World Refugee Day: Fear of arrest drives journalists into exile
In August 2014 two journalists living more than 4,000 miles apart slipped across a border to find safety: one with his wife and three children, the other alone. Idrak Abbasov, from Azerbaijan, and Sanna Camara, from Gambia, faced imprisonment because of their reporting. Neither has been able to return home.
From High Profile to Exile
Heba Alshibani did not set out to become a journalist. She had expected to become an academic, as many members of her Libyan family had before the February 2011 uprising that led to the overthrow of Muammar Qaddafi. But when the violence did not abate after Qaddafi’s overthrow, Alshibani witnessed events that she felt compelled…
LGBT Reporting in Africa
On a recent trip to Kenya, I sat with S., a gay refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo, in the cramped, one-room apartment he shares with three friends, all straight. The four share a bed, and none know S. is gay. The floor is covered in a vibrant yellow vinyl, their belongings clutter every…
Chinese police arrest siblings of Germany-based journalist
New York, March 28, 2016 – Chinese police on Sunday arrested two brothers and a sister of journalist Zhang Ping, who lives in Germany, from his family’s hometown, the journalist told CPJ. The arrests came a week after Zhang published an article decrying the disappearance of another Chinese journalist. Zhang told the Committee to Protect…
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of March 20
Istanbul court rules trial for journalists facing life sentences to be closed to public The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned an Istanbul court’s decision today to bar the public from the trial of Can Dündar and Erdem Gül, journalists for the daily newspaper Cumhuriyet. Representatives from CPJ and other free-speech groups attended the first…
Last critic standing: How El Nacional defies challenges to keep publishing
Patricia Spadaro, news editor at the Caracas daily El Nacional, faces daunting challenges in putting out the newspaper. Her boss, El Nacional’s president and editor Miguel Henrique Otero, has been living in exile since May 2015 after a top government official accused him of defamation. Amid the country’s deep economic crisis, half of Spadaro’s reporters…
Burundi arrests two foreign correspondents in wider crackdown
New York, January 29, 2016–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on authorities in Burundi to stop harassing journalists and allow them to freely report on events in the country. At least three journalists have been briefly detained in the past two days.
CPJ calls on Democratic Republic of Congo to not extradite Burundian journalist
New York, December 31, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo not to extradite Egide Mwemero, an exiled Burundian radio journalist who has been in custody since October 13, according to reports. Bob Rugurika, director of independent Burundian station Radio Publique Africaine where Mwemero also worked, told CPJ…