Pakistani journalists beaten, detained in Balochistan prison without charge for 2 days
On June 19, 2020, agents with the Pakistani Balochistan Levies force, a law enforcement agency under the direction of the Balochistan district administration, detained and beat Saeed Ali Achakzai, a reporter with the privately owned TV channel Samaa TV, and Abdul Mateen Achakzai, a reporter for privately owned broadcaster Khyber TV, according to both journalists,…
Tajikistan authorities question family members of exiled journalist
On July 3, 2020, the Tajikistan prosecutor general’s office in Dushanbe, the capital, summoned two relatives of exiled journalist Mirzo Salimpur and questioned them about their relationship with him, according to news reports and Salimpur, who spoke with CPJ in a phone interview. Salimpur said he believes his relatives were interrogated in an attempt to…
Freelance reporter charged with insulting Zimbabwe’s president
On June 29, 2020, Godfrey Mtimba, a freelance journalist in Zimbabwe’s southern town of Masvingo, was charged with insulting and undermining the authority of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, the journalist and his lawyer, Phillip Shumba, told CPJ via messaging app. Mtimba was charged under Section 33 (2) (a) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act,…
Gambian police detain journalist documenting COVID-19 protests
On June 21, 2020, officers of Gambia’s anti-crime police unit detained Ebou N. Keita, an editor and camera operator with the privately owned Gambian Talents Television broadcaster, for photographing police arresting people protesting the country’s COVID-19 restrictions, according to Keita and Gambian Talents Television founder Pa Ousman Joof, both of whom spoke to CPJ via…
Lebanese soldiers assault 5 journalists covering protest north of Beirut; judge bans outlets from interviewing U.S. ambassador
On June 28, 2020, Lebanese soldiers assaulted at least five journalists while they were reporting on protesters who were attempting to block a highway in Jal el-Dib, five and a half miles (nine kilometers) north of Beirut, according to news reports, the regional press freedom group SKeyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedom, reports in…
Hackers delete social media content of independent Azerbaijani news outlet Meydan TV
On June 18, 2020, anonymous hackers deleted nearly all of the content from the Azeri-language Facebook page of Meydan TV, an independent Germany-based news outlet that covers Azerbaijan, according to Matthew Kasper, the outlet’s project head, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview. The hackers deleted all of Meydan TV’s Facebook posts since 2018,…
Russian journalists detained during protests for release of jailed reporter Ivan Safronov
On July 13, Moscow police detained at least 18 members of the press who were demonstrating in support of jailed journalist Ivan Safronov, according to news reports. Authorities took the journalists to police stations in Kapotnya, Lefortovo, and Kuzminki districts, accused them of violating protest regulations, and then released them on the condition that they…
Eswatini editor receives death threats over pro-government article
On June 14, 2020, an alleged member of an Eswatini opposition group sent threatening text messages to Welcome Dlamini, an assistant weekend editor of the privately owned newspaper The Times of Eswatini, over a column he had published in support of the country’s government, according to the journalist, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app,…
Journalists in India assaulted, targeted with investigations amid COVID-19 pandemic
Between April 5, 2020, and June 11, 2020, one journalist was assaulted by police, another had his property destroyed by local authorities in retaliation for his reporting, and at least five others were subject to criminal investigations and, in one case, an interrogation, according to interviews CPJ conducted with five of the journalists and media…
Three photographers arrested while covering protests in Medellín, Colombia
On June 15, 2020, police assaulted, arrested, and detained overnight photographers Harrison Agudelo, Juan Carlos Londoño, and Juan Pablo Herrera, according to Londoño who spoke to CPJ via phone and the Bogotá-based group Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP). The incident happened as the three were covering an anti-government protest in the western Colombian city of…