CPJ calls for rigorous investigation into disappearance of journalist in Denmark
New York, August 12, 2017–The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Danish authorities to mount a rigorous, thorough investigation into the disappearance of Kim Wall, a Swedish freelance journalist who was reported missing yesterday while reporting on an amateur-built submarine that sank off the coast of Copenhagen, according to media reports.
Spain should release journalist arrested on Turkish warrant
New York, August 9, 2017–Spanish authorities should immediately and unconditionally release Hamza Yalçın, a writer for the monthly, leftist, Turkish magazine Odak Dergisi, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Police arrested Yalçın, a citizen of Turkey and Sweden, at Barcelona’s El Prat airport on August 3 and now detain him pending an extradition hearing…
Israel should abandon plans to close, censor Al-Jazeera
Washington, D.C., August 6, 2017–Israeli authorities should abandon efforts to close Qatari broadcaster Al-Jazeera’s offices, revoke its journalists’ credentials, and censor its transmissions, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Communications Minister Ayoub Kara today repeated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s allegations that the station supports terrorism, and said the government wanted satellite and cable companies…
Trump administration says it is pursuing 3 times as many leak investigations as predecessor
New York, August 4, 2017–Relaxing U.S. government guidelines to make it easier for investigators to subpoena journalists and their records would have a chilling effect on press freedom, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a news conference today that U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is pursuing three times…
French journalist jailed in Turkey pending terrorism trial
New York, August 3, 2017–Turkish authorities should immediately release French freelance journalist Loup Bureau, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. A court in Turkey’s southeastern Şırnak province yesterday ordered the journalist jailed pending trial on terrorism charges, according to press reports.
Azerbaijan court sentences blogger to three years in jail
New York, July 20, 2017–A Baku court today convicted Russian-Israeli blogger Aleksandr Lapshin to three years in jail for illegally crossing the state border, international and Azerbaijani media reported. The charges are related to three trips that Lapshin made between April 2011 and June 2016 to the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, which Azerbaijan and Armenia…
Russia-backed separatists holding Ukrainian journalist, accuse him of espionage
New York, July 17, 2017–Russia-backed separatists in Ukraine’s east should immediately release Donetsk-based journalist Stanyslav Aseyev, who has been detained by the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR), the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Aseyev, who has contributed to the Ukrainian service of the U.S.-government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty under the pseudonym Stanyslav Vasin, went…
South African court orders group to cease harassing journalists
New York, July 7, 2017–A Johannesburg High Court order forbidding a political organization from gathering outside the home of journalists who have reported on corruption, threatening them, or inciting others to harm them is a welcome victory for press freedom, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Republicans on Senate committee assert media leaks harm US national security
New York, July 6, 2017–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by a report released today by a group of Senate Republicans arguing that “an avalanche” of media leaks under the Trump Administration is harming national security. The report, which lists at least 125 news articles that allegedly harmed national security and their bylines, was…
