On October 29, 2020, Golam Sarwar, the then publisher and executive editor of the privately owned news website ctnewsbd.com, was abducted in Kazir Dewri, a neighborhood in the southeastern Bangladeshi city of Chittagong, according to multiple news reports and Sarwar, who spoke with CPJ via messaging app. An unidentified man approached the journalist from behind,…
Bangkok, December 9, 2021 – Philippine authorities should conduct a rapid and thorough investigation into the killing of journalist Jesus “Jess” Malabanan and swiftly bring those responsible to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. At about 6 p.m. yesterday, unidentified assailants on a motorcycle shot Malabanan in the head while he was watching…
Editor’s note: Numbers for each prison census are adjusted yearly as CPJ learns of arrests, releases, or deaths in prison. The numbers for CPJ’s 2021 census have been revised from 293 to 302 in accordance with this policy. For the most recent data, see cpj.org/data/imprisoned/ The number of journalists jailed around the world set another record…
The year 2021 marks a sad milestone in Hong Kong. For the first time journalists in the former British colony appear on CPJ’s annual survey of journalists unjustly imprisoned for their work. Eight. Zero to eight in one year. I first visited Hong Kong nearly 50 years ago as a student and returned to live…
Myanmar has catapulted in the rankings of the Committee to Protect Journalists’ annual census of jailed journalists, the repressive upshot of a democracy-suspending February 1 coup that saw authorities suppress news coverage of their harsh clampdown on anti-military protesters. At least 26 journalists were imprisoned in Myanmar for their reporting as of December 1, compared with…
New York, December 7, 2021 – As Maria Ressa flies to Oslo to accept the Nobel Peace Prize, the #HoldtheLine Coalition has condemned ongoing State-linked legal harassment of the Nobel Laureate after new libel complaints were filed against Ressa’s Rappler and six other news organizations – by a senior member of the Philippine cabinet. The complaints…
Bangkok, December 7, 2021 – Myanmar authorities must immediately and unconditionally release journalists Kaung Sett Lin and Hmu Yadanar Khet Moh Moh Tun, who were arrested after sustaining injuries covering anti-military protests, and ensure that those responsible for injuring the journalists are brought to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Authorities arrested photojournalist…
New York, December 2, 2021 – One week ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony, the #HoldtheLine Coalition calls on the government of the Philippines to drop all pending cases and charges against veteran journalist and Nobel Laureate Maria Ressa and grant her unrestricted permission to travel to Oslo to accept this prestigious international…
Washington, D.C., December 2, 2021 — Sri Lanka authorities must immediately open a new, impartial investigation into the attack on freelance journalist Vishwalingam Vishwachandran and hold the perpetrators to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On November 27, a group of soldiers with the Sri Lanka army allegedly beat Vishwachandran, who contributes to…
Washington, D.C., November 24, 2021 — The Taliban must thoroughly investigate the recent attack on journalist Ahmad Baseer Ahmadi and do everything in their power to protect the safety of members of the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. At about 5:30 p.m. on November 18, in Kabul, the capital, two unidentified men…