Alerts

Sulaymaniyah, January 31, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists urges Iraqi Kurdish authorities to release journalist Omed Baroshky after the Duhok criminal court on Thursday sentenced him to six months in prison on charges of defamation. Baroshky’s lawyer, Reving Yaseen, told CPJ via messaging app that the charges stem from a January 23, 2024 Facebook post…

Bogotá, January 30, 2025—Colombian authorities must swiftly complete their investigation into the killing of journalist Óscar Gómez Agudelo, who was fatally shot as he entered his office on Friday, January 24, at the community radio station Rumba del Café in the western Colombian city of Armenia, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.   “The special prosecutor appointed to investigate the killing…

New York, January 30, 2025—Ukrainian military officers detained three journalists for eight hours on accusations of “illegal border crossing” on January 6 in Sudzha, a Ukrainian-controlled town in Russia’s Kursk region. The journalists — Ukrainian freelance reporter Petro Chumakov, Kurt Pelda, correspondent with Swiss media group CH Media, and freelance camera operator Josef Zehnder — had army…

Dakar, January 30, 2025—Guinea’s High Authority of Communication should reverse its decision to indefinitely suspend the privately owned news site Dépêche Guinée and ensure the public has unrestrained access to diverse media sources, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. “The banning of Dépêche Guinée represents an escalation of the Guinean communications regulator’s censorship efforts and…

Bangkok, January 30, 2025—Malaysian authorities must immediately return Malaysiakini’s executive editor RK Anand’s laptop, and stop harassing the independent news site, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. “The police seizure of Malaysiakini executive editor RK Anand’s laptop is a clear and gross violation of press freedom,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative….

Bangkok, January 30, 2025—Philippine authorities must drop the terrorism financing charges pending against journalist Deo Montesclaros and stop using legal threats to intimidate the media, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On January 10, the northern Cagayan Provincial Prosecutor’s Office sent Montesclaros a legal notice alleging that he provided supplies to the banned New…

New York, January 28, 2025—Pakistan’s Senate on Tuesday passed controversial amendments to the country’s cybercrime laws, which would criminalize the “intentional” spread of “false news” with prison terms of up to three years, a fine of up to 2 million rupees (USD$7,100), or both.  The amendments to the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) were…

Istanbul, January 28, 2025—A court in the Kurdish-majority city of Diyarbakır on Tuesday found journalist Safiye Alagaş guilty of membership in a terrorist organization and sentenced her to six years and three months in prison. Alagaş, who spent a year behind bars in pretrial arrest, remains free pending appeal.  “The evidence brought against Kurdish journalist…

Nairobi, January 24, 2025– The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on South Sudanese authorities to reverse its social media ban and to ensure that the public has open and reliable internet access, which is essential for news gathering amid unrest in the country. “Blocking social media access is a blanket act of censorship and a disproportionate response…

Mexico City, January 24, 2025—Unidentified attackers shot and killed reporter Calletano de Jesús Guerrero while he was in the parking lot of the San Antonio de Padua parish church in Teoloyucan, a town 25 miles north of Mexico City, on Friday, January 17. Guerrero, 57, had been under federal protection since 2014 because of threats…