Somaliland journalist held without charge for asking question at press conference
New York, June 1, 2017–Authorities in the semi-autonomous region of Somaliland should immediately release Mohamed Adan Dirir, the editor of the online news portal Horseed Media, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Mohamed has been jailed without charge since Somaliland Health Minister Saleban Isee ordered police to arrest him after he asked a question…
Exiled journalist abducted in Georgia to face prosecution in Azerbaijan
New York, May 30, 2017–Azerbaijani authorities should immediately release freelance journalist Afgan Mukhtarli and allow him to return to neighboring Georgia, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Mukhtarli, whose wife reported him missing from their home in Tbilisi, Georgia, last night, is being held at a detention center in Baku, Azerbaijan, regional and local…
Journalists arrested at Bangkok airport for carrying safety equipment
Bangkok, May 30, 2017–Thai authorities should drop all charges against two journalists arrested at Bangkok’s main airport today for carrying protective gear and should amend laws to allow journalists to carry potentially lifesaving, protective equipment, the Committee to Protect Journalists said.
Kurdish authorities detain journalist who reported on theft verdict
New York, May 24, 2017–Authorities in northern Iraq should immediately release Aram Bakhtiar, a journalist for the independent broadcaster NRT, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Kurdish security forces arrested Bakhtiar on May 22 on accusations of defaming a judge, NRT deputy newsroom manager Soran Rashid told CPJ. The channel’s director, Awat Ali, today…
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of May 21, 2017
Two journalists arraigned, finance manager released A court in Istanbul arraigned Gökmen Ulu and Mediha Olgun, journalists for the secularist, nationalist daily Sözcü, one of the last remaining widely circulated newspapers to be consistently critical of the government, on charges of “committing a crime in the name of a [terrorist] organization without being a member,…
Kurdish security forces detain TV journalist in Syria
New York, May 17, 2017–Kurdish security forces in northern Syria should immediately release Zagros TV journalist Barzan Hussein Liani, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Members of the Asayish, the security force for the de facto government of the Rojava region in northern Syria, on May 13 detained Liani as they patrolled the area…
Journalist arrested in West Virginia while questioning cabinet official
New York, May 10, 2017–The arrest of a journalist in the U.S. state of West Virginia while asking a question of Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price yesterday is an affront to press freedom, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of May 7
Editor detained at courthouse Police in Istanbul’s Çağlayan Courthouse today detained Çağlar Özbilgin, an editor for the leftist news website sendika.org, his employer reported. Özbilgin was there to attend a hearing of his trial on charges of “insulting the president,” but police detained him for a separate criminal investigation into him on suspicion of “provoking…
Two media workers detained in Venezuela
Bogotá, Colombia, May 2, 2017–Venezuelan authorities should immediately release Marcos Vergara and Deivis Valera, production assistants for the online media platform VivoPlay, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The two were taken into the custody of the Venezuelan National Guard while covering a protest last night, according to their lawyer.
Two photographers arrested for photographing Brazil protest
Police on April 17, 2017, arrested two Brazilian photographers who were taking photographs of a barricade of burning tires in the Jardins neighborhood of São Paulo and accused them of starting the fire, according to one of the photographers and the police report, which CPJ has reviewed.