Turkey indicts 2 Kurdish journalists on terrorism charges
Istanbul, October 5, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists urged Turkish authorities on Thursday to immediately release journalists Dicle Müftüoğlu and Sedat Yılmaz, who have been held in pretrial detention for more than five months, and to stop using terrorism legislation to criminalize journalists. Müftüoğlu and Yılmaz, both editors at the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya News Agency, were…
On fifth anniversary of Khashoggi murder, CPJ joins call for Biden administration to prioritize human rights in Saudi Arabia
Five years have passed since the heinous murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the country’s consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018, in an operation that US intelligence found to have been approved by Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS).
Russian blogger Aleksandr Nozdrinov sentenced to 8.5 years in prison for ‘fake news’ about army
New York, October 2, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists on Monday condemned the 8.5-year sentence issued to Russian blogger Aleksandr Nozdrinov and called on Russian authorities to release him immediately and drop all charges against him. On Friday, September 29, a court in the southwestern city of Novokubansk convicted Nozdrinov on charges of spreading false…
CPJ, partners call on British PM to push for Jimmy Lai’s freedom as he marks 1,000 days in jail
The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 10 other press freedom and human rights groups on Monday in calling on British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to take immediate and decisive action to secure the release of Jimmy Lai, founder of the now-shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily and a British citizen. On Tuesday, 75-year-old Lai will have…
Turkish journalist Sinan Aygül sentenced to 6 months in prison for trespassing
Istanbul, September 20, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the six-month sentence issued to Turkish journalist Sinan Aygül on Tuesday, in connection with his journalistic activity. “The people charged with the vicious assault that landed journalist Sinan Aygül in hospital in June were released on bail by a Turkish court last week. This week, Aygül…
‘Breathtakingly hard’: Iranian journalist Saeede Fathi on 2 months in Evin Prison
Saeede Fathabadi, who goes professionally by Saeede Fathi, was living in Vienna last year when she took a reporting trip to her native Iran to gather footage for a documentary about female athletes in the country. The topic is close to her heart; she used to be a professional basketball player but quit after she was unable…
Iran’s journalists in dire straits one year after protest crackdown
When Mahsa (Jina) Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman, died in custody last September after morality police detained her for alleged “improper” wearing of her headscarf, Iran’s already embattled press corps paid a heavy price for reporting on her death and the nationwide protests that followed. Scores of journalists were among those arrested as Iranian authorities cracked…
Algerian journalist Mustapha Bendjama sentenced to 2 years in prison
New York, August 29, 2023—The Committee to Protect journalists condemns the two-year prison sentence issued to Algerian journalist Mustapha Bendjama on Tuesday, August 29. “An Algerian court’s decision to sentence journalist and press freedom advocate Mustapha Bendjama to two years in prison is deeply cruel and constitutes an attack on free speech throughout the country,”…
CPJ condemns Russian court’s 3-month extension of detention of US journalist Evan Gershkovich
New York, August 24, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a Russian court’s decision on Thursday to extend the pretrial detention of U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich until November 30. “Every new extension of Evan Gershkovich’s detention is a blow to the freedom of the press in Russia and an attack on the work of foreign…
Algerian prosecutor requests 3-year sentence for journalist Mustapha Bendjama
New York, August 23, 2023 – The Committee to Protect Journalists called for Algerian authorities to immediately release journalist Mustapha Bendjama on Wednesday, after a prosecutor requested that he be sentenced to three years in prison. “By requesting a three-year prison sentence for journalist Mustapha Bendjama, the Algerian government is demonstrating its brutal intolerance for…