Washington, D.C., June 11, 2024—Iranian authorities must immediately release blogger and book editor Hassan Shanbehzadeh and drop the espionage charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. Officers with the Iranian Cyber Police arrested Shanbehzadeh on espionage charges in the northwestern city of Ardabil, in Ardabil province, on Thursday, June 6. His social...
New York, June 11, 2024 – The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed alarm on Tuesday that Pakistan’s east Punjab province hastily enacted a defamation law that is likely to greatly restrict press freedom, and the country’s Supreme Court issued notices to 34 media outlets in connection with their programming. On Saturday, June 8, acting Punjab...
Washington, D.C., June 11, 2024—A county judge’s order to Mississippi Today newspaper to turn over privileged documents in relation to a defamation lawsuit by the state’s former governor, Phil Bryant, against the nonprofit and three of its employees is a threat to press freedom, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. Mississippi Today appealed on...
The Committee to Protect Journalists joined over 50 news and press freedom organizations in urging United States senators to support the Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying Act (PRESS Act). The bill would create a federal shield safeguarding reporter-source confidentiality and prevent government access to unreported source material. The letter, authored by the Reporters Committee for...
Stockholm, June 10, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists is relieved by the Saturday release of Nurgeldi Halykov, a freelance correspondent for independent Netherlands-based news website Turkmen.news, after he completed a four-year prison sentence on trumped-up fraud charges. “We are relieved that Nurgeldi Halykov is free after enduring a shockingly unjust prison term in one of...
June 10, 2024, New Delhi—The Committee to Protect Journalists on Monday called on Delhi Police to drop its retaliatory investigation into three journalists from The Caravan magazine and instead prosecute those who assaulted them during the 2020 Delhi riots. Shahid Tantray, Prabhjit Singh, and an unnamed female colleague, who were attacked almost four years ago,...
Berlin, June 10, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists joined seven international press freedom organizations in urging Slovak members of parliament on Monday to reject the proposed public service broadcasting bill scheduled for parliamentary review next week. The statement says that despite modifications, the bill still allows the government to politicize the public broadcaster, which would...
New York, June 7, 2024 – Mozambican authorities should investigate the harassment and assault of at least five journalists covering election-related events since March, and take concrete steps to ensure the press can freely and safely report on matters of crucial public interest leading up to the country’s October general elections, said the Committee to...
New York, June 7, 2024 — The Committee to Protect Journalists on Friday expressed alarm that police arrested one journalist and two others were robbed of equipment while covering a protest in the Mozambican capital, Maputo. At around 6:00 p.m. on June 4, seven police officers chased and arrested Sheila Wilson while she was reporting...
New York, June 7, 2024 — The Taliban must reverse its order to shut down private broadcaster Tamadon TV and end its ongoing, unprecedented suppression of Afghan media, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. On Thursday, the Taliban’s Ministry of Justice announced the closure of Tamadon TV, alleging that the broadcaster was affiliated with...
