2016

  

Unknown gunmen kill two Iraqi journalists

New York, January 12, 2016–Unknown gunmen shot to death two journalists working for the independent Al-Sharqiya TV station in Iraq today, according to the channel and news reports. The attack marks the first killings of journalists to be documented by the Committee to Protect Journalists in 2016.

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Kenyan journalist arrested

Kenyan police arrested journalist Elijah Kinyanjui Maina in the town of Nakuru, roughly 160 kilometres (99 miles) northwest of Nairobi, on January 12, 2016, and released him that evening, according to news reports. Maina is managing editor of the website Nakuru County News, which focuses on local news.

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Indonesia denies media visa for France 24 reporter

Bangkok, January 12, 2016 – The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Indonesia’s refusal to issue a media visa to French journalist Cyril Payen. The Bangkok-based senior reporter for France 24 television received notice of the denial from Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs without explanation on Friday, he told CPJ.

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Iran arrests journalists, bans newspaper ahead of elections

New York, January 11, 2016–Iranian authorities should immediately release Farzad Pourmoradi, Meysam Mohammadi, and all journalists detained for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Authorities should furthermore lift the ban on the daily newspaper Bahar, CPJ said. The arrests and the ban on the newspaper come ahead of legislative elections scheduled to…

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Pictures of filmmaker Naji Jerf are held up at his funeral in Gaziantep in December. Syrian media activists based in Turkey say the murder of Jerf and two other journalists makes the country feels less secure. (STR/AFP)

For journalists fleeing Islamic State, Turkey ‘is as dangerous as Syria’

For the past two years, activists and journalists seeking refuge from Islamic State repression in Raqqa would take sanctuary across the border in southern Turkey, setting up safe houses and offices, and darting back to Syria regularly with camera equipment and other vital supplies. But that sanctuary is now under threat.

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Ugandan editors arrested for refusing to reveal a source

Ugandan police on January 8, 2016, released two Ugandan editors after holding them without contact with the outside world for 24 hours for failing to reveal the source for a photograph published in their respective publications.

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South Sudan arrests journalist, newspaper ceases publishing

New York, January 7, 2016—South Sudanese authorities should immediately release journalist Joseph Afandi, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The editor of the newspaper where Afandi worked resigned after Afandi’s arrest, and the newspaper has not published since.

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Reeyot Alemu embraces Al-Jazeera journalist Mohamed Fahmy at CPJ's 2015 International Press Freedom Awards. Both were freed from prison last year. (Getty Images/Michael Nagle)

‘They wanted me to say I was wrong’: Freed Ethiopian journalist on why 1,500 days in jail failed to silence her

Reeyot Alemu, an Ethiopian journalist who worked for the independent weekly Feteh, spent almost 1,500 days in prison after being arrested in June 2011 and charged with terrorism in 2012. She was released unexpectedly in July.

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The headquarters of TVP in Warsaw. Poland's new media law moves toward giving the government greater powers over the public broadcaster. (Reuters/Slawomir Kaminski)

Will the EU’s actions speak louder than its words on Poland’s new media law?

On January 13, the European Commission–the so-called guardian of EU treaties–will meet in Brussels to debate a troubling law passed in Poland today that, according to reports, paves the way for the government to take control of public service TV and radio.

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Bahrain accuses journalist of supporting terrorism

New York, January 6, 2016–Bahraini authorities should immediately release journalist Mahmoud al-Jaziri and drop all charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The terrorism charges were announced amid escalating sectarian tensions in Bahrain and other Gulf countries.

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2016