Imprisoned

New York, August 29, 2025–Ahead of National Press Freedom Day in the Philippines on August 30, the Committee to Protect Journalists and partners have called on the country’s president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., and his administration to immediately release journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio as her trial nears its conclusion.  The 26-year-old journalist has been held in prison for more than…

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, its media has experienced an unprecedented crackdown. Hundreds of journalists have been forced into exile, where they continue to face transnational legal persecution, and their families have been harassed back home. Meanwhile, reporting from inside Russia has become increasingly difficult, with journalists and media outlets often silenced…

New York, August 26, 2025—A Belarusian court convicted freelance journalist Aleh Supruniuk on charges of participating in an “extremist” group” and sentenced him to three years imprisonment on August 8. His sentencing was made public August 25 by the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), an advocacy and trade group operating from exile. “The sentencing of journalist Aleh Supruniuk to three years in…

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 71 other press freedom and human rights organizations in an August 21 joint letter calling on British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to secure UK citizen and publisher Jimmy Lai’s release on medical grounds. Lai, the 77-year-old founder of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, has suffered deteriorating health, including heart palpitations…

Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, August 20, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Kurdish authorities to immediately release freelance Iraqi Kurdish journalist Sherwan Sherwani after an Erbil court handed him an additional four years and five months in prison.  “Sentencing Sherwani for a third time on dubious charges and imposing the maximum penalty shows the authorities’ determination to silence his critical voice and keep him behind…

New York, August 13, 2025—As closing arguments are set to begin on August 14 in the national security trial of Jimmy Lai, founder of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, the Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Hong Kong authorities to drop all charges against the 77-year-old publisher and release him immediately and unconditionally. Lai, whose…

New York, August 6, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists is horrified by the two-year sentence given to prominent Georgian media manager Mzia Amaglobeli on Wednesday, in a case previously denounced by CPJ and partners as “disproportionate and politicized.” “The outrageous two-year sentence meted out to widely respected journalist Mzia Amaglobeli is emblematic of Georgia’s increasing use…

Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, August 5, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Iraqi authorities to free Al-Baghdadia TV’s director and presenter Ali Al-Dhabhawi, who was given a three-year jail sentence on Monday, and to reopen the satellite channel’s office in the capital Baghdad. On July 31, security forces raided the Iraqi-owned station and Al-Dhabhawi’s home, a…

On March 5, 2025, in a crowded Dhaka courtroom, journalist Farzana Rupa stood without a lawyer as a judge moved to register yet another murder case against her. Already in jail, she quietly asked for bail. The judge said the hearing was only procedural. “There are already a dozen cases piling up against me,” she said. “I’m a journalist….

Kampala, July 31, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Burundi authorities to immediately release La Nova Burundi reporter Sandra Muhoza, who remains in prison two months after an appeal court ruled that she was convicted by a court that did not have jurisdiction to try her, following her 2024 arrest. “It is a grave injustice that Sandra…