Hong Kong judge upholds police request to search Jimmy Lai’s phones
Taipei, September 1, 2022–Hong Kong authorities should drop their efforts to search the cellphones of media owner Jimmy Lai, which would violate basic tenets of press freedom, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On Tuesday, August 30, a High Court judge ruled that police could search two phones with journalistic information owned by Lai,…
Russian prosecutor requests 24 years in prison for journalist Ivan Safronov
Paris, August 30, 2022–In response to media reports that a Russian prosecutor on Tuesday asked that journalist Ivan Safronov be sentenced to 24 years in prison, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement of condemnation: “The Russian prosecutor’s request that journalist Ivan Safronov be jailed for 24 years is shocking even by the…
Uzbekistan denies entry to CPJ’s Gulnoza Said, forces her to return to US
Update: On Tuesday evening, after remaining in the airport for about five hours, Said was admitted to Uzbekistan. Authorities did not give a reason for her initial refusal. Paris, August 30, 2022 — On Tuesday morning, Uzbek immigration authorities denied entry to CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Gulnoza Said, stating that the immigration…
Turkish court rejects request to release 15 journalists from pretrial detention
Istanbul, August 22, 2022 – In response to news reports that a Turkish court in the southeastern city of Diyarbakır rejected appeals to release 15 journalists and one media worker from pretrial detention, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement of condemnation: “We are deeply disappointed by the court’s decision to reject a…
CPJ welcomes sentencing over killing of journalists James Foley, Steven Sotloff
Washington, D.C., August 19, 2022 — The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomed Friday’s sentencing of Islamic State member El Shafee Elsheikh as an important milestone in the justice process. Elsheikh was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the kidnapping and subsequent beheading of journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, the killing of aid…
VOA correspondent briefly detained covering attempted election protest in Angola
New York, August 17, 2022 — In response to news reports that Angola police detained Coque Mukuta, a correspondent for U.S. Congress-funded Voice of America, for three hours while he was on assignment in the capital Luanda on Wednesday to cover a protest against electoral irregularities ahead of the scheduled August 24 election, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the…
Tunisian journalist Salah Attia sentenced to 3 months in prison
New York, August 17, 2022 – A Tunisian military court in the capital Tunis on Tuesday, August 16, sentenced journalist Salah Attia, founder and editor-in-chief of local independent news website Al-Ray al-Jadid, to three months in prison, according to news reports and Sondes Attia, the journalist’s daughter, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app. The…
Journalist Do Cong Duong dies in prison in Vietnam
Bangkok, August 12, 2022 — In response to news reports that Vietnamese journalist Do Cong Duong, who was imprisoned on anti-state charges, died on August 2, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement: “CPJ is deeply saddened by reports of imprisoned Vietnamese journalist Do Cong Duong’s death from an underlying illness,” said Shawn…
Guatemalan journalist José Rubén Zamora charged with financial crimes, remains in detention
New York, August 10, 2022–A judge in a Guatemala City court on Tuesday ordered Guatemalan journalist and president of the elPeriódico newspaper José Rubén Zamora to remain in pre-trial detention while prosecutors move forward with a criminal investigation on charges of money laundering, blackmail, and influence peddling. Zamora has been held since he was arrested…
Belarusian journalist Iryna Slaunikava sentenced to 5 years in prison
Paris, August 3, 2022 — In response to a Belarusian court’s sentencing of journalist Iryna Slaunikava to five years in prison on Wednesday, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement of condemnation: “Today’s sentencing of journalist Iryna Slaunikava to five years in prison is another example of the deeply cynical and vindictive nature…