Radio reporter Rex Cornelio Pepino shot and killed in the Philippines
Bangkok, May 6, 2020 — Philippine authorities should conduct a swift and transparent investigation into the killing of reporter Rex Cornelio Pepino, determine if the attack was related to his journalism, and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
CPJ, 192 partner organizations urge UN Secretary General to take action to secure release of jailed journalists amid COVID-19
The #FreeThePress campaign, made up of 193 press freedom and human rights organizations and the more than 11,337 concerned citizens who signed the petition, urges the UN secretary general to take immediate action to secure the release of journalists jailed around the world whose lives are risk due to the spread of COVID-19.
Philippines orders ABS-CBN news network off the air
Bangkok, May 5, 2020 — Philippine authorities should allow the ABS-CBN network to resume broadcasting and should not let political considerations affect administrative decisions regarding media outlets’ licenses, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Malaysian journalist faces six years in prison over COVID-19 Facebook posts
When Malaysian journalist Wan Noor Hayati Wan Alias criticized a government decision to allow a cruise ship with Chinese tourists to dock and disembark at the coastal city of Penang in late January, a time when China was at the epicenter of the COVID-19 global pandemic, she was criminally charged with causing a public panic.
Journalist in Rohingya refugee camp describes bracing for coronavirus without access to internet
Ro Sawyeddollah has lived in a refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, since he fled Myanmar along with thousands of other ethnic Rohingya in 2017, where the U.N. found that Rohingya live under threat of genocide.
Missing Bangladeshi journalist Shafiqul Islam Kajol arrested after being found near Indian border
Washington, D.C., May 3, 2020–Police in Jessore, Bangladesh, should immediately release journalist Shafiqul Islam Kajol from custody and drop all charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Family of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl files to uphold convictions in 2002 murder
Washington, D.C., May 2, 2020 — The parents of murdered Wall Street Journal correspondent Daniel Pearl today filed an appeal to the Pakistani Supreme Court to reverse the April 2 decision of the Sindh High Court that overturned convictions of four men in Pearl’s 2002 kidnapping and murder case, according to copies of court documents…
Journalists detained, assaulted in India during COVID-19 lockdown
On April 11, 2020, police in the Bandipora district of Indian-controlled Jammu and Kashmir state arrested Mushtaq Ganaie, a reporter with the English-language privately held daily Kashmir Observer, on allegations of obstructing police, violating the COVID-19 lockdown, and spreading the virus, according to Ganaie, who spoke to CPJ via phone, and a report by his…