Bangladesh authorities detain journalist Mohammad Akhtaruzzaman under Digital Security Act
On July 18, police in the northern district of Bogura arrested Mohammad Akhtaruzzaman, a district correspondent who covers business news for the Dhaka-based Bangla daily newspaper Banijjo Pratidin, and opened an investigation into the journalist under the Digital Security Act, according to news reports. Authorities allege that Akhtaruzzaman published two Facebook posts under a pseudonym…
Exiled Turkish journalist attacked near his home in Germany
On the evening of July 7, 2021, Erk Acarer, an exiled Turkish journalist who is a columnist for the Turkish leftist daily BirGün, was attacked outside his home in Berlin by three assailants who used “fists and knives” while one told him, “you will not write,” according to journalist’s video and written accounts on Twitter, and to news reports. Acarer tweeted…
Assailant of Turkish journalist Can Dündar convicted over 2016 attack, but sentence delayed
On July 8, 2021, a Turkish court sentenced Murat Şahin, who attempted to shoot journalist Can Dündar in a 2016 incident in Istanbul that left journalist Yağız Şenkal injured, to a delayed prison term and monetary fine, according to news reports. The 28th Istanbul Court of First Instance found Şahin guilty of several charges, including…
Police detain camera operator Nazım Fayık while covering protest in Ankara, Turkey
On July 5, 2021, police disrupted a protest near a prison in Ankara, Turkey, and detained at least one journalist, according to news reports and video of the detention shared on social media. Police detained Nazım Fayık, a camera operator with the leftist pro-Kurdish website and TV broadcaster Artı Gerçek, along with five demonstrators at…
Iran convicts 4 media workers over coverage of alleged corruption in Oil Ministry
On July 5, 2021, Judge Abbas Shaghaghi of Branch 6 of Tehran’s Media Court convicted four members of the press on criminal false news and defamation charges, according to reports by the exile-run news website IranWire and the semi-official Tasnim News Agency. The court convicted Mizenaft managing director Hamid Hajipour, Naftema managing director Mehdi Ghadiri,…
Algerian journalist Mustapha Bendjama given 2-month suspended prison sentence
On June 27, 2021, an appeals court in Annaba, in northeast Algeria, issued Mustapha Bedjama, editor-in-chief of the local independent news website Le Provincial, a two-month suspended prison sentence and a fine of 20,000 dinars (US $150), according to news reports and Bendjama, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app. The case stemmed from “harming…
South African EFF party supporters block journalists from covering protest
On June 10, 2021, a group of supporters of the South African Economic Freedom Fighters opposition party harassed and threatened reporter Ayesha Ismail and camera operator Mario Pedro, with the privately owned broadcaster eNCA, while they tried to cover an anti-racism protest in Cape Town, according to video of the incident shared on social media…
Syrian Kurdish security forces detain fixer Kamiran Sadoun overnight in Raqqa
On June 16, 2021, officers with the Syrian Democratic Forces’ General Security agency detained Kamiran Sadoun, a fixer for international journalists, for several hours in a jail in the city of Raqqa, according to the journalist, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app, and a statement by the local press freedom group the Syrian Kurdish…
Czech president’s office bans communications with 5 outlets for alleged ‘misinformation’
On May 21, 2021, the office of Czech President Miloš Zeman issued a statement saying it would no longer provide any information to the weekly Respekt newspaper, news websites Seznam Zprávy and Deník N, and 168 Hodin and Reportéři ČT, two news programs on the public broadcaster Česká Televize. The statement accused the five outlets…
Israeli forces detain and assault Al-Jazeera journalist, other reporters in Jerusalem
On June 5, 2021, Israeli forces detained Al-Jazeera reporter Givara Budeiri in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah while she was covering a protest marking the 54th anniversary of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and Israeli authorities’ ongoing attempts to force Palestinian residents out of the neighborhood, according to her employer and The Associated Press. A video report uploaded…