Statements

August 5, 2025—Press freedom organizations Free Press Unlimited (FPU), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) welcome the corruption conviction of former Palawan governor Joel T. Reyes – the alleged mastermind behind the 2011 murder of journalist Gerry Ortega – handed down last week by the Sandiganbayan, the Philippines’ anti-graft court in Quezon City.  Reyes…

New York, July 31, 2025—Ahead of Friday’s expected verdict in the trial of journalist Mzia Amaglobeli, the Committee to Protect Journalists and 13 other media and human rights groups called on Georgian authorities to drop the charge against her and release her. Amaglobeli, founder and director of award-winning independent news outlets Batumelebi and Netgazeti, has…

July 29, 2025, marks 1,095 days since the beginning of the arbitrary detention of journalist Jose Rubén Zamora, founder of elPeriódico and one of the most prominent voices in journalism in Guatemala and Latin America.   Zamora was arrested in 2022 following a raid in which he was not informed of the charges against him. In less than 72…

New York, July 24, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Kyrgyz authorities to conduct a thorough, independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding journalist Azimjon Askarov’s death, ahead of the fifth anniversary of his passing on Friday.    Authorities have stated that Askarov died in prison on July 25, 2020, from complications related to COVID-19. But they have failed…

Atlanta, July 22, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists and partners on Tuesday called on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to release Atlanta-based journalist Mario Guevara, who has been in jail since his June 14, 2025, arrest, despite the dropping of all charges against him and an immigration judge ordering his release on bail.  An Emmy-winning, Spanish-language journalist, Guevara was arrested on First Amendment-related…

Lusaka, July 21, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the Malawi Constitutional Court’s landmark July 16 ruling striking down Section 200 of the penal code criminalizing defamation. “Malawi’s Constitutional Court has taken a monumental step towards protecting press freedom and affirmed that criticism and dissent are essential to democracy by ruling criminal defamation to be unconstitutional,” said…

As Gaza faces a humanitarian catastrophe, Palestinian journalists are among those going hungry. Cut off from food, aid, and support from the international press, they continue to report, not only on the war, but on their own malnutrition. “Palestinian journalists are the last witnesses on the ground,” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. “Their reporting…

New York, July 9, 2025—CPJ urges Tunisian authorities to cease the prosecution of family members of journalists advocating for their release after a Tunis court on July 1 sentenced in absentia Ramla Dahmani, the sister of imprisoned lawyer and political commentator Sonia Dahmani, to two years in prison on false news charges.  “Tunisian authorities are…

Atlanta, Georgia, July 1, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes Tuesday’s order to release journalist Mario Guevara, who was arrested while livestreaming a protest in an Atlanta suburb on June 14, from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, on bond. Despite the court order for Guevara’s release, CPJ is concerned by the government lawyer’s argument…

Geneva, June 27, 2025—A handwritten letter by journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio, who has been detained in the Philippines for more than five years without a conviction, was read out at the United Nations headquarters by U.N. special envoy Irene Khan, who called the 26-year-old’s prolonged detention “a travesty of justice.” It was the first time…