‘I don’t feel safe now’: Journalists in Ukraine anxious after Babchenko operation
In the week since the Ukrainian security service, the SBU, staged the assassination of Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko, little if any dust stirred up by the elaborate and controversial operation–ostensibly carried out to foil a Russian plot to kill him–has settled.
The many questions about Arkady Babchenko’s staged murder in Ukraine
Minutes after news broke that prominent Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko had been murdered in Ukraine, social media exploded with messages mourning the loss of a bright, sometimes-too-outspoken journalist. Friends and colleagues wrote moving obituaries, and groups including CPJ condemned the killing. Impromptu memorials in both Kiev and Moscow sprouted, as they all too often do,…
Mexican journalist found dead in Tamaulipas state
Mexico City, May 30, 2018–Authorities in the northern Mexican state of Tamaulipas must undertake a swift and credible investigation into the death of Héctor González Antonio, a correspondent for the national newspaper Excelsior and the television broadcaster Imagen, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
UPDATE: Russian journalist Babchenko’s assassination was staged
New York, May 30, 2018– Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko, who had been reported shot and killed in the Ukrainian capital yesterday, has appeared alive at a televised news conference in Kiev. Vasily Gritsak, head of the Ukrainian Security Service, said the agency faked Babchenko’s death to catch those who were trying to kill him. “We…
Federal authorities in Mexico open investigation into journalist killed in Tabasco state
Mexico City, May 24, 2018–Federal authorities in Mexico have opened an investigation into the killing of radio and television journalist Juan Carlos Huerta, who was shot dead near his home in the Tabasco state capital, Villahermosa, on May 15.
Unknown gunmen kill Syrian journalist in eastern Daraa
Beirut, May 18, 2018–Two unknown gunmen killed Ibrahim al-Munjar, a correspondent for the Syrian news website Sy24 in the southern Syrian province of Daraa. Al-Munjar was killed in the city of Saida on May 17, according to his employer, news reports, and the Syrian Journalists Association.
Slovak police seize Czech investigative reporter’s phone
Berlin, May 16, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Slovak authorities to respect the confidentiality of journalistic sources. Slovak police in Bratislava yesterday seized the mobile phone of Czech investigative reporter Pavla Holcova while questioning her for their investigation into the murder of her colleague, Slovak journalist Jan Kuciak, and his girlfriend, the…
Make solving journalist murders a priority, CPJ tells US Helsinki Commission
“Being a reporter in much of the world is dangerous work. Being an investigative reporter can be deadly,” CPJ Deputy Executive Director Robert Mahoney told the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, known as the Helsinki Commission, at a briefing in Washington, D.C. today.
Mumbai court sentences crime boss, 8 others to life in jail for journalist murder
New Delhi, May 2, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomed a Mumbai court’s convictions today of nine people, including the mastermind of the murder of investigative journalist Jyotirmoy Dey nearly seven years ago. A court that hears organized crime cases found crime boss Rajendra Sadashiv Nikhalje, alias Chhota Rajan, guilty of ordering Dey’s murder because…