Journalist facing charges in Ecuador files for asylum in Peru
New York, April 18, 2017–Ecuadoran journalist Fernando Villavicencio, director of the news website Focus Ecuador and a critic of outgoing President Rafael Correa, today filed a petition for political asylum in Lima, Peru. A statement from the regional press group Instituto Prensa y Sociedad (IPYS) said the journalist, who fled to Lima after presidential elections…
Russian journalist flees Moscow following threats
New York, April 17, 2017–Russian authorities should immediately and thoroughly investigate threats made against Elena Milashina, an investigative journalist for the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta and a former correspondent for the Committee to Protect Journalists, CPJ said today. In an April 15 interview with The Washington Post, Milashina said that she left Moscow following…
Ethiopia Supreme Court says two Zone 9 bloggers should face incitement charges
New York, April 6, 2017–Ethiopia’s Supreme Court today ruled that two bloggers from the Zone 9 collective, previously acquitted of terrorism charges, should be tried instead on charges of inciting violence through their writing. If convicted of the charge, Atnaf Berhane and Natnail Feleke would face a maximum prison sentence of 10 years, according to…
UPDATE: In Turkey, authorities rule to free journalists, then reverse decision
New York, March 31, 2017– Istanbul’s 25th Court for Serious Crimes ordered the release pending trial of at least 19 journalists jailed in the aftermath of the July 2016 failed coup attempt in Turkey, but the decision was reversed after an appeal by the chief prosecutor, and none of the journalists were freed, according to…
Die Welt Turkey correspondent jailed pending trial
New York, February 28, 2017–Turkish prosecutors should immediately and unconditionally drop all charges against Deniz Yücel, Turkey correspondent for the German newspaper Die Welt, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Istanbul’s Ninth Court of Penal Peace last night ordered the journalist, a dual citizen of Turkey and Germany detained since February 14, jailed pending…
Iraqi Kurdish journalist killed by roadside bomb in Mosul
New York, February 25, 2017–Iraqi Kurdish reporter Shifa Zikri Ibrahim, known professionally as Shifa Gardi, was killed today by a roadside bomb while covering the Iraqi Army’s offensive against the Islamic State group in western Mosul for the Kurdish TV station Rudaw, the network said. A cameraman for the network, Younis Mustafa, was also injured…
Reporters barred from U.S. press secretary briefing
New York, February 24, 2017–The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by the decision today to bar nine news outlets from an informal briefing known as “a gaggle” by President Donald Trump’s White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer. Separately, at the Conservative Party Action Conference in Maryland today, Trump said that journalists should not be…
Venezuela suspends CNN en Español broadcasts
New York, February 15, 2017–Venezuela’s state telecommunications regulator Conatel today ordered transmissions of CNN en Español to be suspended in the country, according to reports. A statement from the regulator said that Conatel was initiating administrative proceedings against the Spanish-language channel of CNN, which it said distorted the truth and “attack[ed] the peace and democratic…
Ukraine police see journalism as motive in Pavel Sheremet’s murder
New York, February 8, 2017–Ukrainian investigators’ announcement today that they consider Pavel Sheremet’s journalism as the most likely motive in his July 2016 murder is a welcome step toward bringing his killers to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov told journalists in Kiev that police believe Sheremet, who…