Record number of journalists jailed as Turkey, China, Egypt pay scant price for repression
For the second year in a row, the number of journalists imprisoned for their work hit a historical high, as the U.S. and other Western powers failed to pressure the world’s worst jailers–Turkey, China, and Egypt–into improving the bleak climate for press freedom. A CPJ special report by Elana Beiser
Pakistan arrests journalist whose rental car was rigged with bomb
New York, November 27, 2017– The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Pakistani security forces to immediately release journalist Khalil Afridi, who police are holding without charge in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Authorities detained the correspondent for the Khyber News TV channel on November 24 after an explosive device was found under a car…
Pakistani journalist faces terrorism and defamation charges for article critical of regional government
New York, October 4, 2017–Authorities in Pakistan should drop charges against journalist Shabbir Siham, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan’s northern Gilgit-Baltistan region summoned Siham for a hearing on October 7 on accusations of fabrication and extorting a regional minister in violation of Pakistan’s Anti-Terrorism Act, according to news…
Pakistan charges two journalists under anti-terror law
Pakistani authorities charged two journalists with publishing and distributing anti-state material on September 20, 2016, according to a member of a local nongovernmental organization who is familiar with the case but did not want to be named for fear of retribution. Authorities in the northwest Gilgit-Baltistan region arrested Daulat Jan Mathal, the editor-in-chief of three…
In Pakistan, press safety hubs provide support and training for journalists at risk
When a criminal gang sent threatening messages to Ghulam Mustafa, the reporter said his only option was to stop working for the Pakistani station Geo News. Mustafa acknowledges that laying low for nearly three years was the right decision to ensure his safety, but he said, “Professionally, it was strange that I was not working.…
Pakistani security officials assault and briefly detain journalists
New York, July 24, 2017–Pakistani police should launch a thorough investigation into allegations that Federal Investigation Agency officials assaulted and briefly detained journalists in Islamabad last week, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
