CPJ condemns attacks on outlets in the Netherlands
New York, June 26, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned an attack on De Telegraaf, one of the Netherlands’ biggest national newspapers, which came five days after an anti-tank rocket was fired at the offices of the publisher of the weeklies Panorama and Nieuwe Revu, according to news reports.
Ethiopia allows access to over 260 blocked websites
New York, June 22, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today welcomed the Ethiopian government’s decision to allow access to 264 websites, including news outlets and blogs, that were blocked in the country. In a tweet today, Fitsum Arega, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s chief of staff, said that the sites included the diaspora outlets Oromia Media…
Rising Kashmir editor Shujaat Bukhari killed in Srinagar
New York, June 14, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today strongly condemned the killing of the editor of the English-language daily newspaper Rising Kashmir, Shujaat Bukhari, in Srinagar, Kashmir. Unknown attackers shot Bukhari today at close range in the city’s Press Colony, according to news reports.
CPJ: Data seizure from New York Times reporter sets dangerous precedent
New York, June 8, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today expressed concern about the seizure of phone and email records from New York Times reporter Ali Watkins by the United States Justice Department in the first known incident that federal prosecutors have gone after a journalist’s data under President Donald Trump’s administration.
Russian court sentences Ukrainian journalist to 12 years for espionage
New York, June 4, 2018–Russian authorities should immediately release Ukrainian journalist Roman Sushchenko, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. A Moscow city court sentenced Sushchenko, a Paris-based correspondent for Ukraine’s state news agency, Ukrinform, to 12 years in a high-security prison on espionage charges today, Russian and Ukrainian media reported.
UPDATE: Russian journalist Babchenko’s assassination was staged
New York, May 30, 2018– Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko, who had been reported shot and killed in the Ukrainian capital yesterday, has appeared alive at a televised news conference in Kiev. Vasily Gritsak, head of the Ukrainian Security Service, said the agency faked Babchenko’s death to catch those who were trying to kill him. “We…
Ukraine extends ban on Russian news agencies, journalists
New York, May 24, 2018–Ukrainian authorities today published a presidential decree that extends for three years sanctions imposed in 2017 against Russian state-funded news outlets and their journalists, as well as other foreign entities and individuals, and added the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti-Ukraine to the sanctions list, according to media reports.
CPJ welcomes introduction of UK Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill
May 24, 2018, London–The Committee to Protect Journalists today welcomed the U.K.’s decision to pass into law legislation that addresses human rights abuses. The Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill, which yesterday received Royal Assent to be passed into law, includes a “Magnitsky amendment” that empowers the U.K. to apply sanctions against individuals suspected of human…
Court in Algeria sentences blogger to 10 years in prison
New York, May 24, 2018–In a one-day trial today, a criminal court in Béjaïa sentenced Algerian blogger Marzoug Touati to 10 years in prison and fined him 50,000 Algerian dinar (US$427) for communicating with a foreign entity and inciting civil disobedience, Touati’s lawyer, Salah Dabouz, told CPJ. The conviction is related to Touati’s interview with…
Military court in Egypt sentences journalist to 10 years in jail
New York, May 22, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemned the sentencing today of Egyptian freelancer Ismail Alexandrani. A military court in Cairo found Alexandrani guilty of being a member of a banned organization and spreading false news, and sentenced the journalist to 10 years in prison, according to news reports.