Arrested

Since the start of the Israel-Gaza war, an unprecedented number of journalists and media workers have been arrested — often without charge — in what they and their attorneys say is retaliation for their journalism and commentary. As of January 17, 2025, CPJ has documented a total of 75 arrests of journalists in the Palestinian…

Update: Since publication of this alert, the SSSP ordered on January 16 that Serag be detained for 15 days pending investigation on charges of joining a terrorist organization, spreading false news, using a website to promote terrorist ideas, and committing a financing-related crime, according to independent media outlets Mada Masr and Al-Manassa. Washington, D.C., January…

New York, January 6, 2025—Algerian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release freelance journalist and political activist Abdelwakil Blamm, who was arrested December 29, 2024, outside his home in the Chéraga suburb of Algiers, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. “Abdelwakil Blamm’s detention is a troubling escalation of the ongoing crackdown on press freedom in Algeria,” said…

Editor’s note: Cecilia Sala was freed on January 8, 2025. New York, December 28 2024—CPJ is deeply concerned by the arrest of Italian journalist Cecilia Sala in Iran. Italy’s foreign ministry said Sala was arrested on December 19 and was being held in Iran’s notorious Evin prison, although news of her arrest was only made public on…

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined six other press freedom and free-speech advocacy organizations in a Wednesday, November 13, statement asking Turkish authorities to release recently arrested journalist Furkan Karabay. Karabay, a reporter with the independent news site 10Haber, was detained on November 8 during a police raid in Istanbul and jailed by a court…

On Wednesday, November 6, an Israeli strike killed at least 15 people in a house in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza. But communications difficulties meant that the Gaza health ministry struggled to determine the death toll. This is just one example among countless others where local reporters were able to help verify information about potential atrocities…

New York, October 28, 2024—Sri Lankan police must cease harassing journalists Selvakumar Nilanthan and Tharindu Jayawardhana, following their reporting on alleged government misconduct, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. “With a new president, Sri Lanka has an opportunity to improve press freedom,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi. “Police should drop their…

Washington, D.C., October 23, 2024 — The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Egyptian authorities to immediately release economic commentator and analyst Abdel Khaleq Farouk, who was arrested October 20 on charges of joining a terrorist organization and spreading false and inciting news for allegedly criticizing President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi’s economic policies in more than 40 articles.  “The arrest of…

Kinshasa, October 9, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to release journalist Patrick Lokala, and drop all legal proceedings against him and another reporter, Érasme Kasongo Kalenga, following their separate arrests on Monday, October 7.  “Authorities in the DRC should swiftly and unconditionally release Patrick Lokala…

Berlin, October 8, 2024—Russian authorities should immediately cancel the arrest warrants issued in absentia for Italian journalists Stefania Battistini and Simone Traini, charged with illegal border crossing following their August 14 report on the Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk region, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. “The arrest warrants for Stefania Battistini and Simone Traini are a clear attempt to intimidate and…