Statements

  
Journalist Azimjon Askarov is seen in a courtroom in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on October 11, 2016. A court today upheld his life sentence in prison. (AP/Vladimir Voronin, file)

Kyrgyz court upholds life sentence for Azimjon Askarov

Washington, D.C., July 30, 2019 — The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed deep disappointment and concern over today’s court decision in Kyrgyzstan to uphold the life sentence of journalist and human rights defender Azimjon Askarov.

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A local market in Dar es Salaam, pictured in May 31. A group of armed men forcefully took an investigative journalist from his home outside the city on July 29. (AFP/Said Khalfan)

Unidentified men take Erick Kabendera from Tanzanian home

Nairobi, July 29, 2019– The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned for the safety of investigative reporter Erick Kabendera who was forcefully removed from his home today, and called on Tanzanian police to disclose whether they have him in custody.

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Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is seen in Brasilia on July 24, 2019. He recently threatened that journalist Glenn Greenwald may face jail time in Brazil. (Reuters/Adriano Machado)

Brazilian President Bolsonaro says Glenn Greenwald may ‘do jail time’

Miami, July 29, 2019 — The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s remarks that Glenn Greenwald, the co-founder and editor of The Intercept Brasil, could “do jail time” and suggesting that he had married a Brazilian citizen to avoid deportation, as reported by local outlets on July 27.

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AFP correspondent Deyda Hydara, front, pictured in November 1999. In testimony to a truth commission, a Gambian army officer accused ex-President Yahya Jammeh of ordering the 2004 murder. (AFP/Seyllou)

Gambia ex-President Jammeh ordered Deyda Hydara’s murder, truth commission told

gambia_jammeh_deyda_hydara_murder_truth_commission

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Kazakh police block an area to prevent protests against presidential elections in Nur-Sultan, the capital city of Kazakhstan, on June 10, 2019. Local internet users are being asked to download a security certificate that could allow the authorities to monitor or censor encrypted websites. (AP Photo/Alexei Filippov)

Kazakhstan government-backed security certificate raises censorship, surveillance concerns

New York, July 22, 2019 — Telecommunications providers in Kazakhstan’s capital, Nur-Sultan, have requested internet users to install a security certificate issued by government authorities onto their personal devices, which could compromise their digital security, according to a report by the BBC and Adil Nurmakov, a political scientist and digital media expert based in Nur-Sultan,…

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Men with poles are seen after attacking journalists and anti-extradition bill demonstrators at a train station in Hong Kong on July 22, 2019. (Reuters/Tyrone Siu)

Journalists attacked by counterprotesters in Hong Kong

Taipei, July 22, 2019 — A group of masked individuals beat journalists, demonstrators, and passersby with sticks and metal rods at Hong Kong’s Yuen Long metro station after an anti-extradition bill protest concluded last night, according to news reports. At least 45 people were injured in the attacks, according to those reports.

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The offices of Geo News are seen in Karachi, Pakistan, on April 11, 2018. The network was recently blocked in many parts of the country. (Reuters/Akhtar Soomro)

Pakistani broadcaster Geo News blocked amid prime minister’s visit to Washington

New York, July 21, 2019 — Pakistan’s most popular news channel, the privately owned Geo News broadcaster, has been forced off the air or had its channel number abruptly changed in many parts of the country, according to reports on social media and the broadcaster’s managing director, Azhar Abbas, who spoke to CPJ via messaging…

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People exit from the international arrivals terminal at the new Istanbul Airport in Istanbul, Turkey, on July 16, 2019. Two documentary filmmakers were sentenced to four and a half years in prison on July 18. (Reuters/Marius Bosch)

Turkish court sentences documentary filmmakers to 4 and a half years

Istanbul, July 19, 2019–Documentary filmmakers Ertuğrul Mavioğlu and Çayan Demirel, directors of the 2015 documentary movie “Bakur” (“North”), about the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), were sentenced to four years and six months in prison yesterday for “making propaganda for a [terrorist] organization” by a court in the southeastern city of Batman, according to news…

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In an interview today, Tanzanian Foreign Minister Palamagamba Kabudi said that journalist Azory Gwanda, who has been missing since 2017, is dead. (Photo credit: Mwananchi Publications Limited)

In BBC interview, Tanzanian foreign minister says journalist Azory Gwanda is dead

Nairobi, July 10, 2019 — The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on the Tanzanian government to provide a detailed public account of the fate of freelance journalist Azory Gwanda after the country’s foreign minister, Palamagamba Kabudi, said in an interview that the journalist is dead.

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Opposition supporters demonstrate outside the headquarters of the U.N. Development Programme during the visit of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, in Caracas on June 21, 2019. Venezuelan journalist Braulio Jatar was conditionally released from house arrest on July 8, 2019, and barred from the leaving country. (AFP/Cristian Hernandez)

Venezuelan journalist Braulio Jatar conditionally released, barred from leaving country

Miami, July 8, 2019–Venezuelan online and radio journalist Braulio Jatar was formally released from house arrest today after receiving official notification from a criminal court in his home state of Nueva Esparta, according to local media and a statement Jatar gave to media outlets, which was posted on the Twitter account of his sister. As…

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