered a round [into his gun]. I tried to leave but one of them attempted to strike me with the butt of a rifle, hitting only my finger. Another grabbed my camera and took it,” Abdulhadi told CPJ.

• Diplomatic’s reporter Zhilya Ali collapsed from teargas, a video posted by the privately owned digital outlet showed.

“There are still wounds on my face from when I fell,” she told CPJ, adding that she was taken to hospital and given oxygen.

• An ambulance took pro-PUK digital outlet Zhyan Media’s reporter Mardin Mohammed and camera operator Mohammed Mariwan to a hospital in Koya after they were teargassed.

“I couldn’t see anything and was struggling to breathe. My cameraman and I lost consciousness for three hours,” Mariwan told CPJ.

• Pro-PUK satellite channel Kurdsat News reporters Gaylan Sabir and Amir Mohammed and camera operators Sirwan Sadiq and Hemn Mohammed were teargassed and their equipment was confiscated, the outlet said.

• Privately owned Westga News said five staff — reporters Omer Ahmed, Shahin Fuad, and Amir Hassan, and camera operators Zanyar Mariwan and Ahmed Shakhawan — were attacked and teargassed. Ahmed told CPJ that a security officer grabbed a camera while they were broadcasting, while Fuad said another camera, microphone, and a livestreaming encoder were also taken and not returned.

• Pro-PUK Slemani News Network reporter Kochar Hamza was carried to safety by protesters after she collapsed due to tear gas, a video by the digital outlet showed. She told CPJ that she and her camera operator Sivar Baban were treated at hospitals twice.

“My face is still swollen, and I feel dizzy,” she told CPJ.

• A team from Payam TV, a pro-opposition Kurdistan Justice Group satellite channel, required treatment for teargas exposure.

“We were placed on oxygen and prescribed medication,” reporter Ramyar Osman told CPJ, adding that camera operator Sayed Yasser was hit in the knee by a rubber bullet.

• Madah Jamal, a reporter with the pro-opposition Kurdistan Islamic Union Speda TV satellite channel, told CPJ that he was also teargassed.

• Pro-PUK digital outlet Xendan’s reporter Shahen Wahab told CPJ that she and camera operator Garmian Omar suffered asthma attacks due to the teargas.

• Pro-PUK satellite channel Gali Kurdistan’s reporter Karwan Nazim told CPJ that he had to stop reporting because he couldn’t breathe and asked his office to send additional staff.

“I had an allergic reaction and my face turned red. I had to go to the hospital,” he said.

Raided and arrested

Abdulwahab Ahmed, head of the Erbil office of the pro-opposition Gorran Movement KNN TV, told CPJ that two unplated vehicles carrying Asayish officers followed KNN TV’s vehicle to the office at around 1:30 p.m., after reporters Pasha Sangar and Mohammed KakaAhmed and camera operator Halmat Ismail made a live broadcast showing the deployment of additional security forces by the United Nations compound, which was the protesters’ intended destination.

“They identified themselves as Asayish forces, forcibly took our mobile phones, and accused us of recording videos. They checked our social media accounts,” Sangar told CPJ.

KakaAhmed told CPJ, “They found a video I had taken near the U.N. compound on my phone, deleted it, and then returned our devices.”

In another incident that evening, Asayish forces arrested pro-PUK digital outlet Politic Press’s reporter Taman Rawandzi and camera operator Nabi Malik Faisal while they were live broadcasting about the protest and took them to Zerin station for several hours of questioning.

“They asked us to unlock our phones but we refused. Then they took our phones and connected them to a computer,” Rawandzi told CPJ, adding that his phone was now operating slowly and he intended to replace it.

“They told us not to cover such protests,” he said.

CPJ phoned Erbil’s Asayish spokesperson Ardalan Fatih but he declined to comment.

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

The Taliban’s Ministry of Information and Culture accused the outlet of “non-compliance” with regulations and collaboration with an unnamed foreign-based television network. The ministry said it was investigating the broadcaster’s activities but did not specify a date to end the suspension.

The outlet refuted the accusations in a statement, according to a report by London-based broadcaster Afghanistan International.

“The Taliban must immediately rescind its suspension of Radio Begum’s operations and allow the station to resume its reporting without interference,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi. “The forced closure of Radio Begum is part of a broader, systematic assault on women’s rights in Afghanistan, particularly targeting women-led and women-owned media organizations. This practice must end, and the international community must hold the Taliban accountable for these actions.”  

Founded in 2021, just months before the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, Radio Begum is a women-led media broadcaster in Kabul that also posts on social media, particularly Facebook. In November 2023, its sister channel, Begum TV, was launched in Paris with a grant from the Malala Fund, which advocates for girls’ education globally.

CPJ’s messages to Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid requesting comment did not receive a response.

In March 2023, the Taliban shut down women-run broadcaster Radio Sada e Banowan, citing the airing of music during the holy month of Ramadan. The station was permitted to resume operations on April 7 and continues to report on news about women in the city of Faizabad in northeastern Badakhshan Province.  

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

“The raid on Arezo TV and expulsion of its women journalists shows the Taliban’s troubling commitment to cracking down on Afghan independent media, as it works to silence free voices and restrict the public’s access to information,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi. “The Taliban must immediately and unconditionally release the seven detained journalists and media workers and permit the channel to resume broadcasting without further interference.”

The journalist told CPJ that the Taliban accused Arezo TV journalists during the raid of collaborating with and reporting for exiled media outlets operating outside Afghanistan. The current whereabouts of the detained journalists remain unknown.

Saif ul Islam Khyber, a spokesperson for the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, told media in an audio message that the group sealed Arezo TV’s offices to uphold “Islamic values, prevent misuse of media outlets, and strengthen social order.”

Khyber said Arezo TV was involved in dubbing foreign soap operas, purportedly with the backing of exiled media organizations.

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

“CPJ is deeply alarmed by the British counter-terrorism police raid on journalist Asa Winstanley’s home and the disturbing pattern of weaponizing counter-terrorism laws against reporters,” said Attila Mong, CPJ’s Europe representative. “These actions have a chilling effect on journalism and public service reporting in the United Kingdom. Authorities must immediately end this practice and return all devices seized back to Winstanley. Instead of endangering the confidentiality of journalistic sources, authorities should implement safeguards to prevent the unlawful investigation of journalists and ensure they can do their work without interference.”

Officers with the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command arrived around 6 a.m. and served Winstanley, associate editor at The Electronic Intifada news site, with a warrant authorizing them to seize his electronic devices. The operation cited potential offenses under sections 1 (Encouragement of Terrorism) and 2 (Dissemination of Terrorist Publications) of the United Kingdom’s 2006 Terrorism Act, which carry a maximum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment.

Earlier in August, police detained freelance journalist Richard Medhurst for 24 hours on similar offense, searching and questioning him at Heathrow Airport, and seizing his electronic devices. He told Turkey’s Anadolu Agency that he believes he was held due to his reporting on Palestinians. 

CPJ emailed the Metropolitan Police Service’s press department requesting comment on the raid but did not receive a reply.

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

“The detention of journalist Ihsan Naseem under the pretext of public safety highlights the vulnerability of journalists in Pakistan and the oppressive nature of the country’s security apparatus,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi. “Pakistani authorities must immediately release Naseem, drop all investigations against him, and stop their efforts to restrict journalists’ freedom to report the news.”

Naseem, editor-in-chief of local independent newspaper Daily Abbaseen Battagram and a reporter for the independent national TV station Neo News Battagram, was transferred to the central prison in Haripur, according to CPJ’s review of a copy of the raid order signed by Battagram Deputy Commissioner Asif Ali.

The PTM is a mass political movement that aims to boost the rights of the Pashtun people clustered in Pakistan’s western provinces. 

The day he was arrested, Nassem reported on the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial government’s ban of the PTM and subsequent police raid on the political movement’s supporters. The day before, Naseem interviewed the sisters of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan hours before police arrested them in the capital, Islamabad. 

CPJ’s WhatsApp messages to Ali requesting comment on his order to raid and detain Nassem did not receive a reply.

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

“The police raid of JİNNEWS reporter Rabia Önver’s house was completely unjustified for an alleged disinformation investigation and is yet another example of the tactics frequently used in Turkey to intimidate journalists,” said Özgür Öğret, CPJ’s Turkey representative. “Turkish authorities should drop the investigation into Önver’s work, stop harassing journalists with house raids, and allow the media to report without worrying about retaliation.”

On September 20, police in the southeastern city of Hakkari raided Önver’s house.

The police had a prosecutor’s order to take the journalist into custody, but the warrant was discontinued after they did not find her at home, Önver’s lawyer Azad Özer told CPJ on Monday. The lawyer also confirmed that Önver was being investigated for “publicly spreading disinformation” due to her reporting on alleged corruption by some authorities involved in a possible narcotics trafficking and prostitution crime ring.  

CPJ emailed the Hakkari chief prosecutor’s office for comment but received no immediate reply.

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

They initially demanded a ransom of one million Sudanese pounds (US$400); after receiving it, they demanded another million and threatened to kill the journalist. Since the war in Sudan started between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF in April 2023, journalists have been killed, injured, harassed, arrested, and displaced.

“CPJ is shocked by the Rapid Support Forces’ kidnapping of Sudanese journalist Aladdin Abu Harba and demands for a ransom,” said CPJ Interim MENA Program Coordinator Yeganeh Rezaian. “The RSF must immediately and unconditionally release Abu Harba, and all parties of the war must ensure his safe return home and stop using journalists as military pawns.”

Local trade union Sudanese Journalists Syndicate condemned Abu Harba’s kidnapping in a Sunday statement and said it held the RSF responsible for the journalist’s safety.

Separately, a group of armed men raided the home of freelance journalist Abdulrahman Haneen in East Nile on August 16, held him at gunpoint, and stole four laptops, mobile phones, 750,000 Sudanese pounds (US$300), and his wife’s gold jewelry.

CPJ’s emails to the RSF and the SAF about Abu Harba’s kidnapping and the robbing of Haneen’s home received no replies.

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

On May 7, 2024, Jordanian security forces stormed the Al-Yarmouk offices in the capital, Amman, confiscated the broadcaster’s equipment, and banned its employees from re-entering the channel’s offices, according to the channel and multiple media reports. Al-Yarmouk is a privately owned channel that has been operating in Jordan for 12 years and is affiliated with the Islamist movement in Jordan.

Those sources reported that the unidentified security agencies were acting on orders from a public prosecutor to close the channel “due to its unauthorized activity and broadcasting from Jordan without obtaining official governmental approvals.”

“CPJ is appalled by the closure of the Al-Yarmouk TV channel in Jordan and the recent spike in persecution of journalists in the country,” said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna in New York. “CPJ calls on the Jordanian authorities to allow all journalists and media outlets to do their job freely and without fear of retaliation.”

Al-Yarmouk said in a Facebook statement that it had filed for a Jordanian license that was yet to be approved. The channel said they had faced similar closures in the past and were previously acquitted of similar charges by the Jordanian judiciary.

Al-Yarmouk said it was unclear why they were targeted.

Al-Yarmouk has aired content from the Hamas-affiliated broadcaster Al-Aqsa TV since the French satellite operator Eutelsat stopped the outlet from broadcasting in October 2023, according to a post by the channel.

CPJ’s email to Jordan’s Ministry of Information for comment did not immediately receive a response.

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

On March 6, dozens of plainclothes police officers in the capital, Baku, raided Toplum TV’s editorial office at around 1:30 pm, confiscated its equipment and the phones of all staff who were present, and took at least 10 of them to Baku City Police Department for questioning, according to news reports and Toplum TV’s chief editor, Khadija Ismayilova, who spoke to CPJ by phone.

All of the journalists were freed at around midnight except for video editor Jabbar, reporter Farid Ismayilov, and social media manager Elmir Abbasov, according to Ismayilova, a multiple award-winning investigative journalist, who was jailed from 2014 to 2016 in retaliation for her work.

The police claim to have found 3,200 euros (US$3,500) in Jabbar’s apartment, 3,100 euros (US$3,390) in Ismayilov’s apartment, and 2,700 euros (US$2,950) in Abbasov’s home, according to the regional news website Kavkazsky Uzel (Caucasian Knot).

On March 8, the Khatai District Court in Baku ordered Jabbar to be detained for four months pending investigation on currency smuggling charges, while Ismayilov and Abbasov were released on bail.

Also on March 8, plainclothes police arrested Toplum TV’s founder Mammadli and took him away in an unmarked vehicle as he left a clinic where he was receiving treatment for suspected cancerous tumours, according to multiple media reports and footage of the arrest.

On March 9, the Khatai District Court ordered Mammadli — who is also the founder of Media Rights Group, a local press freedom NGO — to be detained for four months pending investigation on currency smuggling charges, after police said they found 7,300 euros (US$7,970) in cash in his apartment, those sources said.

The journalists have denied the charges, which are punishable by up to eight years in prison under Article 206.3.2 of Azerbaijan’s criminal code, and said that the police planted the money in their homes.

“Following similar attacks on Abzas Media and Kanal 13, the raid on Toplum TV and arrest of its journalists indicate that Azerbaijani authorities are intent on eradicating the last vestiges of the country’s independent press. Reports that police detained the outlet’s founder Alasgar Mammadli while he was receiving treatment for suspected cancer are particularly outrageous,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator in New York. “Authorities in Azerbaijan should immediately release Mammadli and Jabbar, drop all charges against Toplum TV staff, and stop retaliating against independent media for their reporting.”

Third media outlet to face smuggling charges

Toplum TV is one of the last significant independent media outlets in the country, reporting on politics, investigations into official corruption, and allegations of voting irregularities during February’s presidential elections, in which President Ilham Aliyev won a fifth term.

It is the third independent news outlet in Azerbaijan to face currency smuggling charges in recent months, as relations decline between Azerbaijan and the West. Since November, six members of anticorruption investigative outlet Abzas Media and two journalists with independent broadcaster Kanal 13 have been detained after authorities accused them of illegally bringing Western donor money into Azerbaijan 

Azerbaijani authorities have not publicly accused Toplum TV of illicit Western funding but the state-affiliated Azerbaijani Press Agency reported that Toplum TV illegally received half a million dollars from Western donors to foment unrest.

Since the initial arrests of Abzas Media staff in November, pro-government media that Ismayilova has said are acting on instructions from Azerbaijani authorities have repeatedly claimed Toplum TV and Ismayilova represent another Western-funded “network of subversion” and were misleading young journalists into anti-state activity ahead of the February elections. 

Shortly after the police raid, Toplum TV’s Instagram account was deleted and its YouTube channel was renamed and all of its content deleted, Ismayilova said, adding that this “shows authorities’ real intention,” which is to “silence any platform where criticism is expressed.” 

Toplum TV’s office remains sealed by police, who have yet to return any of the outlet’s confiscated equipment or journalists’ phones, she said, describing the charges against Toplum staff as “absolutely absurd.” None of the searches of journalists’ homes were conducted with lawyers present as police denied entry to some, Ismayilova told CPJ.

CPJ’s email requesting comment on the case from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan, which responds on behalf of the police, did not immediately receive a reply.

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

The Committee to Protect Journalists on Friday called on Turkish authorities to stop harassing the members of the Kurdish media with pointless arrests and trials and allow them to work freely.

“Turkish police took journalists Oktay Candemir, Arif Aslan, and Lokman Gezgin from their homes as if they were dangerous criminals and forced them to needlessly spend days being questioned about their professional work. This is not an isolated incident in Turkey,” said Özgür Öğret, CPJ’s Turkey representative. “If Turkish authorities care to improve the country’s press freedom record, they must stop the systematic harassment of the critical Kurdish journalists with pointless judicial action that equates reporting to terrorism.”

The February incidents in Turkey include:

• Police raided the homes of local freelance Kurdish journalists Candemir, Aslan, and Gezgin and detained them on Tuesday in the eastern city of Van. On Friday, a prosecutor in Van questioned the journalists about their financial dealings, including payments they received from European outlets for their work and payments made to journalists they employed. The three journalists were released pending investigation and are accused of financing terrorism.

• A court in the southeastern city of Diyarbakır on Thursday released pending trial imprisoned journalist Müftüoğlu, an editor for the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya News Agency and co-chair of the local press freedom group Dicle Fırat Journalists Association. CPJ joined 18 local and international groups that same day in a joint letter calling for Turkish authorities to immediately release the journalist. She had been in custody for more than 300 days.

• Police raided the homes of five reporters and detained them on February 13 in the western city of Izmir. Three of the reporters were put under house arrest, and the other two were released under judicial control on February 16. Appeals to these measures were rejected by an Izmir court on Thursday.

Another Diyarbakır court on Thursday acquitted Yılmaz, another editor for Mezopotamya, of terrorism charges. Yılmaz was released pending trial on December 14, 2023.

Candemir was detained and charged with “insulting” a deceased sultan in September 2020; the case was dropped in 2021.

CPJ emailed the chief prosecutor’s office in Van and Diyarbakır for comment but did not receive a reply.

Turkey recently dropped to 10th place as one of the world’s worst jailers of journalists, but that decline does not signal an improvement, according to press freedom experts.

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

CPJ also calls on Embaló to guarantee that journalists will be allowed to work without state intimidation, as these incidents occurred amid heightened political tension over the past three months. 

On November 30, 2023, soldiers from the country’s national guard, a security unit perceived as loyal to the opposition-controlled parliament, exchanged fire with the military in events that Embaló said were part of an attempted coup. On December 4, Embaló announced he was dissolving parliament. Following the dissolution, armed men raided the offices of the state-owned television and radio stations, and Embaló reportedly ordered government officials to monitor radio broadcasts for “insulting content.”

“It is deeply worrying that Guinea-Bissau’s media have been intimidated through armed raids and public threats at precisely the time when they need to be reporting the news freely and offering the public diverse viewpoints on an unfolding political crisis,” said Angela Quintal, head of CPJ’s Africa program. “President Umaro Sissoco Embaló must withdraw his statements threatening the media and desist from abusing state resources to protect himself from criticism. Authorities should also investigate December raids on public media and other attacks on the press.”

Armed raids on state broadcasters

On December 4, about 30 armed men dressed in military uniform raided the state-owned broadcaster TVGB and the state-owned radio station Radiodifusão Nacional (RDN), according to media reports and two journalists who witnessed the events and spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal. The men, whose faces were covered with hoods, ordered the broadcasting to stop and all the journalists to leave the office.

Both stations remained off the air for a few hours, according to those sources, which said that the men ordered an unknown number of technicians to stay and broadcast music. Later that evening, they ordered the technicians to play an unedited evening news segment on the dissolution of parliament, which included a statement from the council of ministers.

The journalists returned to the station on December 5, when Tcherno Bari, the head of Guinea-Bissau’s presidential guard, arrived at RDN  with three armed military officers and told journalists that the presidency had not been responsible for the raid or the interruption of programming the day before, attributing the incidents to an unspecified “other force,” according to two journalists, who were in the newsroom when Bari visited and spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal.

Bari told RDN staffers that they could continue working without fear, according to the journalists.

Bari told CPJ via messaging app that “as head of security of the presidency, he could not offer any comment” when asked about his role with the radio station. In November 2022, Bari was part of a group that reportedly abducted and beat a radio commentator.

Later on December 5, Mama Sané, who served as the RDN director under a past government, went to the radio station’s offices with two police officers, announced that he was taking charge as director once more, and ordered the suspension of that evening’s news programming, according to the journalists.

The following day, he told the station’s heads in a meeting that he was under presidential orders to bar critical voices because of the political situation, which he described as an “atypical context.”

Sané told CPJ that “when I referred to the ‘atypical context,’ I had the safety of journalists in mind” based on his past experience with privately owned radios during political crises, adding that when he returned to RDN, they were “inciting violence through some of the interviews it made that were deviating from what a public medium should do.”

When CPJ asked for details on the interviews, Sané said he didn’t want to give specifics.

Threats by President Embaló

Embaló instructed Guinea-Bissau’s interior ministry to create “brigades to listen to radio programs” and “bring in anyone who insults anyone” so that they can be put in “[their] place” during a January 2 speech, according to two journalists who were present and spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal, and Vatican-owned news website Vatican News, which included a recording of the President’s remarks. 

On January 23, Embaló accused journalists of appearing to be part of the “opposition” and vowed to “end the anarchy that has seen anyone become a political commentator” on radio, according to news reports and four journalists who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing safety concerns.

The president’s remarks accentuated the dangers and tension experienced by journalists in Guinea-Bissau, António Nhaga, chair of the local professional association Order of Journalists (OJGB), told CPJ.

“We have people in uniform involved in beatings, and now they have a license from the president to beat journalists. It’s dangerous,” Nhaga said. “The political class already sees journalists as the enemy. Journalists are underpaid, are beaten sometimes, so of course, the media in the country is dying. What do I tell young journalists?”

On February 8, presidential communication advisor Yonhite Tavares barred Fátima Tchuma Camará, a local correspondent with the Portuguese public broadcaster RTP, from covering an event at the country’s presidential palace, according to Indira Baldé, an RTP journalist and president of the local union Guinea-Bissau Journalists and Media Technicians (SINJOTECS), and another journalist who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal.

Tavares said she was acting on the orders of the president, who was upset by Camará’s and Baldé’s public remarks during a demonstration by journalists for press freedom, Baldé said.

“I was told by a colleague…that the president said I am also barred from covering events at the Presidential Palace or the airport for the president’s travels while he is president of the country,” Baldé added.

When reached via messaging app, Tavares defended the president’s decision to CPJ by saying that in January, they had more than four incidents of international media outlets “deliberately misrepresent[ing]” the president in “untruthful reports” they “failed to correct.”  “The president has the right to ask for a change in the people covering so that it doesn’t get worse,” Tavares added.

When asked about the deteriorating environment for the media, Tavares said the government has been working to improve relations with journalists for “more than three years” and attributed the problem to journalists who want to “play active politics.”

“We don’t forbid the station from covering the news, but the people who want to go into politics should put down their journalist cards and join their parties instead of misrepresenting information without ethics or deontology,” Tavares told CPJ.

Online harassment

Recent incidents of online harassment against members of the press have further made the media environment “hostile and suffocating” since December 2023, Baldé told CPJ.

On December 2, Olho Clínico Guine-Bissau, a Facebook page with over 6,300 followers that is run by users who claim to support Embaló, posted a rape threat against Baldé, and threatened to assault Waldir Araújo, the head of the RTP bureau in Guinea-Bissau, according to CPJ’s review of the post. 

CPJ counted at least 12 posts published on January 26 on Abel Djassi, another Facebook page run by users who claim to support Embaló with over 3,600 followers, attacking the credibility of Baldé and Camará and denigrating them using sexualized language. A January 27 post on this same page accused Baldé and Camará of being mouthpieces for the opposition. 

Baldé told CPJ she does not plan to report the incidents to police. “There’s no point in pressing charges (about the online harassment) in Guinea-Bissau because crimes against journalists are not investigated,” she told CPJ, pointing to the March 2021 beating of journalist António Aly Silva and February 2022 raid of the offices of Radio Capital FM.

When asked about the accounts and content, Tavares told CPJ that the president and his family suffer daily “vile attacks” online and “on the formal mediums where these ‘political journalists’ work,” adding that the presidency cannot be responsible for the online threats against the journalists.  

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

Around 2 p.m. on February 5, security forces raided the newsroom of the privately owned multimedia economic news website FardayeEghtesad in Argentina Square in the capital, Tehran, detained all 30 staff inside the building, searched the newsroom, and confiscated everyone’s cellphones and other electronic devices, such as laptops.

The families of the journalists gathered outside the building shortly after as authorities kept the journalists incommunicado. After 14 hours, the security forces released most of the staff, according to those sources, which said authorities did not provide any explanation for the detention.

Five journalists were detained in the newsroom for four days.

Ali Mirzakhani, editor-in-chief of FardayeEghtesad, was released on February 9. The other four journalists—deputy editor Behzad Bahman-Nejad and video journalists Ali Tasnimi, Mehrdad Asgari, and Nikan Khabazi—were transferred on February 9 to an undisclosed location.

As of February 13, the four journalists were detained in Shapoor Police Department in downtown Tehran, according to news reports, which said the journalists were taken to their newsroom multiple times and were questioned for long hours while security forces repeatedly searched the newsroom.

The journalists have been denied access to legal representation, and their families have not been told the reason for their arrest, according to those reports. CPJ was unable to determine whether the journalists had been formally charged.

“Iranian authorities must free journalists Behzad Bahman-Nejad, Ali Tasnimi, Mehrdad Asgari, and Nikan Khabazi immediately and unconditionally and cease the practice of arbitrarily locking up members of the press,” said CPJ Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator Sherif Mansour. “Such group detentions show, shamefully, that authorities do not find it necessary to disclose even a minimum of details about why these reporters have been arrested. Authorities must answer for the raid on the outlet and mass detention of 30 journalists.”

CPJ’s review of FardayeEghtesad shows that although authorities have not suspended the news website, its content hasn’t been updated since February 4.

Iran was the world’s sixth-worst jailer of journalists in CPJ’s most recent annual prison census, with 17 imprisoned journalists as of December 1, 2023.

CPJ emailed Iran’s mission to the United Nations in New York requesting comment on the case but did not receive any response.

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

On January 24, security forces arrested Rasouli and took him to a prison work camp in the northern city of Kelardasht to serve a prison term of six months, according to local news reports. Rasouli works as a freelance commentator, journalist, and writer, focusing on coverage of domestic political policies for various publications.

In 2023, Rasouli was found guilty of “insulting the Supreme Leader of Iran” in an article published in the state-run newspaper Kayhan and sentenced to six months in prison. The Tonekabon Appeals Court and the Supreme Court rejected Rasouli’s appeals, and authorities took the journalist into custody when he responded to a summons from the revolutionary court in Nowshahr city in the northern province of Mazandaran to begin serving his sentence, according to those reports.

Separately, Islamic Republic authorities continued placing legal pressure on several journalists throughout the country in late December 2023 and January 2024.

“CPJ is closely monitoring what is becoming an epidemic of arresting journalists in Iran. This trend is resulting in the criminalization of all forms of journalism,” said CPJ Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator Sherif Mansour. “Authorities must immediately and unconditionally release journalist Arsalan Rasouli Amarlooi and halt the intimidation and harassment of all Iranian journalists.”

CPJ has documented the following incidents of raids and legal action against Iranian journalists in recent weeks:

• Authorities filed a lawsuit against Shahrzad Hemati, the social desk editor at the moderate state-run Shargh Daily, on January 30 for a post on her personal Instagram account condemning the January 29 execution of four Kurdish citizens in the country. CPJ was unable to confirm further details about the lawsuit, and no court date has been set yet.

• On January 26, Karaj Revolutionary Court sentenced Parisa Salehi, an economic reporter at the state-run financial newspaper Donya-e-Eqtesad, to one year in prison, a two-year ban on leaving the country, two years of internal exile, and a two-year ban on any activities on social media platforms, after convicting her on charges of “spreading propaganda against the system” for her reporting, although no specific report was mentioned.

• On January 22, security forces raided the home of Elahe Ramezanpour in the central city of Gorgan in Golestan province after an order issued by the office of Gorgan’s prosecutor and confiscated her cell phone, laptop, and notes. According to those reports, Ramezanpour, a health reporter for the local news website Golestanrasa.ir, was earlier threatened by the prosecutor’s office after publishing several critical articles.

• On December 30, 2023, eight security forces raided the family home of Ebrahim Rashidi, a freelance Iranian-Azeri journalist, in a village in Meshginshahr county in the northwestern province of Ardabil, and arrested the journalist without providing any warrant. The agents also confiscated Rashidi’s personal devices, including a laptop, cell phone, and some books, and transferred him to an undisclosed location. On January 16, Rashidi was able to make a brief call to let his family know that he was being held in Ardabil central prison. Authorities have yet to publicly announce any charges against Rashidi.

CPJ’s email to Iran’s mission to the United Nations in New York asking for comment on these cases did not receive any reply.

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

“The arrest of NewsClick editor Prabir Purkayastha and the raids on NewsClick and the homes of at least 12 of its former and current journalists are an act of sheer harassment and intimidation,” said Beh Lih Yi, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator, in Frankfurt, Germany. “This is the latest attack on press freedom in India. We urge the Indian government to immediately cease these actions as journalists must be allowed to work without fear of intimidation or reprisal.”

On Tuesday, Delhi police arrested Purkayastha and NewsClick’s head of human resources, Amit Chakravarty, as part of an investigation into suspected foreign funding of the media outlet, a charge that NewsClick denies.

Earlier in the day, police searched the office of NewsClick and the homes of several of its staff and contributing journalists and seized several electronic devices, including laptops and phones.

The homes of the following journalists were searched; the six names marked with an asterisk were also questioned by the Delhi Police Special Cell, a unit of Delhi Police that investigates cases of terrorism and organized crime:

• Purkayastha*
• Subodh Varma, an editor
• Satyam Tiwari*, a reporter
• Paranjoy Guha Thakurta*, a contributor  
• Abhisar Sharma*, a contributor  
• Urmilesh*, a contributor  
• Aunindyo Chakraborty*, a contributor
• Bhasha Singh, a contributor
• Anuradha Raman, a contributor
• Aditi Nigam, an editor
• Sumedha Pal, a contributor
• Irfan K., a cartoonist

Independent non-profit news website The Wire reported that Delhi Police’s Special Cell initiated an investigation into NewsClick in August, alleging violations of five sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, including raising funds for terrorist acts and conspiracy, as well as two sections of the Indian Penal Code, including promoting enmity between different groups based on various factors.

In 2021, the Enforcement Directorate searched NewsClick premises and the residences of four members of senior management as part of an investigation into alleged money laundering linked to foreign funding.

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

On May 5, police arrested Zamora while she traveled on a bus with her two children in the capital city of Managua, according to multiple news reports. Later that day, police raided Zamora’s house in the eastern coastal city of Bluefields and confiscated her computer, according to those reports and a person familiar with the case who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing safety concerns. 

Authorities charged Zamora with spreading false news and released her around midnight, according to those sources. If convicted, she faces up to 10 years in prison. 

“With the recent detentions of multiple journalists, the Nicaraguan government is showing once again that it has zero respect for the freedom of the press,” said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martínez de la Serna, in New York. “Authorities must halt their absurd campaign to threaten the press and immediately drop any criminal case against journalist Hazel Zamora.”

On May 6, authorities transported Zamora to Bluefields, where they released her on the condition that she report to the police daily.  

Zamora has worked as a journalist for 16 years, covering the Caribbean coastal region for privately owned TV broadcaster Canal 10 and posting news about the region on her Facebook page Doce Noticias including social issues, crime, and the cost of living, according to a person familiar with her case.

Previously, on May 3, authorities also arrested and freelance journalist William Aragon and charged him with spreading false news; he is also required to report to the police daily.

Separately, on April 6, police arrested Canal 10 reporter Victor Ticay for broadcasting a Catholic Holy Week procession on Facebook. He remains imprisoned without charge.

CPJ’s email to the Nicaraguan national police did not immediately receive a response.

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

On Monday, February 13, police raided and searched the home of Boutar, the director of the local independent radio station and news website Mosaique FM, in the capital Tunis, and arrested him, according to a statement by the outlet and news reports. Authorities questioned Boutar about the outlet’s operations, including about who chooses guests and oversees the radio station’s program hosts. 

As of Tuesday evening, authorities have not filed any charges or disclosed the reason for Boutar’s arrest, according to Hajer Tlili, a Mosaique FM reporter who spoke to CPJ via messaging app. He is detained at the headquarters of the Anti-Terrorist National Brigade in el-Gorjani district in Tunis.

“The recent arrest of journalist Noureddine Boutar is a clear attack on the press sector in Tunisia,” said Sherif Mansour, CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa program coordinator. “Tunisian authorities should immediately release Boutar without charge and end the culture of harassment that plagues the country’s journalists and media outlets.”  

Tunisian police also arrested two prominent opponents of President Kais Saied on Monday as part of a surge in arrests of government critics. Mosaique FM frequently criticizes the president during its programs, according to the outlet’s statement.

Since Saied dismissed the prime minister and froze parliament on July 25, 2021, there has been a significant increase in the number of journalists arrested on charges unrelated to the country’s media laws, according to a joint 2022 report to the United Nations by CPJ, the D.C.-based rights group Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, and the local trade union National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists. 

CPJ emailed the Tunisian Ministry of Interior for comment but did not receive any response.

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

On Tuesday morning, police officers in the southwestern city of Freiburg searched the newsroom of Radio Dreyeckland and the homes of managing editor Andreas Reimann and editor Fabian Kienert, and seized devices and documents relating to the station’s reporting, according to media reports, a report by the station, and Reimann, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview.

Authorities are investigating the station and its editors over an article published in summer 2022 on the outlet’s website covering legal proceedings against Linksunten.Indymedia, a banned far-left group, according to those sources.

Prosecutors allege that the broadcaster had disseminated the ideology of a banned group by including a link in that article to a publicly available archive affiliated with Linksunten.Indymedia, as well as an image depicting graffiti voicing support for the organization, according to the station’s report and a joint statement by the Freiburg police and the Karlsruhe prosecutor’s office.

Reimann told CPJ that he and Kienert deny any wrongdoing. If charged and convicted, the editors could face up to three years in prison or a fine under the Section 85 of the German criminal code.

“German authorities must immediately stop harassing Andreas Reimann and Fabian Kienert of Radio Dreyeckland, drop any investigation into their work, and return all documents and equipment seized from the journalists,” said Attila Mong, CPJ’s Europe representative. “Furthermore, authorities should investigate how German police committed such shocking actions and provide a public explanation for this harassment, which has no place in Germany or any EU member state.”

The search was conducted under a warrant issued by the public prosecutor’s office in the nearby city of Karlsruhe, and approved by a Karlsruhe court, according to the joint statement.

Reimann told CPJ that police searched his and Kienert’s homes at about 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday, January 17, and confiscated documents, a desktop computer, laptops, and phones, as well as multiple digital storage devices that held information relating to the journalists’ private lives and Radio Dreyeckland’s work and finances.

During the apartment searches, officers questioned both journalists about the authorship of that 2022 article and the broadcaster’s editorial process, Reimann said. Police then searched the station’s offices and requested access to its computer system; at that point, Kienert told them that he had authored that article, and police stopped their search, Reimann told CPJ.

Reimann said that he and Kienert filed a complaint against the investigation, calling for police to immediately return all items seized from their homes and to stop examining the journalists’ documents. He said that the search was a “shocking and serious attack on the protection of journalistic sources and press freedom.”

CPJ emailed the prosecutor’s office in Karsruhe the Frieberg police for comment, but did not immediately receive any replies.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Erik Crouch.

On December 31, a group of about 10 people who identified themselves as UPND supporters raided the privately owned Kokoliko FM radio station in the city of Chingola, while it aired a sponsored program by Tayali, according to a statement by the Zambian chapter of the regional press freedom group Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), a Facebook post by station director Charles Mubonda, and radio station staffers who spoke with CPJ on condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal.

UPND supporters shoved station manager Eunice Phiri and used abusive language against the other journalists there, according to the staff and the MISA statement.

After the station complied with their demands and ended the interview, the UPND supporters ordered Tayali to leave the studio and get into his car, and then they got into their own vehicles and escorted him out of Chingola, according to the MISA statement and a video shared on Tayali’s personal Facebook page. 

Police later warned two of those UPND supporters about their disruption of the radio program, according to news reports, which said Mubonda planned to file charges against the supporters for trespassing, harming his business, and making threats.

On January 1, a group of about 25 UPND supporters, led by acting youth UPND chairperson Kennedy Sikazwe, surrounded the privately owned Mafken FM radio station in the neighboring town of Mufulira and made their way into the studios, where they threatened to burn down the station if they broadcast a sponsored radio program featuring Tayali, according to a video posted on the station’s Facebook page and station manager Nchimunya Chilwalo and presenter Barnabas Chisha, both of whom spoke to CPJ via messaging app.

“It was Mr. Sikazwe who made the threats about burning down the radio station,” Chilwalo told CPJ. “He even boasted to say, ‘Even if you inform the police, nothing will happen because those are our people.’”

As UPND supporters surrounded the radio station to block Tayali, Sikazwe and others remained inside until they all left the premises about four hours later, Chilwalo added. 

When CPJ called Sikazwe for comment on January 9, he promised to return CPJ’s call, but did not do so and did not answer follow-up calls.

“When I asked in what capacity they were stopping us from running the program, they said in their capacity as UPND youths, and that they have the right to stop the program,” Chisha said. 

On January 2, UPND National Youth Chairman Gilbert Liswaniso apologized to the radio stations during a media briefing and told his cadres to stop harassing journalists.

CPJ repeatedly called and texted Liswaniso for comment but did not receive any replies.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Erik Crouch.

Early Tuesday morning, Turkish police simultaneously raided several homes and one newsroom in the cities of Ankara, Diyarbakır, Istanbul, Mardin, Urfa, and Van, as part of an investigation of the Ankara chief prosecutor’s office. The raids resulted in at least 11 journalists in police custody, multiple news reports said, detailing a secret investigation.

“Turkish authorities once again deprived several journalists of their freedoms under a court-ordered secret investigation. These journalists behind bars are unaware of what they are accused of, just like the journalists who were arrested in Diyarbakır in June who remain detained and uninformed,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, in New York. “Turkish authorities must immediately release the journalists in custody, return their confiscated property, and stop harassing the Kurdish media in Turkey with baseless charges that typically end up being related to their journalism.”

Diren Yurtsever, news editor for the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya Agency (MA); MA reporters Emrullah Acar, Zemo Ağgöz, Berivan Altan, Selman Güzelyüz, Deniz Nazlım, Ceylan Şahinli, and Hakan Yalçın; and pro-Kurdish website Jin News reporters Öznur Değer and Habibe Erenare among the journalists in custody, according to those same reports, which said the detainees will be transported from other cities to Ankara. The police confiscated several cameras, computers, and other equipment while detaining the journalists, the reports said.

The 11th journalist in police custody was Mehmet Günhan, a former reporting intern at the MA’s Ankara newsroom, who was apprehended in the western city of Manisa.

The journalists will not be allowed to see a lawyer for 24 hours.

Police raided the MA newsroom in Ankara, entering the office with a lock pick during early morning hours with nobody from the outlet initially present and searched the office for six hours, MA reported. Police confiscated five computers, two hard drives, physical archives of print newspapers, notebooks with journalism notes, and several books.

In an unrelated case, Derya Ren, another reporter from Jin News, was taken from a house in the southeastern city of Diyarbakır by the police and sent to prison on Tuesday, her employer reported. CPJ could not immediately determine if Ren’s case is related to her journalism.

In June, a court in Diyarbakır ordered 15 journalists and a media worker from pro-Kurdish outlets to be held in pretrial custody as part of another secret investigation. These journalists remain jailed without being charged.

CPJ emailed the Ankara chief prosecutor’s office for comment but did not receive any reply.

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

On Wednesday, October 5, IDF soldiers shot and injured photojournalists Louay Samhan and Mahmoud Fawzy while they reported on a raid in the village of Deir al-Hatab near the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Nablus for the Palestinian National Authority-funded broadcaster Palestine TV, according to multiple news reports. A 21-year-old Palestinian man, Alaa Zaghal, was killed in the incident.

IDF soldiers shot one of the journalists in his hand, and the other was injured in his leg, arm, and hand, according to those reports, a video of the incident, and a statement by the journalists’ employer. CPJ was unable to verify further details about the injuries. However, both journalists received medical treatment and are in stable condition, according to a CNN report quoting the Palestinian Red Crescent.

The journalists were wearing helmets and blue vests that read “Press” on the front and back when they were attacked. According to the reports, IDF soldiers injured four other people during the raid.

In May 2022, IDF soldiers shot and killed Al-Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh while she was reporting on an IDF raid in Jenin. Israeli authorities initially denied that IDF soldiers shot her, despite eyewitness accounts and investigations, before saying in September that Abu Akleh was likely killed by unintentional IDF fire.

“Even after Shireen Abu Akleh’s killing generated outrage worldwide, the Israel Defense Forces have again fired on clearly marked journalists while they do their jobs,” said Justin Shilad, CPJ’s senior Middle East and North Africa researcher. “Israeli authorities must investigate this shooting immediately and implement procedures to ensure that journalists are not targets.”

According to the news reports, the IDF was raiding the home of Salman Amran, whom IDF said it suspected of working with Hamas militants. Amran barricaded himself in the house and returned fire on IDF but was ultimately arrested, according to those reports.

The shootings of Samhan and Fawzy come as the IDF has conducted near-daily raids of Palestinian homes, towns, and villages since March, according to news reports. CPJ’s email to IDF’s North American Media Desk was acknowledged, and a spokesperson promised to respond further but had not done so by the time of publication.

Editors’ Note: The headline was corrected to fix a typo.

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

Around 9 p.m. on September 12, four armed men in uniforms resembling those of the Congolese army forced their way into the office of the privately owned faith-based radio station in Oicha, the capital of the Beni territory in North Kivu province, threatened two technicians, beat one on the back with the butt of a gun, and seized three computers, a recording device, and two mobile phones belonging to the technicians, according to media reports and Faustin Saumbire, the broadcaster’s editor-in-chief, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app. The station stopped broadcasting after the attack and equipment seizures.

In May 2021, the Congolese government imposed military governance known as the “state of siege” over the country’s eastern North Kivu and Ituri provinces; repeated attacks and harassment of journalists in those regions have followed.

“Congolese authorities should conduct a thorough and transparent investigation into the attack on the office of Radio Evangélique Butembo-Oicha, ensure those responsible are held to account, and work to bring the broadcaster back on air,” said Muthoki Mumo, CPJ’s sub-Saharan Africa representative, in Nairobi. “Attacks on the press in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo by armed men in government military uniforms are far too frequent. They are grim indicators for freedom of the press in the country.”

Saumbire said the technicians, Delphin Sibaminya and Ishara Siwako, told him that the armed men broke down the office door and threatened to harm them if they tried to stop the attackers from seizing the broadcaster’s equipment. They also confiscated their phones to prevent them from contacting others. When Sibaminya objected, the armed men hit him on the back with the butt of a gun and then began taking the equipment. Saumbire said Sibaminya received treatment at a local hospital the next day for a small wound on his back. Siwako was not physically injured in the incident.

As their phones were taken in the incident and the station is not operating, CPJ has been unable to reach Sibaminya or Siwako.  

Station director Caleb Wanzire, told CPJ by phone that he filed a complaint about the incident on Thursday, September 15, on behalf of the radio station, to the offices of Charles Ehuta Omeonga, military administrator of the Beni territory, and Nicolas Kambale Kikuku, mayor of Oicha.

Contacted by CPJ via messaging app, Ehuta said he heard about the attack but had not received a complaint. He said he would investigate as soon as the complaint was received.

Reached by phone, Kambale told CPJ that the incident was deplorable and was discussed in a security meeting of Oicha officials held on Thursday, September 15. “I condemn this attack and during (the) security meeting, we deplored and analyzed this situation by seeking effective solutions to stem general insecurity in Oicha and above all to discipline the soldiers,” Kambale told CPJ. “Investigations are ongoing to find out more.”

Pascal Mapenzi, media coordinator for Beni territory, told CPJ by phone that, in solidarity with the station, Beni journalists gave local authorities 48 hours to find the armed men and return the materials taken from the broadcaster. However, that deadline expired and there were “days without information” on Saturday, September 17, and Monday, September 19, according to Mapenzi and a local Radio Oasis report.

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

Hajji began to laugh, saying the scene reminded him of a 2005 CPJ mission to Tunisia, when “plainclothes security officers were following our every move in their car.” He added: “It’s like we’re going back in time!”

CPJ could not meet with Hajji at the Al-Jazeera office because it has remained closed since police raided the bureau on July 26, 2021, confiscating all broadcasting equipment and forcing all staff to leave the building. The raid came less than 24 hours after Tunisia President Kais Saied fired Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi and suspended parliament, granting himself sole executive power. A new constitution, approved by a largely boycotted voter referendum nearly a year later, on July 25, 2022, codified Saied’s nearly unchecked power, upending the checks and balances between the president, prime minister, and parliament provided by the 2014 constitution.

Saied’s decision to shut down Al-Jazeera’s office on the heels of his power grab “symbolizes the state of press freedom under his regime,” Malek Khadhraoui, co-founder and publication director of local independent news website Inkyfada, told CPJ. Over the ensuing 14 months, at least four journalists have been arrested, and two were sentenced to several months in prison by military courts. Many others have been attacked by security forces while covering protests.

“We found that 2022 was one of the worst years in terms of press freedom violations since we began monitoring them six years ago,” Khawla Chabbeh, coordinator of the documentation and monitoring unit at the National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT), a local trade union, told CPJ in a meeting. On July 25, 2022, the day of the constitutional referendum, “we monitored the most violations against journalists that has occurred in a single day,” said Chabbeh.

The Tunisian Ministry of Interior did not respond to CPJ’s email request for comment about the state of press freedom in Tunisia, or about whether plainclothes security officers had followed CPJ and its local partners in 2005 or this year.

Dismantling independent constitutional commissions

Following the constitutional referendum on July 25, Tunisia approved the new constitution, replacing what was considered one of the most progressive in the Arab world. The new document is missing many of the articles that had guaranteed the protection of rights and freedoms. It eliminates several constitutional commissions created under the 2014 constitution, such as the Human Rights Commission, which investigated human rights violations, and the Independent High Commission for Audiovisual Communication, the country’s media regulatory body.

Saied’s crackdown on Tunisia’s independent constitutional bodies began even before the new constitution was formally adopted. On August 21, 2021, police shut down the headquarters of the National Anti-Corruption Authority without providing a reason. On February 6, 2022, Saied dissolved the High Judicial Council, which was mandated to ensure the independence of the judicial system and to act as a check on presidential powers, in a move United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet described as a “clear violation” of international human rights law. These changes have implications for press freedom, local journalists told CPJ.  

“The 2014 constitution protected the freedom of the press, publication, and expression. However, the new constitution does not mention anything on the independence of the judicial system, which is one of the few things that could guarantee fair trials when violations against journalists or the press occur,” Mohamed Yassine Jelassi, president of the SNJT, told CPJ in a meeting. “And now, with the lack of independent constitutional bodies, we are going to start dealing again with a Ministry of Communications that takes its orders straight from authorities.”

Jelassi said Tunisia’s executive authority is now concentrated almost exclusively in the hands of the president, adding that Saied now has the power to propose and pass decrees and to appoint the members of the judiciary and the constitutional court.

“So even if the president passes a decree related to press freedom, and it gets approved by the parliament, in the past, we had the right to appeal the constitutionality of these decrees,” said Jelassi. “But now, since the president alone has the upper hand in hiring judges, this right is no longer guaranteed. Whatever freedom the new constitution provides with one hand, the law can take it away with the other.”

Jelassi told CPJ that the new constitution further diminishes the protection of journalists and the freedom of publication by using vague language that could lead to the conviction of journalists on charges unrelated to journalism. Under the 2014 constitution, authorities were prohibited from interfering with any journalistic content, since it would violate the freedom of publication. By contrast, the new constitution protects the freedom of publication only if it does not harm “national security,” “public morals,” or “public health,” which are all defined by the law.

Over the past year, authorities arrested journalists Amer Ayad, a talk show host for privately owned channel Zaytouna TV, Khalifa Guesmi, a correspondent at local independent radio station and news website Mosaique FM, Ghassen Ben Khelifa, editor-in-chief of local independent newspaper Inhiyez, and Salah Attia, founder and editor-in-chief of local independent news website Al-Ray al-Jadid, on anti-state charges. Military courts sentenced Attia to three months in prison and handed down a four-month sentence to Ayad.

“This is the first time in years that we see civilians being tried in military courts, let alone journalists,” Chabbeh said. “We consider this a clear indication to where press freedom is headed in the next few years, and it is not a positive one.”

Losing access to information

The 2014 constitution guaranteed journalists’ rights to information through the creation of the National Authority for Access of Information, an independent body responsible for providing information regarding official decisions to the media. Even though that right remains in place with the new constitution, and the National Authority for Access of Information is nominally still operating, Khadhraoui and other journalists said that in practice, government bodies are not providing journalists with the information they need to do their jobs. For example, while the National Authority for Access of Information is supposed to have an office in every ministry, its office in the Interior Ministry has shut down, several journalists told CPJ.

“Today, decrees get written, issued, and applied overnight and they [authorities] inform citizens and journalists of these new laws at the same time. This is problematic because Tunisian citizens are used to receiving transparent journalistic coverage of these topics. That was possible through the office of Access of Information in the Ministry of Interior, which is now closed,” Khadhraoui said, adding that journalists requesting information from the ministry now face bureaucratic obstacles and must sign many forms that often don’t get approved.

Obtaining press accreditations also has become increasingly difficult. Chabbeh showed CPJ its unpublished research on hundreds of local and foreign journalists who had applied for press accreditations to cover the July 25 referendum. While authorities provided them with a written document allowing them to cover the vote, most security officers at the polls did not accept the documents and prevented many journalists from reporting or taking pictures, she said.

Hajji told CPJ that he and his colleagues at Al-Jazeera had been able to renew their press accreditations without problem every year for the past 11 years, but that authorities told them in January that they couldn’t be renewed because of the office closure.

“Since this reason didn’t make sense, the syndicate got involved and helped us get our press accreditations,” said Hajji, adding that they still had to wait six months before they were able to renew special accreditations for camera crews, which used to be renewed automatically with the press credentials.

Hajji also said that while Al-Jazeera has all its paperwork, licenses, and taxes in order, the office remains closed. As of early September, police were still heavily present in front of the bureau’s building, he said.

“It is a mystery to me that they are giving us press accreditations and allowing us to work, yet they’re not allowing us into our office, and they’re not even telling us the reason for shutting it down in the first place,” Hajji said. “It’s been a year now, and we still have no idea why this happened.”

Targeting foreign funding

Khadhraoui, Hajji, and Jelassi told CPJ that local journalists and rights advocates working for independent organizations that receive foreign funding fear that their organizations could be shut down. In a speech on February 24, 2022, Saied said he planned to prohibit foreign funding to local civil society organizations in order to stop foreign intervention in the country. Saied had not issued such a decree by mid-September, but the journalists have told CPJ that they would not be surprised if it happened at any time.

“Most private [and non-profit] news organizations are partially funded by foreign groups or governments,” said Khadhraoui. “Without these funds, it will be impossible to pay staff salaries, and therefore there won’t be any independent press sector in Tunisia.”

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

Before dawn on Tuesday, July 19, Israel Defense Forces soldiers arrested Abu Arafa, a correspondent for the London-based Quds Press News Agency, at his home in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Hebron, according to reports by Quds Press, the Palestinian Authority-owned WAFA news agency, and the Hamas-affiliated news agency Shehab News.

About 30 soldiers arrived in four military vehicles, blindfolded and handcuffed Abu Arafa, raided his home, and then detained him, his wife Safaa al-Hroub told Shehab News. She said IDF forces also seized 24,000 shekels (US$6,980) during the raid.

CPJ could not immediately determine where Abu Arafa was being held or why he was detained.

“Instead of taking steps toward accountability and respecting press freedom, Israeli authorities have doubled down on repression by tossing another Palestinian journalist into detention,” said CPJ Senior Middle East and North Africa Researcher Justin Shilad. “Israeli authorities should release Amer Abu Arafa immediately and stop silencing Palestinian journalists.”

According to that Quds Press News Agency report, Abu Arafa covers the southern West Bank for that outlet and other Palestinian news organizations. He has recently reported on local politics, Israeli policies toward Palestinians in Jerusalem, and the killing of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.

Starting in 2011, Israeli authorities detained Abu Arafa for nearly two years without charge after he reported on Israeli forces’ arrests of 120 Hamas members, as CPJ documented at the time. He was also detained by Palestinian Authority forces in 2017.

When contacted for comment, a representative from the IDF’s North American Media Desk told CPJ via email that the organization was looking into the matter, but did not respond with further details by the time of publication.

WAFA reported that Abu Arafa’s arrest was part of a larger campaign of Israeli raids in the West Bank on Tuesday. IDF soldiers have conducted near-daily raids in Palestinian cities and towns since a series of attacks by Palestinian suspects on Israelis earlier this year, according to The Associated Press.

Abu Akleh, a correspondent for Al-Jazeera Arabic, was fatally shot in the head on May 11, 2022, while covering an Israeli army operation in the West Bank town of Jenin. A U.S. forensic investigation found that the IDF was “likely responsible” for shooting and killing Abu Akleh, but that there was “no reason to believe that this was intentional.”

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Erik Crouch.

Around 6 p.m. on May 10, Maung Myo, a contributor to the local Mekong News Agency, was traveling by train to report on recent armed clashes between the military and anti-junta people’s defense forces when military authorities arrested him, according to news reports and the news agency’s editor Nyan Linn Htet, who communicated with CPJ via messaging app.

The reporter, who is also known as Myo Myint Oo, was arrested at the Salween River bridge checkpoint near the town of Hpa-an in eastern Kayin state after officials discovered he had shared Mekong News Agency reports on his personal Facebook page, according to Nyan Linn Htet, who told CPJ that the news publication had been banned by the military junta regime that seized power in the February 1, 2021 coup.

Maung Myo has since been charged under section 52(a) of the Counter-Terrorism Law, which carries a maximum of seven years in prison, according to Nyan Linn Htet. Since his arrest, the journalist has been held at Hpa-an Prison.

“Myanmar authorities must free journalist Maung Maung Myo and drop any charges pending against him,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “Myanmar’s junta must cease leveling outrageous terrorism-related charges against journalists who are merely doing their jobs as reporters.”

Maung Myo has reported for Mekong News Agency since June 2020 and has covered various political topics, including Myanmar’s COVID-19 situation, anti-coup protests, and clashes between the military government and different armed resistance groups.

Nyan Linn Htet told CPJ that military authorities raided Mekong News Agency’s office and his residence on two occasions after the 2021 coup, and the publication had to close its bureau in the Shan state town of Tachiliek on April 15, 2021, due to threats from security forces.

Nyan Linn Htet added that he is in hiding from an arrest warrant issued against him on March 6, 2021, under section 505(a) of the penal code, a vague anti-state provision that penalizes incitement and the dissemination of “false news.” 

Myanmar’s Ministry of Information did not reply to CPJ’s emailed request for comment on Maung Myo’s arrest and detention.

CPJ’s latest prison census published in December ranked Myanmar as the world’s second-worst jailer of journalists. Myanmar authorities have killed at least three journalists since the military seized power on February 1, 2021, according to CPJ documentation.

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

The State Investigation Agency (SIA) in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir arrested Abdul Aala Fazili, a former contributor to privately owned news portal The Kashmir Walla, on Sunday, April 17, in relation to a November 2011 opinion article, according to news reports. The SIA and Kashmir police also raided The Kashmir Walla office, the home of editor Fahad Shah—who was arrested in March—and Fazili’s home, seizing electronic devices including laptops.

According to the Indian Express, the SIA claimed that Fazili’s 2011 opinion piece supporting Kashmir’s separation from the Indian state was “highly provocative, seditious and intended to create unrest” and written to propagate “the false narrative which is essential to sustain [a] secessionist cum terrorist campaign aimed at breaking the territorial integrity of India.” The SIA did not give any information as to why it was acting now on the article.

“The Jammu and Kashmir authorities’ vindictive campaign against journalists has reached the point of absurdity with the arrest of former Kashmir Walla contributor Abdul Aala Fazili and the opening of another investigation into editor Fahad Shah over an 11-year-old article,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator, from Washington, D.C. “Indian authorities must drop its investigation into Fazili and Shah and immediately release them.”

Fazili is a former contributor to The Kashmir Walla who is currently a research scholar at Kashmir University, according to those news reports.

According to a statement by The Kashmir Walla, the SIA and Kashmir police raided Shah’s home and the outlet’s office for three hours on April 17. According to the outlet, officials seized two reporters laptops, a computer from the multimedia department, six hard drives, and five CDs. Officials also searched reporting notebooks and phones of two reporters who were present in the office during the raid.

The SIA accused Fazili and Shah of violating four sections of the Indian penal code, including criminal conspiracy, waging or attempting to wage war against the Indian government, sedition, and making assertions prejudicial to national integration, and two sections of the anti-terror Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for unlawful activities and terrorism, according to The Kashmir Walla.

Under the UAPA, Fazili and Shah could face up to seven years imprisonment. If found guilty of violating the four sections of the penal code, they face a life sentence.

CPJ was unable to confirm Fazili’s current whereabouts. Shah is currently in preventive custody in Kupwara District Jail after he was granted bail in two investigations where he has been accused of violating the UAPA and other Indian laws, as CPJ documented and news reports.

Dilbag Singh, the director-general of the Jammu and Kashmir police, did not immediately respond to CPJ’s request for comment sent via messaging app. CPJ could not locate contact information for the SIA’s spokesperson.

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

On the afternoon of March 10, a group of armed police and military officers raided the offices of The Alternative Digitalk, arresting the nine and confiscating equipment, including cameras, laptops, and books, according to media reports, a statement by the local press rights group Human Rights Network for Journalists-Uganda (HRNJ-U), as well as police and court documents reviewed by CPJ.

The journalists arrested that day are Norman Tumuhimbise, The Alternative Digitalk’s executive director who is also an activist and a published author; programs director Arnold Mukose; TV host Faridah Bikobere; producer Jeremiah Mukiibi; presenters Lilian Luwedde, Teddy Teangle Nabukeera, Tumusiime Kato, and Rogers Tulyahabwe; and an intern, Jacob Jeje Wabyona, according to Tumuhimbise’s brother Innocent Ainebyona, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app, and the HRNJ-U statement.

On March 15 and 16, seven of the journalists were released on police bond, but are still under investigation on charges of sedition and cyberstalking, according to human rights lawyer Eron Kiiza and the HRNJ-U-appointed lawyer Geoffrey Turyamusima, both of whom are working on the case and spoke to CPJ via messaging app.

Two journalists, Tumuhimbise and Bikobere, remain in jail, and were charged with cyberstalking and “offensive communication,” during a court hearing in the capital Kampala on March 16, according to Turyamusima and court documents reviewed by CPJ. During the hearing, Bikobere and Tumuhimbise told the court they had been severely physically abused while in state custody, Ainebyona and Turyamusima told CPJ.

“Authorities should unconditionally release Norman Tumuhimbise and Faridah Bikobere, drop all charges against them, end all investigations against other The Alternative Digitalk journalists, and return their confiscated equipment. Allegations that these journalists have been severely physically abused should be investigated credibly, holding anyone responsible to account,” said CPJ sub-Saharan Africa representative Muthoki Mumo. “President Yoweri Museveni, whose name has been invoked in these proceedings, should also declare that he is against arbitrary detentions of the press and condemn acts of abuse by security personnel.”

Cyberstalking and “offensive communication” can carry prison terms of up to five and two years respectively under Uganda’s Computer Misuse law. Sedition can carry up to seven years, according to the penal code.

Kiiza and Ainebyona told CPJ that The Alternative Digitalk is an offshoot of Alternative Uganda, an activist group headed by Tumuhimbise and of which Ainebyona is also a member, which campaigns for better governance in Uganda. On its social media accounts, the group defines itself as a “non partisan (sic) and non-violent social movement” campaigning for “youth led change.”

CPJ’s review of The Alternative Uganda’s YouTube channel, where it has about 2,700 followers, and Facebook page, with over 24,300 followers, shows that it publishes The Alternative Digitalk’s programming, such as interviews, including with politicians and government officials, analysis of current affairs as well as entertainment and lifestyle programming.

In the court documents, police allege the offenses were committed by the journalists between January 2020 and March 9, 2022, against Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni in the form of content published by The Alternative Digitalk about two of Tumuhimbisi’s recently published books. The books, “The Komanyoko Politics: Unsowing the Mustard Seed” and “Liars and Accomplices,”are sharply critical of the Museveni government, according to media reports, Kiiza, and CPJ’s review of “The Komanyoko Politics.” [Editor’s note: Komanyoko is a vulgar insult originally from Kiswahili.]

In several YouTube and Facebook posts in late February and early March made by The Alternative Uganda, which streams The Alternative Digitalk’s content, The Alternative Digitalk advertised Tumuhimbise’s books and announced the planned March 30 launch event in Kampala. On March 1, the outlet published an hour-long interview with a retired judge who wrote the foreword to “The Komanyoko Politics.”

In that book, excerpts of which CPJ reviewed, Tumuhimbise’s commentary describes Uganda’s political culture as “vulgar” and full of “malice, fights, insults, greed.” He also alleges that the president “only tells the truth by mistake” and criticizes government appointments for Museveni’s family, including his son, Lieutenant General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, and wife, Janet Museveni.

Copies of this book were among those confiscated by the security officers who raided the media outlet’s offices, according to a police search certificate, a document outlining how the search was carried out and listing those who witnessed it, reviewed by CPJ. The officers also confiscated four cameras, microphones, several laptops, hard disks, as well as CDs and a company vehicle, according to that same document.

On March 16 and 17, when seven of the journalists were released on bond from the police’s Special Investigation Division in Kireka, a suburb of Kampala, two of them were limping, Ainebyona told CPJ. CPJ was unable to immediately communicate with the released journalists, whose phones were confiscated when they were arrested.

During the March 16 court hearing, Bikobere said she needed medical attention because she had been beaten by officers and was passing blood in her urine, according to Turyamusima. A video clip posted on YouTube shows part of Bikobere’s testimony in which she says she feels pain in her stomach, back, and chest; has bruises all over her body; and offers to “undress” so that her injuries can be put on record.

Tumuhimbise also told the court that he had been beaten, saying he was punched in the head and forced to drink and unknown substance, according Ainebyona and Turyamusima. Both journalists were remanded to Luzira Prison in Kampala until their next hearing on March 21.

Uganda military spokesperson Brigadier General Felix Kulayigye told CPJ by phone that the military’s involvement in the raid on The Alternative Digitalk was in support of a police operation and referred CPJ to the police for comment. Kulayigye declined to answer questions on allegations of torture, saying the journalists had not been in the army’s custody.

Calls and text messages to Uganda police spokesperson Fred Enanga and President Museveni’s senior press secretary Nabusayi Lindah Wamboka were unanswered.

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

On the afternoon of Thursday, March 3, the privately owned TV and radio broadcaster Next TV’s accounts on Facebook and Telegram published posts covering claims by a former head of Kazakhstan’s intelligence agency that Kyrgyzstan had secretly agreed to provide military support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

At about 7:30 p.m. that evening, plainclothes officers with the State Committee of National Security (SCNS), the country’s internal security agency, raided the station’s office in Bishkek, the capital, confiscated its broadcasting equipment, sealed the outlet’s studio and journalists’ offices, and detained Duishenbiev, according to news reports and Next TV journalist Perizat Saitburkhan, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview.

The SCNS said that it had opened a criminal investigation into the outlet for “inciting interethnic hatred,” according to news reports and a SCNS press release reviewed by CPJ.

In a closed court hearing on Saturday, the Pervomaisky District Court in Bishkek ordered Duishenbiev to be held until May 3 on charges of inciting interethnic hatred “by a group of persons by prior conspiracy,” according to those sources. If convicted, he could face five to seven years in prison, according to the country’s criminal code.

“As their attacks on the independent press intensify, Kyrgyz authorities appear to be resorting to any legal means, however spurious, to clamp down on critical outlets,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, in New York. “Authorities must immediately release Taalaibek Duishenbiev, drop the investigation into Next TV, and allow the station to resume broadcasting without interference.”

The Facebook and Telegram posts by Next TV cited the Ukrainian outlet Ukraine Now, and Kyrgyzstan’s Defense Ministry later denied the allegations, which had been reported by a number of Ukrainian news outlets.

In its press release, the SCNS accused the broadcaster of spreading “false information” that “misleads the population of the Kyrgyz Republic and other countries and acts as a catalyzer for inciting interethnic strife.”

Duishenbiev’s lawyer Akmat Alagushev told CPJ in a phone interview that Duishenbiev denied the charges and they would appeal the decision to keep him in custody, as well as the sealing of the outlet’s studio and workspace, which he said investigators had carried out unlawfully.

Alagushev added that, as authorities had opened an investigation for alleged group conspiracy, charges could also be filed against other Next TV employees. He told CPJ that the charges against Duishenbiev were illegitimate not only because Next TV had simply republished allegations reported by another outlet, and that the information posed no threat to interethnic relations, but also because Next TV’s social media accounts were not legally related to the television station and were not verified accounts, so the outlet’s director and staffers should not be held responsible.

SCNS officers detained technical engineer Taalai Beishenbaev during the office raid, interrogated him without a lawyer present, confiscated his phone, and released him at about 3 a.m. on Friday, according to Saitburkhan.

Also on Friday, investigators summoned and questioned Saitburkhan and a producer at the outlet, and on Monday questioned another four employees, Saitburkhan said.

Saitburkhan told CPJ that the charges were a “mere pretext” to shutter Next TV, and that the outlet had been targeted due to its critical reporting and the fact that Next TV rebroadcasts material from U.S. Congress-funded RFE/RL’s local service Radio Azattyk across the country, which she said current Kyrgyz leadership “strongly dislikes.”

Next TV is reportedly controlled by opposition politician and former presidential candidate Ravshan Jeenbekov, who has twice been jailed and remains under investigation by the authorities. Jeenbekov wrote on Facebook following the raid that the SCNS had been pressuring him “for several months” to close the broadcaster.

The station has over 254,000 followers on Instagram and 153,000 followers on Facebook.

Previously, on February 1, the prosecutor general’s office placed independent news website Kaktus.media under investigation for alleged “propaganda of war” after the outlet reprinted an article from a Tajik news site about a clash at the disputed border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, as CPJ documented at the time.

CPJ emailed the State Committee for National Security for comment, but did not immediately receive any reply.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Erik Crouch.

On Wednesday, February 23, the Tehran home of Ronaghi Maleki, a freelance blogger and freedom of expression activist who posts reporting critical of the government on social media, was raided by unidentified security forces who took him to an unknown location, according to news reports and sources familiar with the case who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity due to the fear of reprisal.

The actions follow a Tuesday Twitter thread by Ronaghi Maleki, posted in both Farsi and English, which condemned the passing of the “User Protection Bill,” a controversial piece of legislation that restricts Iranians’ access to the internet and was ratified by parliament earlier that day.

Authorities have not officially accepted any responsibility for Ronaghi Maleki’s arrest, no charges have been formally announced, and CPJ was unable to confirm where the blogger is being held, the reasons for his arrest, or which branch of the security forces arrested him.

“With the arrest of Seyed Hossein Ronaghi Maleki, the Iranian government is seemingly continuing its absurd practice of arbitrarily detaining journalists without charge,” said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna, in New York. “Authorities must release Ronaghi Maleki immediately or at least reveal his location and any charges against him and allow all Iranians to freely access the internet.”

At 11 a.m. on February 23, Ronaghi Maleki called his parents to say he was going to work, according to Reza Ronaghi, the blogger’s father, who spoke to the U.S. Congress-funded Radio Farda, adding that his son had received several threatening calls in recent weeks and told his family that he might be arrested again soon.

When Ronaghi Maleki’s family was unable to get in touch with him, they went to his apartment later that evening where they found the home ransacked and noted that his computer, laptop, hard drives, and several notebooks were missing, according to Hassan Ronaghi, the blogger’s brother, who spoke to CPJ by phone.

“Hossein’s life is at risk because he suffers from several health conditions including kidney, lungs, blood, and digestive issues and we don’t know if the kidnappers will give him his medicine,” Hassan Ronaghi said, adding that the blogger’s family asked the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence about Ronaghi Maleki’s arrest and status, but they have not received a response yet.

CPJ emailed the Iranian mission to the United Nations in New York requesting comment on Ronaghi Maleki’s arrest but did not receive a response. Ronaghi Maleki, also known as Babak Khoramddin, was previously arrested on December 13, 2009, and sentenced to 15 years in prison after discussing politics in a series of critical blogs that were eventually blocked by the government, according to CPJ research. He suffered multiple health issues, undergoing several kidney surgeries, which eventually led to his unconditional release in 2019.

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

At around 10 a.m. on Monday, a group of about four unidentified men fired guns at the privately owned broadcaster’s headquarters in Bissau, the capital, and then broke into the office and ransacked it, according to media reports and Radio Capital FM program host Sabino Santos and owner and director Lassana Cassamá, both of whom spoke to CPJ in phone interviews and via messaging app.

The attackers, some in military uniforms and others in civilian clothes, shot and destroyed broadcasting equipment throughout the office, according to those sources.

The men openly discussed whether to kill the station’s staff members, but one of the men ordered that no one be harmed, Santos and Cassamá said. The staff members on the premises were able to flee, but several sustained injuries while escaping over the two-meter wall surrounding the building, they said. 

A police officer guarding the station fled as soon as the attack began, according to Santos and Cassamá.

The station often reports critically on the government of President Umaro Sissoco Embaló, and that morning had hosted a call-in show for listeners to comment on the country’s failed February 1 coup attempt, Santos said.

Police have been stationed at the broadcaster following an attack in July 2020, when unidentified armed men smashed its broadcast equipment. Authorities have not identified any suspects in that attack, Santos and Cassamá told CPJ.

“Authorities in Guinea-Bissau must ensure that this time around, those responsible for attacking Radio Capital FM and terrorizing its journalists and media workers are arrested and held to account,” said Angela Quintal, CPJ’s Africa program coordinator. “The continued impunity for attacks on journalists in Guinea-Bissau has given armed thugs the license, once again, to destroy equipment and force off air a radio station critical of the government of President Umaro Sissoco Embaló, believing that there will be no consequences.”

Administrative assistant Binghate Martins was at the broadcaster during the raid and told CPJ in a phone interview that the attackers forced him to lay on the ground, fired gunshots near his feat, and beat him on his back with rifles.

Reporters Maimuna Bari, Bala Sambú, and Ansumane Sow, radio technicians Lassana Djassi, Bakar Kuiaté, and Alssene Kandé, and administrative worker Sana Mancal sustained injuries as they escaped over the wall surrounding the radio station, according to Santos.

He said that Bari sustained a suspected spinal contusion and remained hospitalized; Djassi broke a leg, Sow broke an arm, and the others suffered minor injuries.

Sow told CPJ in a phone call that he broke his right arm when he slipped and fell trying to climb the wall as attackers fired their initial shots outside the building. He was treated at a private clinic in Bissau, he said.

Hearing gunshots at the radio station was “particularly horrible and traumatic” after he had reported on the February 1 coup attempt, Sow said.

Santos told CPJ that the attackers shot nine computers, two sound mixing tables, and all of the station’s security cameras, and the attack lasted about five minutes.

“Their intentions to wreck the equipment were clear,” he said, adding at the broadcaster was off the air indefinitely due to a lack of functioning equipment.

Santos said the national judicial police sealed the station to investigate the attack, and he could not predict when they would release the premises or when the station would be back online.

The deputy director of the judicial police, Cornélia Viera, told CPJ in a phone interview that she did not know when the premises would be unsealed, as it would depend on when the investigation was completed. She said she could not comment further as the case was under investigation.

In comments to journalists yesterday, the deputy commissioner of the public order police, Salvador Soares, described the attack as “an isolated act.” Santos disagreed with that framing, asking, “how is this an isolated act if the Ministry of Interior has had two officers at the door since the last attack?”

Indira Baldé, head of the local journalists’ trade union SINJOTECS, told CPJ via messaging app that the attack “goes to show journalists are not safe while doing our jobs in Guinea-Bissau.”

Last year, Santos also faced a criminal defamation investigation over his work, along with Radio Capital FM host Sumba Nancil. The case was later dropped for lack of evidence, Santos said.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Erik Crouch.

On January 25, Houthi forces raided and shuttered at least five radio stations in Sanaa, the capital, according to the Media Freedom Observatory nongovernmental organization, a statement from the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate trade group, and syndicate co-chair Nabil Alosaidi, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app.

The Houthi forces shut down the broadcasters Voice of Yemen, Grand FM, Al-Oula, Tufula FM, and Al-Diwan, allegedly for failing to renew their licenses, according to those sources. Alosaidi also said that Houthis had shuttered the Delta broadcaster, but CPJ could not immediately verify whether that outlet had been targeted.

Alosaidi said that the channels all remained closed as of Monday, January 31.

“Houthi raids on radio stations in Sanaa demonstrate how the militant group will leave no stone unturned in their harassment of the Yemeni press,” said CPJ Senior Middle East and North Africa Researcher Justin Shilad. “The Houthis must allow all radio stations to resume their work immediately and without preconditions, and must stop targeting Yemeni journalists once and for all.”

Alosaidi said that the Houthis, formally known as the Ansar Allah group, had previously demanded the outlets pay taxes and additional fees, and broadcast pro-Houthi propaganda. Those outlets normally air programming on news, culture, and entertainment.

In its statement, the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate said that the Houthis started regulating media outlets in 2017, despite lacking any legal basis to do so.

Previously, Houthi gunmen stormed the TV broadcaster Yemen Today in December 2017 and held at least 40 employees hostage for several days, as CPJ documented at the time. The group has repeatedly threatened journalists with execution, regularly detains members of the press, and has forced journalists to leave areas under their control.

CPJ emailed Houthi spokesperson Mohammad Abdulsalam for comment, but did not immediately receive any reply.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Erik Crouch.

At about 7:30 p.m. on January 22, more than a dozen masked narcotics police officers raided the office of the YouTube-based investigative outlet Temirov Live in the capital of Bishkek, searched it for about three hours, and arrested Temirov, its founder, after allegedly finding drugs in his possession, according to news reports and the journalist and his lawyer, Nurbek Toktakunov, both of whom spoke to CPJ by phone.

The following day, police charged Temirov with drug possession and released him on bail, according to a statement by the Bishkek police department and Toktakunov.

During the raid, police forced male staff members to the ground, Temirov said, adding that officers put a bag of drugs into his back pocket while pinning him down. The journalist’s wife, Makhabat Tazhibek kyzy, who was at the scene, told CPJ that she saw officers plant drugs on her husband.

“The dubious drug charge brought against Kyrgyz journalist Bolot Temirov, mere days after he released an investigation into a leading state official, reeks of retaliation for his work,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia Program coordinator, in New York. “Authorities must seriously investigate allegations that police planted drugs on Temirov and ensure that members of the press can cover sensitive topics without fear of harassment.”

If convicted of drug possession, Temirov could face a fine of up to 200,000 som (US$2,360) or up to five years in prison under Kyrgyzstan’s criminal code.

Two days before his arrest, Temirov published a video investigation alleging that family members of State Committee for National Security head Kamchybek Tashiev were involved in a corruption scheme relating to a state-owned petroleum refinery. Temirov told CPJ that he believed the drug charge was retaliation for that investigation.

Police confiscated Temirov Live’s computers during the raid, Temirov said, adding that he believed authorities sought to access files about upcoming investigations, as Temirov Live frequently covers top government officials.

Following the raid, police tested Temirov’s urine for heroin, marijuana, and synthetic drugs, with negative results, Toktakunov said. Police then questioned the journalist in the presence of lawyers at the Bishkek police department and released him at about 2:30 p.m. on January 23, after he agreed not to leave the city and signed a nondisclosure agreement, according to Toktakunov and those reports.

Also on the evening of January 22, Bishkek police arrested Kyrgyz folk singer Bolot Nazarov, according to reports and Toktakunov. Nazarov contributes to Temirov Live’s investigative work and publishes folk songs about the outlet’s investigations on its sister channel Ayt Ayt Dese, according to those reports and Tazhibek kyzy, who works as a project manager for Ayt Ayt Dese.

Tazhibek kyzy told CPJ that Nazarov’s folk songs help Temirov Live’s work spread to Kyrgyzstan’s provinces, where they are better received in that format.

On January 23, authorities charged Nazarov with drug possession and inducement to consume narcotics, and placed him under house arrest pending investigation, according to Toktakunov and those reports, which said he denied the charges. The inducement charge is punishable by two to five years in prison if convicted, according to the criminal code.

The Bishkek police stated that a woman by the initials A. A. had filed a complaint earlier that day against “a man named Bolot” who allegedly tried to induce her to take drugs at the Temirov Live office. The statement did not specify whether “Bolot” referred to Temirov or Nazarov.

At a press conference on January 23, Kamchybek Tashiev stated that Temirov Live’s investigation contained “blatant lies and slander.” He denied that the State Committee for National Security had anything to do with the raid on the outlet’s office, which was conducted by the Interior Ministry, but added that the state committee would soon reveal where the outlet receives its funding from to produce such “destructive and lying investigations.”

Separately, on January 23, Temirov Live announced that Temirov discovered a hidden camera in his bedroom in December 2021, and that unspecified individuals had repeatedly threatened and blackmailed Temirov Live staff to pass on information about future investigations. In that video, Temirov Live presenter Aktilek Kaparov claimed that the outlet had identified a vehicle stationed outside the outlet’s office the day before the January 22 search – and before A.A.’s complaint to police – as having been previously used in law enforcement operations.

Temirov confirmed those details to CPJ but did not provide further information on the alleged threats or blackmail. He added that attempts had been made to hack Temirov Live’s passwords following the January 20 investigation.

Previously, on January 9, 2020, when he was chief editor of the independent news website Factcheck, Temirov was beaten by three unidentified men shortly after the outlet published a series of high-profile corruption reports, as CPJ documented at the time.

CPJ emailed the Interior Ministry and the State Committee for National Security for comment, and sent questions to Tashiev to the committee’s email address, but did not immediately receive any replies.

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

At around 8:15 p.m. on January 3, eight men entered the outlet’s office in Gusau, the capital of Nigeria’s northern Zamfara state, and demanded to see Abdul Balarabe, the website’s Hausa-language editor, who was not present, and attacked Mansur Rabiu, also an editor, according to Rabiu and Thunder Blowers managing editor and team lead, Anas Sani Anka, both of whom spoke with CPJ by phone.

Rabiu said the men beat him with sticks for over five minutes, injuring his left arm, and said they only stopped when he escaped into a nearby room and locked the door until they left.

The men also smashed eight desktop computers and an internet server, and stole technical equipment from the outlet, according to Rabiu, Anka, and a police complaint filed by Thunder Blowers, which CPJ reviewed.

Police have opened an investigation into the attack, Anka said.

“Nigerian authorities must immediately investigate the attack on the Thunder Blowers news website and the assault of editor Mansur Rabiu, and ensure that the perpetrators are held to account,” said Angela Quintal, CPJ’s Africa program coordinator, from New York. “The outlet’s equipment must be returned immediately, and authorities should make sure that such attacks do not go unpunished.”

Thunder Blowers covers politics and general news in Nigeria on its website and YouTube channel, where it has about 1,000 followers.

Rabiu told CPJ that the men approached him immediately after entering the office and inquired about Balarabe; after one of the men demanded Rabiu show his ID to confirm that he was not Balarabe, they began hitting him with sticks.

The men stole three laptops, four cameras, a server decoder with a hard disk, four lights, five phones, two radio transmitters and sound mixers, and two camera memory cards from the office, according to Rabiu, Anka, and the complaint.

In the police complaint, Thunder Blowers alleged that the men attacked the building on behalf of Musa Ardo, a youth leader for the ruling All Progressives Congress party in Zamfara, and identified one of the attackers as Zayyanu Abdullahi, a member of the state APC.

When CPJ called Ardo for comment, he denied any involvement in the attack and said he had never heard of Abdullahi. CPJ called and texted the APC’s spokesperson for Zamfara state, Yusuf Idris, but did not receive any reply.

Following the attack, Abdullahi called the outlet and said the raid was in response to recent interviews that criticized the state government, according to the police complaint and Anka, who listened to the call on speakerphone. Abdullahi offered to return the stolen items, but Anka told him that the matter was out of his hands and the police would handle it. 

CPJ was unable to find contact information for Abdullahi. Anka told CPJ that the police had invited Abdullahi and Ardo for questioning in the case. 

Balarabe told CPJ via phone that he received a call on January 2 from a friend saying that people planned to attack him the following day; he said he decided to avoid the office on January 3 and was not in Zamfara state at the time of the attack.

Balarabe posted about the warning on his Facebook page and said he discussed the threats with Anka before the men arrived at the office, and they planned to report the threats to police the following day.

CPJ called and texted Zamfara state police spokesperson Muhammad Shehu for comment, but did not receive any reply.

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

“The arrests of six people associated with Stand News amounts to an open assault on Hong Kong’s already tattered press freedom, as China steps up direct control over the former colony,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “Authorities must release the six and drop all charges against them immediately if Hong Kong is to retain any semblance of the freedoms that its residents enjoyed only a few years ago.”

Hundreds of officers with the Hong Kong Police Force’s national security department raided the offices of the nonprofit Chinese-language news website on the morning of December 29, according to reports by the Hong Kong Free Press and the South China Morning Post. Police said the raid was authorized under the 2020 national security law, those reports said.

Police also arrested six people affiliated with the outlet on suspicion of conspiring to commit sedition under the colonial-era Crimes Law, according to those reports, which identified those arrested as deputy assignment editor Ronson Chan, acting chief editor Patrick Lam, former editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen, and former director and chief science editor Chow Tai-chi.

The other two arrested, singer Denise Ho and lawyer Margaret Ng, are former members of Stand News’s board, those reports said, which also noted that Chan chairs the Hong Kong Journalists Association.

CPJ’s 2021 prison census has found that China remains the world’s worst jailer of journalists for the third year in a row. This year marked the first time that journalists in Hong Kong were imprisoned for their work, according to CPJ’s census.

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

At around 8:40 p.m. on December 20, a group of unidentified people gathered at the newspaper’s headquarters in the city of Trelew, in the southern province of Chubut, and threw rocks and firebombs into the building, breaking windows and setting several fires, according to news reports and El Chubut politics section chief Rubén Darío Giménez, who spoke with CPJ via messaging app.

The attackers entered the building, which also houses the outlet’s radio station, and ransacked it for several hours, damaging and stealing equipment and archival materials, Giménez said. Journalists and staff were evacuated by police, and no one was injured, he told CPJ.

“The violent attack on the Argentine daily El Chubut needs to be condemned in the strongest terms,” said CPJ Latin America and the Caribbean Program Coordinator Natalie Southwick, in New York. “Argentine authorities must ensure that all of the individuals who participated in this attack are identified and held responsible.” 

The attack took place amid protests against a new mining zoning ordinance, which provincial authorities passed on December 19, according to news reports. At least 16 buildings, including the offices of the Supreme Tribunal, were set on fire or damaged during the protests, those reports said.

“From within this legitimate and popular protest, there is a group that detaches itself and attacks the newspaper,” Giménez told CPJ. “This is an intentional and premeditated attack by a group that takes advantage of the protest to engage in violence.”

Hours before the demonstration, there had been calls on social media for people to gather in front of the newspaper’s offices, according to reporting by El Chubut. Neither Giménez nor reporting by El Chubut gave possible motives for the attack, or who might have been behind it.

The prosecutor general of Chubut announced an investigation into the attack on El Chubut, as well as the other buildings affected, according to press reports and that report by the newspaper. Police have not made any arrests, Giménez said.

CPJ called the Chubut prosecutor general’s office for comment, but no one answered.

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

According to media reports, the FBI seized O’Keefe’s cellphones during a November 6 raid on his home in Mamaroneck, New York, as part of a court-ordered investigation into the theft of a diary belonging to Ashley Biden, U.S. President Joe Biden’s daughter. In a statement, Project Veritas wrote that authorities also raided the apartments and homes of other current and former members of the organization, and confiscated unspecified materials.

Project Veritas acquired the diary in 2020 but turned it over to law enforcement, those media reports said.

Founded by O’Keefe in 2011, Project Veritas is a nonprofit group that conducts exposés on groups it perceives as left-leaning, and has amplified disinformation on topics including COVID-19 vaccines and alleged election fraud, according to the independent nonprofit fact-checking group First Draft.

“While we do not endorse some of the tactics Project Veritas employs, the FBI’s recent raids on the organization’s founder and his associates represent a concerning overreach by law enforcement,” said CPJ U.S. and Canada Program Coordinator Katherine Jacobsen. “The government must provide a clear link between members of Project Veritas and alleged criminal activity before searching their homes for information about source material. Conducting raids without this kind of link sets a dangerous precedent that could allow law enforcement to search and confiscate reporters’ unpublished source material in vague attempts to identify whistleblowers.”

Some pages of the diary were published on a right-wing blog during the 2020 U.S. presidential election campaign, according to those news reports, which said that the Justice Department under the Trump administration first opened an investigation into the theft.

On a November 10 letter to U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres in New York, lawyers representing Project Veritas stated that the outlet had received the diary lawfully, the New York Times reported. On November 11, Torres ordered prosecutors to pause their “extraction and review of the contents” of O’Keefe’s phones, according to Politico.

When CPJ called the FBI for comment, a representative who answered requested that CPJ submit questions via email. CPJ emailed questions to the bureau’s New York office but did not immediately receive any reply.

A representative from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York told CPJ via phone that the office could not comment on the case.

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

Since October 22, police officers have confronted protesters in El Estor, in the eastern coastal department of Izabal, who have demonstrated against mining operations at a local nickel processing plant, according to news reports.

Police have raided at least one news outlet and the homes of at least two journalists in connection to those protests, and have harassed members of the press covering the demonstrations, according to news reports and journalists who spoke with CPJ.

“Guatemalan police must show that they are able and willing to distinguish between protesters and the press, and cease harassing journalists for covering demonstrations in El Estor,” said CPJ Latin America and the Caribbean Program Coordinator Natalie Southwick. “Authorities must recognize that journalists have a right to cover demonstrations and ensure they are able to do so safely, instead of treating them like criminals simply for doing their jobs.”

In an October 22 video published on Twitter by the independent digital outlet Prensa Comunitaria, police can be seen ordering journalists not to film them and asking them to leave the scene. In another video from that day, Prensa Comunitaria reporter Carlos Choc said police officers had shoved him and confiscated his phone and microphone while he attempted to cover the demonstrations.

A Prensa Comunitaria reporter who spoke with CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of retribution and ongoing security concerns for the team in El Estor, said that police had returned Choc’s phone as of today but not his microphone.

On October 24, police officers searched the radio station Xyaab’ Tzuultaq’a, which has also covered the demonstrations, according to news reports and the Guatemalan Federation of Radio Schools, a national group of community radio outlets. Xyaab’ Tzuultaq’a Director Robin Macloni told CPJ via messaging app that police spent about 30 minutes inside the office, questioned one of their staff members, and then left without confiscating anything.

On October 26, at about 8 a.m., police officers and officials from the Public Ministry searched the home of Prensa Comunitaria reporter Juan Bautista Xol in El Estor, and accused him of participating in the protests, according to an interview the journalist gave following the raid, as well as the Prensa Comunitaria reporter who spoke to CPJ. The raid lasted more than two hours, during which Bautista was not allowed to leave the premises, according to those sources.

Bautista said in that interview that he had no role in the protests and only covered them as a journalist. He is not facing criminal charges but officials from the Public Ministry confiscated his cell phone, according to that interview and a statement from the Guatemalan Human Rights Ombudsman’s Office.

Also on October 26, police officers searched Choc’s home in his absence, according to news reports and Prensa Comunitaria. Authorities did not seize anything from the home or detain anyone, according to those sources.

Jorge Aguilar, a spokesperson for the Guatemalan National Police in El Estor, said in a statement that the raids were conducted “to locate people connected with attacks against police officers during the demonstrations” but that there were no arrests.

CPJ has previously documented harassment and attempts to intimidate Choc, including a robbery at his home in April 2020 and a criminal case against him and another journalist for documenting the death of a fisherman during a demonstration.

CPJ emailed the Public Ministry and Guatemalan National Police for comment; the Government Ministry, which oversees the police, replied with an automated response saying that an official would reply within 10 days, and the Public Ministry did not respond.

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

Yesterday, police in Minsk raided the office of the independent weekly online newspaper Novy Chas and the home of at least one of its journalists, according to news reports. 

The police took editor-in-chief Aksana Kolb from the office to the Belarusian Investigative Committee, and also took deputy editor-in-chief Syarhey Pulsha into custody after searching his home, according to that report and Pulsha, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview.

Police interrogated both journalists and released them yesterday after signing nondisclosure agreements, according to those reports and Pulsha, who said he was able to confirm that the raid and interrogation took place but could not comment on any other facts of the case because of that agreement. 

“Belarusian authorities’ raid on Novy Chas is a sign that the few remaining independent outlets in the country are unable to operate free from official persecution,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia Program coordinator, in New York. “Authorities must drop any investigation into the newspaper and refrain from detaining, threatening, or harassing its employees.”

Pulsha told CPJ he was unable to comment on whether charges had been filed against him or what, if anything, authorities confiscated from his home. CPJ called Kolb for comment, but her phone was turned off.

Previously, on October 19, police searched the home of Novy Chas photographer Dzimitry Dzimitryeu and confiscated his computer, according to those reports.

Barys Haretski, the deputy head of the Belarusian Association of Journalists, a local trade and advocacy group that authorities officially dissolved in August, told CPJ in a phone interview that Novy Chas is one of the few independent newspapers still active within Belarus. 

“It is very important as authorities have forced the majority of media outlets to leave the country,” Haretski said, adding that Novy Chas was distributed in print until June 21, but authorities forced post offices to stop distributing the newspaper.

In recent months, Belarusian authorities have launched a wave of raids and arrests targeting the independent press, and have repeatedly accused outlets of tax evasion and public order violations in retaliation for their coverage of anti-government protests, as CPJ has documented.

CPJ repeatedly called Volha Chemodanava, the head of the press office of the Belarusian Ministry of Interior, for comment, but no one answered. 

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

On October 2, four officers from the Warsaw Police Department, two of whom carried guns, searched the apartment of Bakselerowicz, a reporter for the independent newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza, in the western city of Zielona Góra, according to a report by his employer, an account of the raid he published in Gazeta Wyborcza, and Bakselerowicz, who communicated with CPJ via email.

Police seized Bakselerowicz’s internet router, his work and personal phones and laptops, and questioned him as a witness in a criminal investigation into threats allegedly received by members of the Polish lower house of the parliament, those sources said. The legislators, who police did not name, allegedly received threats from the IP address assigned to Bakselerowicz’s apartment, according to those reports and Bakselerowicz.

Police left Bakselerowicz’s apartment after about an hour, and did not file any charges against him, those sources said. In his account of the raid, Bakselerowicz denied that he had threatened any legislators. Police have not returned his gear as of today, the journalist told CPJ.

“Polish authorities should stop harassing journalist Piotr Bakselerowicz, immediately return his equipment, and refrain from searching reporters’ homes,” said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna, in New York. “If police want to question a member of the press, they should summon them for an interview, not send armed agents to raid their homes and confiscate their devices.”

Bakselerowicz wrote that the officers did not have a warrant for the search, and that while police did not specify who allegedly received the threats, he believed they were acting on behalf of Jerzy Materna, a legislator for the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party. Materna told the news website Onet on October 2 that he had recently received an emailed threat, which he reported to police.

Gazeta Wyborcza is the biggest daily newspaper in Poland, and its journalists have faced smear campaigns by pro-government media outlets as well as defamation and privacy lawsuits by politicians and state-linked companies since PiS came to power in 2015, as CPJ documented during fact-finding missions in 2018, 2019, and 2021.

In a tweet on October 2, the Polish national police force wrote that an unspecified number of members of parliament had received threats sent via email, and that a “little-known local journalist” was found at the location matching the IP address from which those messages were sent. The Warsaw Police Department tweeted that day that this case was “no different” than others involving such alleged threats, and also tweeted that they gave “legal assistance” to the police in Zielona Góra, about 300 miles outside of Warsaw.

Bakselerowicz wrote in his account of the raid that he had not sent any threats and added that he would have to have been “a complete idiot” to send such messages from his home, where they could easily be traced.

In a statement on October 3, Gazeta Wyborcza editors called the apartment search a “violation of journalistic freedom” and of journalistic confidentiality. That statement also speculated that someone could have used Bakselerowicz’s router to send threats as a way of framing the journalist, and said that police could have summoned Bakselerowicz for questioning instead of raiding his home.

CPJ emailed the Warsaw police and Materna for comment, but did not receive any replies.

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

On September 14, police officers and agents from the local attorney general’s office raided Chimbolema’s office in the central Ecuadorian town of Tena and confiscated his laptop, memory cards, and mobile phone, according to the journalist, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app, and a statement by the Ecuadorian free press organization Fundamedios.

Chimbolema runs the Facebook-based local news outlet La Voz TV Online, which has about 17,000 followers.

He said authorities did not tell him why they raided his office, but it was likely linked to his publication of a September 9 article about raids by police and the attorney general’s office of five properties in Tena as part of a bank fraud investigation.

He said the report contained detailed information about the raids provided to him by an anonymous source, and that authorities may be retaliating against him for allegedly interfering in an ongoing investigation. In its statement, Fundamedios said that the attorney general’s office told them it was investigating a leak of classified information about an ongoing case.

“Ecuadorian authorities must disclose their justification for the seemingly arbitrary raid on journalist Fausto Chimbolema’s office, return all his confiscated equipment, and allow his outlet La Voz TV Online to resume work at once,” said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna, in New York. “Reporting on the work of public authorities is not a crime.”

Chimbolema told CPJ that he received a WhatsApp message after publishing the September 9 article ordering him to go to the attorney general’s office in Tena on September 20 to provide testimony.

When Chimbolema went to that office, public prosecutor Rocio Villareal, who took part in the raid on his office, declined to ask him any questions after the journalist said that his lawyer told him not to answer any, he said.

Chimbolema told CPJ that he posted his story about the raids after they were already completed, adding, “It was never my intention to interfere with the investigation.”

Chimbolema told CPJ that he founded La Voz TV Online last year to report on local news stories. He separately produces videos of weddings and birthday parties, but told CPJ that he can no longer perform that work or post stories to La Voz TV Online because his laptop and cell phone remain in official custody.

CPJ repeatedly called the local attorney general’s office in Tena, but no one answered. CPJ also emailed the press office of the national attorney general’s office in Quito, the capital, but did not receive any reply.

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

At about noon on September 10, officials from the national Income Tax Department raided the two outlets’ offices in New Delhi as part of an investigation into alleged tax evasion, according to news reports and statements by the outlets.

Officials downloaded data from office computers and the personal cell phone and laptop of Newslaundry editor-in-chief Abhinandan Sekhri, and in the Newsclick raid took various financial documents as well as email archives from editor-in-chief Prabir Purkayastha and Pranjal, an editor at the outlet who uses one name, according to the outlets’ statements.

The raids lasted until after midnight, according to those news reports and statements.

“Indian tax authorities’ raids on Newsclick and Newslaundry are clear intimidation tactics aimed at two outlets known to be critical of authorities,” said Carlos Martinez de la Serna, CPJ’s program director, in New York. “Authorities must cease harassing Newsclick and Newslaundry employees and editors, and ensure that journalists’ private digital information is not compromised.”

During the raids, officials confiscated and switched off the phones of everyone present at the offices, according to The Wire, which said that some of the Newslaundry employees were allowed to leave around 3 p.m. Officials returned the confiscated phones after the raids, that report said.

CPJ emailed the Income Tax Department for comment but did not receive any response.

In June, officials from the Income Tax Department visited Newsclick’s office in New Delhi and questioned Purkayastha and Pranjal for five hours each, as CPJ documented at the time.

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

Authorities in Srinagar, the main city in Jammu and Kashmir, today raided the homes of four journalists–Showkat Motta, the editor of Kashmir Narrator magazine, freelance journalists Azhar Qadri and Abbas Shah, and Hilal Mir, who reports for the Turkey-based news outlet TRT World–according to news reports. Police seized documents and electronic devices, including cellphones and laptops, of the journalists and their spouses, and later summoned them to a local police station for questioning, according to the Associated Press.

CPJ was unable to directly contact the journalists because their phones had been confiscated by the police, and was unable to confirm whether the four reported to the police station or whether they are currently in detention.

“The repeated harassment of journalists in Indian-controlled Jammu and Kashmir needs to stop immediately,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator, in Washington, D.C. “Police should halt any interrogations of and investigations into journalists Showkat Motta, Azhar Qaddri, Abbas Shah, and Hilal Mir, and return all electronic devices seized from the journalists’ homes.”

According to the news website Kashmir Observer, the police claimed that the raids were related to an investigation into an anonymous Kashmir Fight blog. The police had initiated an investigation in October 2020 after the blog listed 39 Kashmiri journalists as alleged “Indian agents,” as CPJ documented at that time.

However, two senior reporters who are close associates of some of the journalists and a New Delhi-based security researcher who works on Kashmir, all of whom spoke to CPJ under condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, said they doubted the reported police explanation and saw the raids as an attack on the independent media.

Sub-Divisional Police Officer Tanushree, who uses one name and is heading the investigation, did not respond to CPJ’s text message requesting comment.

Aasif Sultan, a journalist with Kashmir Narrator and a colleague of Motta, has been in prison since August 2019 on charges of supporting terror activities after he reported on a slain militant in his magazine, according to CPJ research.

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

On August 17 and 20, Taliban militants raided the homes of at least two members of the press, according to those journalists and photos and video of the incidents, which CPJ reviewed. Taliban militants have also searched the homes of at least four other media workers since taking power in the country earlier this month, as CPJ has documented.

“The Taliban leadership must intervene to prevent the harassment of journalists and unwarranted searches of their homes by its fighters,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator, in Washington, D.C. “The Taliban need to prove that their stated support for press freedom in Afghanistan truly means something, and ensure that its members stop raiding journalists’ homes and return all confiscated materials immediately.”

On August 17, Taliban militants in Ghazni city, in Ghazni province, broke into the home of Khadija Ashrafi, general manager of the Bakhtar News Agency, which was run by the former Afghan government, according to Ashrafi, who spoke with CPJ via messaging app, and photos of the ransacked home, which CPJ reviewed.

Ashrafi told CPJ that she had gone into hiding prior to the search and did not know if the Taliban took anything from her home.

On August 20, at about 9:30 a.m., Taliban militants raided the Kabul home of Zalmay Latifi, director of the privately owned broadcaster Enikass Radio and TV, according to Latifi, who spoke with CPJ via messaging app, and a video of the raid, which CPJ reviewed.

During that raid, the Taliban members seized three cars and licensed weapons from the premises, according to Latifi. At about noon on August 21, militants returned to Latifi’s home and seized two desktop computers, he said.

Latifi told CPJ that he had also gone into hiding prior to the raid.

CPJ called and texted Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid for comment, but the calls and messages did not go through. CPJ was unable to find other contact details for Mujahid.

In March, unidentified attackers shot and killed three Enikass Radio and TV employees in Jalalabad, as CPJ documented at the time. In December 2020, Enikass Radio and TV reporter Malalai Maiwand and her driver were shot and killed; the Islamic State claimed responsibility for that attack, according to Reuters.

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

This morning, law enforcement officers in Minsk, the capital, searched the editorial offices of the independent Belarusian news agency as well as the homes of six of its current and former employees, according to multiple news reports, reporting by the BelaPAN-affiliated news website Naviny.by, and BelaPAN correspondent Tanya Korovenkova, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview.

Police detained five people, released two after they signed nondisclosure agreements, and are continuing to hold BelaPAN director and chief editor Iryna Leushyna, the agency’s former director Dzmitry Navazhilau, and accountant Katsyaryna Boeva at the Akrestsina Detention Facility in Minsk, according to Korovenkova and a report by Naviny.by, a sister news organization owned by BelaPAN’s parent company.

Korovenkova said that the three are technically being held under a 72-hour detention order, but she suspected their detentions would be extended.

Police also confiscated BelaPAN’s servers today, taking the agency’s website offline, according to those news reports and Korovenkova. BelaPAN is the country’s oldest independent news agency, according to reports.

“Belarusian authorities must release BelaPAN director Iryna Leushyna, former director Dzmitry Navazhilau, and accountant Katsyaryna Boeva immediately and unconditionally,” said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martínez de la Serna, in New York. “Authorities’ intensifying crackdown on the press shows that the Belarusian government will only be satisfied when there are no independent voices left in the country.”

Authorities began their searches of BelaPAN employees’ homes at about 7 a.m. today, Korovenkova told CPJ.

Officers from the Investigative Committee and the Interior Ministry’s Department for Combating Economic Crimes searched the homes of Leushyna, Navazhilau, and Boeva; BelaPAN correspondents Zakhar Shcharbakov and Iryna Turchina; and BelaPAN deputy chief editor and Naviny.by editor Aliaksandar Zaitsau, according to Korovenkova and multiple reports by Naviny.by.

Officers brought Leushyna to BelaPAN’s editorial office, which they also searched, according to Naviny.by and Korovenkova. They then questioned her at the headquarters of the Belarusian Investigative Committee in Minsk before sending her to the detention center, according to those sources.

Korovenkova said she did not know whether authorities confiscated anything from the editorial office or if it has been sealed, saying that BelaPAN’s staff have not visited the office today for fear of arrest. Naviny.by has since reported that the editorial office’s server was confiscated during the search.

Officers confiscated Shcharbakov’s laptop, cellphone, and flash drives during their raid, according to Naviny.by and Korovenkova. They took the journalist to the office of state telecommunications company Beltelecom, where they confiscated another BelaPAN server; they then questioned Shcharbakov at the Investigative Committee headquarters and released him after he signed a nondisclosure agreement, according to those sources.

Officers also confiscated Turchina’s computer, cellphone, flash drives, recorder, and notebooks, according to Naviny.by and Korovenkova. Investigative Committee officers questioned her at their headquarters as a witness in a criminal public order case concerning other BelaPAN staffers for around two hours before releasing her, also after signing a nondisclosure agreement, those sources said.

Officers confiscated Zaitsau’s cellphone, tablet, and a hard drive; they did not detain him, but made him sign an agreement to attend questioning at a future date without explaining whether he was a suspect in an ongoing criminal investigation, according to Korovenkova and Naviny.by.

This afternoon, the Investigative Committee of Belarus announced on Telegram that Leushyna, Boeva, and Nozhilov had been arrested on suspicion of organizing or participating in gross violations of public order under Article 342, Part 1, of the country’s criminal code. If convicted, they could face up to four years in prison under that law.

The statement also accused BelaPAN employees of evading an unspecified amount in taxes. Depending on the sum involved, tax evasion can be punishable by up to 12 years in prison, according to the criminal code.

CPJ emailed the Belarusian Investigative Committee and the Ministry of Internal Affairs for comment, but did not receive any replies.

In a statement published this evening on Naviny.by, BelaPAN stated that several of its staffers are in safety outside of Belarus and plan to continue the agency’s work.

In recent months, Belarusian authorities have launched a wave of raids and arrests against the country’s independent press, and have repeatedly accused outlets of tax evasion and public order violations in retaliation for their coverage of anti-government protests, as CPJ has documented.

Authorities previously raided BelaPAN’s offices in January in connection with investigations into former deputy director Andrei Aliaksandrau, according to news reports; Aliaksandrau was charged with treason in June, as CPJ documented.

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

Since the Taliban took power in the country earlier this week, militants have searched the homes of at least four journalists and news agency employees, according to journalists and representatives who spoke with CPJ.

Separately, CPJ is investigating news reports today that Taliban militants beat at least two journalists in the city of Jalalabad, in eastern Nangarhar province, while they were covering a protest against the militant group’s takeover.

“The Taliban needs to stand by its public commitment to allow a free and independent media at a time when Afghanistan’s people desperately need accurate news and information,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “The Taliban must cease searching the homes of journalists, commit to ending the use of violence against them, and allow them to operate freely and without interference.”

Taliban militants have searched the homes of at least three employees of the German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle, according to a statement from the news organization and corporate spokesperson Christoph Jumpelt, who communicated with CPJ via email.

CPJ was unable to determine the identities of those employees or when the searches took place. Jumpelt told CPJ that the employees were not in their homes at the time of the raids and have gone into hiding, but said he could not provide any further details.

Deutsche Welle is working with the German Foreign Ministry to facilitate the evacuation of its employees and families, according to its statement.

Yesterday, Taliban militants searched the home of a freelance journalist and interpreter who formerly worked with freelance U.S. journalist Wesley Morgan, according to Morgan, who spoke with CPJ via phone, and screenshots of security footage outside the home, which CPJ reviewed.

Morgan said that the journalist had gone into hiding and was not home at the time of the search. CPJ agreed not to publish their name due to safety concerns.

Yesterday, the Taliban held their first official news conference in Kabul, where spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said that private media outlets “can continue to be free and independent.” He added that “Islamic values should be taken into account” in media coverage, and that journalists should refrain from working “against national values.”

Mujahid did not respond to CPJ’s request for comment via messaging app.

Previously, on August 9, suspected Taliban militants kidnapped Nematullah Hemat, a reporter for the privately owned news channel Gharghasht TV, and shot and killed Toofan Omar, a manager of the privately owned radio station Paktia Ghag Radio, as CPJ documented at the time.

Hemat’s whereabouts remain unknown as of today, according to a person familiar with the case who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal from the Taliban.

On August 16, CPJ called on the United States to ensure the safety of Afghan journalists as the country falls under the control of the Taliban, including facilitating safe passage out of the country and providing emergency visas.

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

At about 11 a.m. on August 13, riot police officers raided the independent newspaper’s office in Managua, the capital, according to news reports and La Prensa’s digital editor-in-chief, Dora Luz Romero, who spoke with CPJ in a phone interview.

Employees were forced to leave the office during the raid and have not been allowed to reenter the building as of today, according to those sources.

At about 3 a.m. on August 14, police detained La Prensa publisher Juan Lorenzo Holmann after authorities summoned him to the offices of the El Chipote detention center “just to sign some papers,” according to a report by independent news website Confidencial and a police statement, which said Holmann is under investigation for alleged customs fraud and money laundering.

“The raid on Nicaragua’s lone remaining print newspaper demonstrates once again the little regard that President Daniel Ortega has for allowing the free flow of information within the country,” said CPJ Latin America and Caribbean Program Coordinator Natalie Southwick, in New York. “Authorities must immediately release Juan Lorenzo Holmann, stop interfering with La Prensa’s work, and allow journalists to report freely without fear of retaliation.”

Romero told CPJ that the raid occurred one day after La Prensa‘s board of directors announced they were pausing the paper’s print edition because customs authorities had repeatedly withheld imported supplies, including newsprint.

Previously, in September 2019, La Prensa reported that customs authorities had been withholding imported newsprint and ink supplies, as CPJ documented at the time. Those restrictions were lifted in February 2020, allowing the newspaper to continue printing, according to news reports.

During the raid, officers refused to allow La Prensa employees to use their cellphones but allowed media workers from state-sponsored outlets, including Viva Nicaragua Canal 13 and Channel 4, to document the police operation, according to a report by La Prensa.

State-sponsored media outlets later published reports accusing La Prensa staff of lying about the paper shortage. During a televised address following the raid, President Daniel Ortega accused the newspaper of laundering money and also said, “The Prosecutor’s Office and the Police arrived there and found quantities of paper. When you lie in this way, when you slander the State, that is a crime.”

Romero told CPJ, “Those reels [of paper] that the pro-government media say are sufficient to print the newspaper are reels of glossy paper, that does not work to print a newspaper. Newsprint is different.”

CPJ wrote Canal 13 and Canal 4 via email but did not immediately receive a response.

CPJ also emailed the Nicaraguan Customs Authority and the public relations department of the police for comment but did not receive a response.

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

“With today’s raid on the offices of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the detention of yet more journalists, Belarusian authorities show that they are determined to detain or intimidate every last independent reporter in the country,” said Robert Mahoney, CPJ’s deputy executive director, in New York. “The international community must step up pressure on President Aleksandr Lukashenko to release all jailed journalists and once and for all stop harassing media outlets for covering the news.”

Early this morning, security forces raided RFE/RL’s office in Minsk, where officers broke down doors, confiscated equipment, and sealed the office’s main entrance, according to multiple news reports and posts on the Telegram channel of RFE/RL’s Belarus service, Radio Svaboda.

Security officers also searched the homes of RFE/RL correspondent Valyantsin Zhdanko and former RFE/RL correspondents Aleh Hrudzilovich and Ina Studzinskaya, whose accreditations were cancelled by the authorities last year, according to those reports.

Officers detained Hrudzilovich and Studzinskaya following the raids, according to Radio Svaboda director Aleksandr Lukashuk, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview. He said the two former correspondents remain in detention, and did not know or whether they had been formally charged with a crime.

In a statement today, the Investigative Committee of Belarus accused members of the media and nongovernmental organizations of a number of financial crimes, including illegally funding protests. It also alleged that Zhdanko received a high salary for his work at RFE/RL, but did not accuse him or any other specific journalists of specific crimes, except for Andrei Aliaksandrau, founder and chief editor of the news website Belaruski Zhurnal, whom authorities have charged with tax crimes and treason, as CPJ has documented.

Law enforcement officers also raided the homes of at least 20 other journalists around the country today, including at least 17 with the Poland-based independent broadcaster Belsat, according to those news reports and Belsat TV Deputy Director Aleksei Dzikavitskiy, who spoke to CPJ by phone. At least three of those Belsat journalists are in detention, Dzikavitskiy said, adding that he did not know if they had been formally charged with any crime.

The statement did not provide reasons for today’s specific newsroom raids or journalist detentions.

Authorities’ current wave of raids on independent media outlets and detentions of journalists has been ongoing for over a week, as previously documented by CPJ.

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

Starting this morning, authorities raided at least three news outlets and arrested at least seven journalists nationwide amid a crackdown on the independent media, according to news reports, social media posts, and Barys Haretski, deputy director of the Belarusian Association of Journalists, a trade and advocacy group, who spoke with CPJ in a phone interview.

Belarusian authorities have repeatedly arrested, jailed, and harassed journalists since protests broke out nationwide last year following a contested August election in which longstanding leader Aleksandr Lukashenko claimed victory, as CPJ has documented.

“Today’s raids mark a significant escalation in Belarusian President Lukashenko’s war on the independent press,” said Robert Mahoney, CPJ’s deputy executive director. “The president has calculated that he can only stay in power by silencing critical voices and keeping Belarusian citizens in the dark.”

This morning, officers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs raided the office of the independent news website Nasha Niva in Minsk, the capital, according to multiple news reports, social media posts, and Haretski. Officers also raided the apartments of Nasha Niva chief editor Yahor Martsinovich, editor Andrey Skurko, and Andrey Dynko, chief editor of Nasha Niva’s magazine Nasha Istoriya, and transferred the three journalists to a temporary detention center in Minsk, according to those sources.

Authorities are investigating the three for allegedly “organizing or preparing acts that violate public order” and “mass riots,” according to those reports and Haretski, who said that the officers interrogated the three journalists at the local office of the Investigative Committee state security body before transferring them to detention.

Martsinovich fell ill during the interrogation and officers called an ambulance for him; he was treated and then the interrogation continued, according to reports and Haretski.

CPJ could not immediately determine whether authorities confiscated anything during the raids, or whether the journalists have been formally charged.

Also this morning, the Belarusian Ministry of Information blocked Nasha Niva’s website, and the ministry posted a statement saying that prosecutors accused the outlet of distributing unlawful information.

Also today, agents of the Belarusian security service, known as the KGB, raided the offices of the independent news websites Brestskaya Gazeta in the western city of Brest and Intex-Press in the western city of Baranovichi, according to reports and Haretski. CPJ could not immediately determine the basis of those raids or whether anyone was arrested.

Law enforcement officers today also searched the apartments of Alesia Latsinskaya, correspondent for the independent news website Bobr.by in the eastern city of Babruysk, and Zmitser Kazakevich and Vitaly Skryl, both freelance correspondents for the independent broadcaster Belsat TV in the eastern city Vitsebsk, according to news reports and Haretski.

Haretski told CPJ that Skryl was arrested for allegedly “insulting a government official” and is currently in a detention center in Vitsebsk.

Kazakevich was not home at the time and was not detained, according to those sources. News reports said that officers raided his home for about three hours in relation to a slander case, and confiscated notebooks, two cameras, and a small red-and-white flag.

Police briefly held Latsinskaya and then released her after she signed a non-disclosure agreement stating she would not speak about her case, according to reports. CPJ was unable to determine the reason for her arrest.

Law enforcement officers also detained Zmitser Lupach, a freelance Belsat TV correspondent, while he was being treated at a medical facility in the eastern city of Plisa today, according to reports and Haretski. Authorities also raided his apartment, those reports said. CPJ could not immediately determine why Lupach was arrested or where he was being held.

Also today, law enforcement officers searched the apartment of Ihar Kazmierczak, a correspondent with the independent news website Orsha.eu, in the eastern city of Orsha, according to reports and Haretski, who said that, following the raid, officers arrested Kazmierczak for alleged property damage.

Previously, on July 6, police in Brest arrested Aleh Suprunyuk, editor of the independent news website Pershiy Region, for alleged “distribution of extremist materials,” according to news reports, which said he was released the same day pending trial.

Separately, yesterday a Minsk court upheld a prior decision to recognize materials published by the independent news website Tut.by as “extremist,” according to reports. At least 13 Tut.by employees remain in custody after police arrested them in May for alleged tax evasion, as CPJ reported at the time.

CPJ emailed the Belarusian Investigative Committee, the Ministry of Information, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs for comments, but did not immediately receive any responses.

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

Today, Moscow police raided the apartments of Proekt chief editor Roman Badanin, deputy editor Mikhail Rubin, and correspondent Mariya Zholobova, and interrogated them, according to news reports and two of the journalists’ lawyers, who spoke with CPJ.

Officers confiscated two laptops from Badanin, a phone and a tablet from Rubin, and phones, computers, flash drives, and SIM cards from Zholobova, according to those reports and Vasiliy Kushnir, Zholobova’s lawyer, who spoke with CPJ in a phone interview.

Police raided Badanin and Zholobova’s apartments at about 8 a.m. today, according to those reports and Kushnir. Police raided Rubin’s apartment this evening, and also searched his parents’ home, according to those reports and Artyom Nemov, Rubin’s lawyer, who spoke with CPJ via messaging app.

Police conducted the raids as part of a libel case over a 2017 documentary that Badanin and Zholobova contributed to, which accused a businessman of ties to organized crime, according to news reports.

However, Proekt published a statement today accusing police of initiating the raids to stop the publication of an investigation into alleged corrupt practices by Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev. That statement said that the raids occurred shortly after Proekt announced that investigation; while the raids were ongoing, the outlet published the investigation on its website and on YouTube.

“Russian authorities should immediately drop their investigation into Proekt and its journalists Roman Badanin, Mariya Zholobova, and Mikhail Rubin, return their equipment, and stop harassing them for their investigative reporting,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Law enforcement’s job should be to protect journalists, not to use the law to try and shut down independent voices.”

During the raid on Badanin’s apartment, officers did not allow Anna Bogatyryova, his lawyer, to enter the building, and only let her meet with her client after she called the police to complain, according to news reports.

After the searches, police interrogated all three journalists as witnesses, those reports said. Kusnir told CPJ that officers interrogated Zholobova at a local police station about her sources for the 2017 documentary, and the journalist declined to answer.

Nemov did not say what topics police questioned Rubin about; the search of the journalist’s apartment was ongoing when he spoke to CPJ. Those reports said that Badanin and Bogatyryova had both signed non-disclosure agreements.

Proekt’s website also briefly went offline this morning, according to reports.

CPJ emailed the Investigative Committee in Moscow and the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs for comment, but did not receive any replies. CPJ also emailed Kolokoltsev through the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ press service, but did not immediately receive any reply.

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

At 9 a.m. yesterday, riot police officers surrounded the independent news website Confidencial’s office in Managua, and about 90 minutes later raided the office, according to news reports and Confidencial founder and director Carlos F. Chamorro, who described the raid in an interview on the outlet’s Facebook page. Police have continued to occupy the office and deny entry to its employees, according to those sources.

Officers removed boxes from the office and detained camera operator Leonel Gutiérrez, who was the only staff member present at the time of the raid, according to those sources, which did not specify what was in the boxes. Police transferred Gutiérrez to the Directorate of Judicial Assistance, a prison facility in Managua, and held him for seven hours before releasing him, according to Confidencial.

According to news reports, authorities have not provided any justification for the raid or Gutiérrez’s detention. The outlet has continued publishing following the raid, and Chamorro said in that interview, “We are going to keep informing.”

“Since Nicaraguan authorities have failed to provide any justification for yet another raid on Confidencial’s offices and the detention of its staff member Leonel Gutiérrez, it seems likely that their motive is simply to continue harassing and censoring the outlet,” said CPJ Central and South America Program Coordinator Natalie Southwick, in New York. “Authorities must immediately return any materials confiscated from Confidencial and allow the outlet’s journalists to work freely.”

Early yesterday morning, the Nicaraguan Interior Ministry announced that it was opening a money laundering investigation into prospective presidential candidate Cristiana Chamorro, an activist and Carlos Chamorro’s sister, according to news reports.

Carlos Chamorro told 100% Noticias that Confidencial was not connected in any way to his sister’s foundation that is under investigation.

Police also attacked and detained journalists covering the raid on Confidencial, according to news reports, which said that officers tried to confiscate reporters’ phones and video equipment. Officers detained Agence France-Presse camera operator Luis Sequeira for about 20 minutes, according to a report by his employer.

Sequeira told newspaper La Prensa that the officers checked his phone and deleted videos he had recorded of the raid.

CPJ emailed the Nicaraguan Interior Ministry and the public relations department of the police for comment but did not immediately receive any replies.

Previously, in late 2018, police raided and occupied Confidencial’s previous newsroom, forcing Carlos Chamorro and several other journalists into exile, as CPJ documented at the time. Chamorro returned to Nicaragua on November 25, 2019, according to reports.

CPJ has documented a widespread crackdown on the Nicaraguan media since a wave of protests in 2018, including newsroom raids, criminal defamation charges, and attacks and imprisonment of journalists.

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

At about 7 p.m. on May 14, National Guard agents executing an order issued by a Caracas court raided the newspaper’s headquarters in the Los Cortijos area of Caracas, evacuated the outlet’s staff, and took control of the building, according to a report by El Nacional, a statement by the newspaper’s lawyer Juan Garantón as quoted by El Nacional, and a tweet by the National Union of Press Workers, a local media workers’ advocacy group.

The building was seized as partial payment in a civil defamation suit that the outlet lost in April, according to those sources. Garantón told CPJ today via messaging app that the paper’s employees and representatives have not been allowed to enter the building since the raid, but have continued publishing on the outlet’s website from other locations.

“The seizure of the headquarters of El Nacional as partial payment of damages to Diosdado Cabello is the latest step in a long and arbitrary process of judicial harassment and abuses against the daily for daring to report on corruption allegations,” said CPJ South and Central America Program Coordinator Natalie Southwick, in New York. “By taking control of the headquarters of one of the most influential outlets in the country, Venezuelan authorities have shown they will go to extraordinary lengths to suppress independent news.”

On April 16, the Venezuelan Supreme Tribunal ordered El Nacional to pay the equivalent of more than $13 million in civil damages to Diosdado Cabello, a congressman and the vice president of the ruling Socialist Party, as CPJ documented at the time; Cabello had sued the newspaper over its republication of a January 2015 story from the Madrid-based newspaper ABC.

Founded in 1943, El Nacional is an independent newspaper that has been critical of President Nicolás Maduro’s government; the daily published its last print edition in December 2018 due to government restrictions on newsprint, and has continued publishing online.

CPJ emailed Cabello for comment, but did not receive any response. Following the raid, he posted a tweet stating that “the process of payment of compensation has begun,” adding “we will prevail!!”

CPJ called the Bolivarian National Guard at the number listed on its official website, but the person who took the call said they did not have information on the issue.

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