Taliban releases American journalist Ivor Shearer; CPJ calls for more releases
New York, December 21, 2022 – In response to news reports that the Taliban released two Americans, including journalist and filmmaker Ivor Shearer, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement on Wednesday calling for the release of other Afghan journalists who remain behind bars: “The release of journalist Ivor Shearer is a small…
Ethiopia must release journalist Meskerem Abera after second detention this year
Nairobi, December 20, 2022 –Ethiopian police should unconditionally release online journalist Meskerem Abera and cease harassing members of the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. Federal police detained Meskerem, the founder and editor of private YouTube-based media outlet Ethio Nikat Media, in the capital Addis Ababa on December 13, her husband, Fitsum Gebremichael, told CPJ by phone….
Forensic tools open new front for using phone data to prosecute journalists
On April 13, police in Russia’s Khakassiya republic arrested Mikhail Afanasyev and seized his digital devices. Afanasyev, chief editor of the online magazine Novy Fokus, was detained based on an article about riot police in southern Siberia refusing to serve in Ukraine. He faces a possible 10-year prison sentence for spreading “false” information. It’s not surprising for…
Journalist imprisonments reach 30-year high
Dramatic rise in arrests makes Iran world’s worst jailer of journalists in 2022 New York, December 14, 2022—The number of journalists imprisoned worldwide is the highest ever recorded in the 30 years that the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has produced its prison census, the organization said Wednesday. A record 363 journalists were behind bars…
In an Iran roiled by protests, journalists face a war of attrition
In mid-September, an enterprising young Iranian reporter named Niloofar Hamedi went to Tehran’s Kasra Hospital to report on a woman arrested by the county’s morality police for not properly wearing her hijab. That woman, 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, was in a coma after allegedly being beaten by police; she later died of her injuries. Hamedi, a…
After 20 years in prison, Turkish journalist Hatice Duman says she has no hope of release
Hatice Duman is Turkey’s longest-serving jailed journalist. Now 50, she has been behind bars since April 9, 2003, 20 years into a life sentence on charges including propaganda and being a member of the banned Marxist Leninist Communist Party (MLKP). Duman, a former editor for the socialist Turkish weekly Atılım, has denied the charges and…
Myanmar’s jailing of journalists enters harsh new phase
Myanmar’s military regime has doubled down on its repression of journalists as it tightens it grip on the country following its democracy-crushing coup on February 1, 2021. After arresting scores of journalists to block coverage of its abuses and resistance to the takeover, its second year in power saw the handing down of harsh prison…
Myanmar journalist Sithu Aung Myint sentenced to additional 7 years in prison
Bangkok, December 13, 2022 – In response to news reports that a Myanmar court on December 9 sentenced journalist Sithu Aung Myint to seven years in prison for sedition, adding to his existing five-year sentence, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement calling for his immediate release: “Sithu Aung Myint’s harsh sentencing is the latest disgraceful…
Tajikistan authorities sentence 2 journalists to lengthy prison terms
New York, December 13, 2022 – Tajik authorities should immediately release journalists Khushruz Jumayev and Ulfatkhonim Mamadshoeva, and stop imprisoning members of the press for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. The Tajikistan Supreme Court recently convicted Jumayev, a journalist and blogger who works under the name Khushom Gulyam, of membership in…