Iraqi Kurdish Asayish security forces arrest journalist Shakar Star after smuggling reports
Beirut, May 21, 2024 — Iraqi Kurdish authorities should immediately and unconditionally release journalist Shakar Star and allow all members of the media to work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On the evening of Saturday, May 18, Iraqi Kurdistan Asayish security forces arrested Star, a presenter at local media agency Tiwar News,…
Tunisia police arrest journalist Houssem Hajlaoui over social media posts amid crackdown
New York, May 20, 2024 — The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Tunisian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Houssem Hajlaoui, co-founder and publisher of local independent news website Inkyfada, who was arrested over social media posts from 2020-2023. “CPJ is deeply concerned after Tunisian police arrested journalist Houssem Hajlaoui over old social media…
Sudanese Armed Forces arrest journalist Siddiq Dalay
New York, May 16, 2024 — The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the Sudanese Armed Forces to immediately and unconditionally release freelance journalist Siddiq Dalay, who was arrested over his social media posting on Monday, May 13. “The Sudanese Armed Forces must release Siddiq Dalay and allow journalists to work freely to cover and…
Tunisian police arrest 5 journalists, interrupt France 24’s broadcast amid crackdown
New York, May 15, 2024 — Tunisian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release journalists Sonia Dahmani, Borhen Bsaies, and Mourad Zghidi, drop all charges against them, and stop preventing reporters from doing their jobs, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. Between May 11 and 13, Tunisian police arrested and released two additional journalists amid…
CPJ calls for immediate release of Sudanese photographer Abdelaziz Mahmoud Arja
New York, May 8, 2024 — The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the Sudanese paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to immediately and unconditionally release Abdelaziz Mahmoud Arja, a photographer with state-owned Sudan TV. “We are deeply concerned by the Rapid Support Forces soldiers’ arrest of state television photographer Abdelaziz Mahmoud Arja and urge…
Russia puts Forbes journalist under house arrest, detains 2 others
Berlin, May 1, 2024—Russian authorities must drop legal proceedings against Sergey Mingazov, a journalist for the Russian edition of Forbes magazine, and detained journalists Konstantin Gabov and Sergey Karelin and ensure that members of the press are not imprisoned for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On April 27, a court in the city of Khabarovsk…
CPJ calls on authorities to allow journalists to safely cover US campus protests
Washington, D.C., May 1, 2024– With tensions over pro-Palestinian protests escalating on college campuses across the United States, the Committee to Protect Journalists calls on university authorities and law enforcement agencies to allow reporters to freely cover the demonstrations. “Journalists – including student journalists who have been thrust into a national spotlight to cover stories…
CPJ, MENA Rights Group file Urgent Action to UN on disappearance of Syrian journalist in Iraqi Kurdistan
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the MENA Rights Group (MRG), filed an Urgent Action on April 12, 2024, to the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances, asking for the Iraqi Kurdish government to clarify the fate and whereabouts of Syrian journalist Sleman Ahmed, who was arrested in Iraqi Kurdistan on October 25, 2023. Ahmed,…
Mass raid in Turkey jails 3 Kurdish reporters, others put under judicial control
Istanbul, April 29, 2024—Turkish authorities should release reporters Esra Solin Dal, Mehmet Aslan, and Erdoğan Alayumat and end the systematic harassment of Kurdish journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On April 23, Turkish authorities took nine people, who local media reported were all Kurdish journalists and media workers, into police custody after conducting…
Iran arrests Kurdish editor-in-chief, Iranian cartoonist, sues several newspapers
Washington, D.C., April 19, 2024—Iranian authorities must immediately release Kurdish-Iranian journalist Rasoul Galehban and drop any charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. Galehban, the publisher and the editor-in-chief of Urmiye24 Kurdish News, was arrested by the Iran’s Cyber Police Unit in the city of Urmia, in West Azerbaijan province, on April…