News

September 09, 2024 - Bangladesh -  authorities in Chittagong initiated legal proceedings against 28 journalists as part of a broader case targeting 109 protesters during nationwide student demonstrations that erupted in June. The charges include allegations of publishing “false or misleading news” alongside accusations of abduction and assault related to the protests. The journalists named in the case have been linked to national media outlets across print, television, and digital platforms. The targeting follows a notable erosion of media freedom in Bangladesh under both previous and current interim administrations. In recent months, dozens of journalists...

September 09, 2024 - Mexico -  Mexico City police violently disrupted a human rights protest in Xochimilco, resulting in the assault and arrest of multiple journalists. The protest was organized in support of Otomí Indigenous activist Hortensia Telésforo and was met with force from law enforcement after tensions escalated between demonstrators and unidentified armed individuals. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and several rights groups, at least four journalists were directly affected by the police crackdown. Among those detained were Penélope Estefanía Galicia Argumedo of Radio Zapote and freelance reporter Elizabeth Díaz. Both...

September 09, 2024 - Timor -  In an unusual incident for the Southeast Asian country, freelance reporter Antonieta Kartono Martins, working for Diligente Online, was arrested on the evening of September 4, 2024, while covering police eviction of street vendors in Dili. The detainment—lasting several hours at a police station—was widely seen as a problematic obstruction of journalism. RSF reports that while Martins was released without charges, police also confiscated footage from journalist Suzana Cardoso, who worked for Media One Timor-Leste, erasing critical evidence and raising serious media freedom concerns. President José Ramos-Horta responded swiftly, personally...

September 07, 2024 - Nicaragua -  Nicaraguan authorities expelled 135 political prisoners, stripping them of citizenship and relocating them to Guatemala, a move brokered through US and Guatemalan mediation. Among those forced into exile was Víctor Ticay, a journalist formerly at Canal 10, who had been imprisoned since April 6, 2023, for live-streaming a Catholic Easter service—an act the Ortega regime criminalized under “undermining national integrity” and “false news” charges. Ticay's eight‑year sentence was condemned by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), with Cristina Zahar noting that his detention “should have never occurred,” given that he was simply...

September 06, 2024 - Mexico - Mexican journalist Enrique Hernández Avilés, who disappeared on June 20, 2024, in Taxco, Guerrero, was found dead over two months later in a clandestine grave near the area of his disappearance. His body was recovered on August 31, prompting widespread condemnation from press freedom organizations and international institutions, including UNESCO and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). Hernández Avilés, 55, was a seasoned reporter for the local magazine Contacto Policiaco, where he covered crime and public safety—subjects that often place journalists at serious risk in Mexico. His disappearance sparked...

September 06, 2024 - Iran -  Iran’s newly elected president, Masoud Pezeshkian, had sparked cautious optimism in August 2024 when he announced plans to withdraw government complaints against journalists. However, that hope has quickly faded. According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), at least seven journalists have been targeted in four new legal cases since Pezeshkian took office, indicating that the systematic persecution of the press remains entrenched. The president’s August 7 directive, which called on state bodies to retract existing legal actions against journalists, was widely welcomed by Iranian media workers. It followed persistent lobbying...

September 05, 2024 - Kyrgyzstan -  The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) issued a warning urging Kyrgyz authorities to reverse threats of blocking two independent online news outlets—Novye Litsa and Radio Azattyk—after they published a report linking President Sadyr Japarov to Russian political strategist ties, including connections to the late Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin. In a directive issued by the Culture and Information Ministry on September 4, Novye Litsa was ordered to remove the August 30 article within 24 hours or face nationwide internet blocking. The outlet complied but insisted the piece was accurate. CPJ criticised the...

August 23, 2024 – Source: CPJ — The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Myanmar authorities to immediately and credibly investigate Wednesday’s killing of journalists Win Htut Oo and Htet Myat Thu in a military raid on a home in southern Mon State. “The killing of journalists Win Htut Oo and Htet Myat Thu is an atrocity against the free press and must not go unpunished,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “Myanmar authorities must ensure swift and full justice for the country’s independent journalists who are being killed simply for reporting the news.” The bodies of Win...

September 04, 2024 - Guatemala -  On the night of September 2, 2024, the home of veteran journalist Carlos Monroy, a correspondent for Nuestro Diario in Zacapa province, was struck by multiple bullets in what press freedom groups characterized as a clear act of intimidation tied to his reporting work. Miraculously, neither he nor his family was injured during the attack. Monroy specializes in covering crime and public security—a beat fraught with high risk in regions like Zacapa, where powerful local figures and criminal groups operate with impunity. The Association of Journalists of Guatemala (APG)...

September 04, 2024 - Palestine -  Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has dedicated over €100,000 to assist more than 250 journalists still working in Gaza, offering emergency aid as conditions for reporters deteriorate amid the ongoing Israeli military operations. The funding, provided in coordination with the Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ), is being used to deliver vital support to journalists facing unprecedented risks, shortages, and displacement. Since the war began on October 7, 2023, at least 130 journalists have been killed in Gaza, making it one of the deadliest places in the world for the...

September 03, 2024 - Colombia - In a stark reminder of the dangers journalists face in Colombia, two armed attacks occurred within a single week in late August 2024, prompting urgent warnings from the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). The incidents reflect a troubling resurgence of violence targeting the press, particularly in rural and conflict-affected areas. The most serious case involved journalist Frank Caro, a correspondent based in the department of Cauca. On August 31, Caro was shot multiple times while driving near the outskirts of Popayán. The attackers opened fire on his vehicle, leaving...

September 03, 2024 - Russia -  The Russian Ministry of Justice has officially branded Galina Timchenko, co-founder and editor-in-chief of the independent news site Meduza, as a "foreign agent," marking another effort by authorities to silence dissenting journalism. The designation, announced on September 3, 2024, accuses Timchenko of “spreading false information” about the Russian government, producing content for foreign entities, and opposing Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Timchenko, recipient of the 2022 CPJ Gwen Ifill International Press Freedom Award, now faces onerous reporting obligations under Russia’s Foreign Agents Law. She is required to submit regular activity...

September 03, 2024 - Source: IFJ -  The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliate, the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the UK and Ireland, in voicing their grave concern on the apparent misuse of anti-terror legislation and consequential undermining of media freedom in the wake of the arrest of NUJ and IFJ member Richard Medhurst on 15 August upon his arrival at London Heathrow Airport. In a letter to Matt Jukes, UK Head of Counter Terrorism Policing, the NUJ and IFJ general secretaries have expressed their grave concern about an apparent crackdown on both...

September 03, 2024 - Bangladesh -  Prothom Alo’s Dhaka University correspondent Asif Himadri was physically assaulted by members of Bangladesh’s paramilitary Ansar force while covering a protest at the Secretariat Complex in Dhaka. Himadri identified himself as a journalist documenting a clash between Ansar personnel demanding job nationalization and student protestors, but that did not prevent him from being attacked. The incident occurred during widespread unrest—carefully captured in footage of the assault—while around 40 students were also injured amid the melee. A total of 388 Ansar members were later sent to jail in connection with...

September 03, 2024 - Sierra Leone -  Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has condemned a sustained campaign of cyber-harassment and death threats against Sierra Leonean investigative journalist Dr. Chernoh Alpha M. Bah, who has been living in exile in the United States after exposing alleged government corruption. RSF highlights that these attacks—linked to his reporting on embezzlement involving high-ranking officials—remain unchecked, and the Sierra Leonean authorities have failed to safeguard his safety or allow him to return home. Dr. Bah, editor of the Africanist Press and a postdoctoral researcher at Northwestern University, has faced increasing online intimidation for more than...

September 02, 2024 - Indonesia - In a brazen move that violates labor rights, CNN Indonesia terminated up to 11 journalists and media workers on August 31, 2024, just days after they registered a union via the Ministry of Manpower (Solidaritas Pekerja CNN Indonesia, SCPI) on August 27. The terminations coincided with unjustified salary cuts that began in June, affecting on‑air and digital staff without prior consultation (AJI highlighted unilateral decisions by management). The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), together with Indonesia’s Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), SINDIKASI, and the National Union of Journalists (NUJ...

August 30, 2024 - General -  Journalists face a wide spectrum of threats in their work, from harassment and imprisonment to direct violence. Yet one of the most haunting dangers is disappearance, when reporters vanish without explanation, leaving families and colleagues without answers. Recent data from Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) sheds light on the scale of this crisis, underscoring the urgent need for accountability. According to RSF’s figures compiled by Statista, at least 217 media workers have been recorded as disappeared worldwide since the year 2000. These cases...

August 30, 2024 - Russia -  The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the sentencing Friday of Russian journalist Sergey Mikhaylov to eight years in prison on “fake news” charges and calls on Russian authorities to release him immediately. “The sentencing of journalist Sergey Mikhaylov to eight years in prison on what Russian authorities label as ‘fake news’ is another sign of the Kremlin’s fear of journalists telling the truth about the 2022 civilian massacre in Russian-occupied Bucha,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s program coordinator for Europe and Central Asia. “Russian authorities should not contest Mikhaylov’s appeal and stop their prosecution...

August 30, 2024 - Indonesia -  At least eleven journalists were violently assaulted by security forces while covering a mass protest in Jakarta on August 22, 2024, prompting strong condemnation from global and national press freedom organizations. The attacks occurred during demonstrations against the controversial Pilkada Bill, a proposed electoral reform that has sparked widespread unrest. According to the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the journalists were identified as the press but were still subjected to beatings, threats, and destruction of their equipment by members of both the National Police (Polri) and the Indonesian Armed...

August 30, 2024 - General -  Over the past ten years, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reports that 19 journalists have fallen victim to enforced disappearance by state actors and have yet to be found, accounting for the majority of the 32 journalists who vanished globally during this period. These deliberate abductions represent a grave escalation in the suppression of press freedom, undermining journalists’ safety and the public’s right to information. RSF defines enforced disappearance as a situation in which state agents detain individuals and refuse to acknowledge their whereabouts, effectively placing them outside the protection...

August 30, 2024 - Palestine -  The killing of Al Jazeera journalist Ismail al-Ghoul on July 31, 2024, in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza has drawn international condemnation and reignited concerns about the systematic targeting and posthumous discrediting of Palestinian journalists. Al-Ghoul, 27, was covering the aftermath of an Israeli strike when his marked press vehicle was hit near al-Shati camp, killing both him and his colleague, cameraman Rami al-Rifi. Their deaths brought the number of journalists killed in Gaza since October 2023 to well over 170, making it the deadliest conflict for media workers...

August 29, 2024 - Sudan -  Freelance journalist Aladdin Abu Harba, based in East Nile, Khartoum, was abducted by armed men affiliated with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on August 23, 2024, and held in an undisclosed location, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Initially, the kidnappers demanded 1 million Sudanese pounds (approximately US$400) for his release, but upon payment, they raised the ransom to 2 million pounds, threatening to kill him if additional funds were not paid. The CPJ strongly condemned this act, calling on the RSF to immediately and unconditionally release...

August 29, 2024 - Iraq - The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), in collaboration with MENA Rights Group and two Iraqi civil society organizations, has submitted a detailed report to the United Nations Human Rights Council ahead of Iraq’s fourth Universal Periodic Review (UPR), scheduled for 2025. The joint submission raises alarm over Iraq’s deteriorating press freedom environment and a deepening culture of impunity for crimes against journalists. The report outlines how Iraq has failed to uphold its previous UPR commitments, particularly regarding the safety and rights of journalists. Journalists in Iraq face increasing threats,...

August 29, 2024 - USA - Justice has finally been served in the high-profile murder of investigative journalist Jeff German, who was killed in 2022 after reporting on workplace misconduct in a local government office. On August 28, 2024, a Nevada jury found former Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles guilty of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 28 years, a rare but significant legal outcome in a country where murders of journalists often go unpunished. German, a veteran reporter for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, had...

August 29, 2024 -Pakistan -  On August 27, 2024, Awaz TV reporter Muhammad Bachal Ghunio, aged 35, was brutally shot dead by unidentified gunmen while working in a field near his home in the Raunti area, Ghotki District, Sindh Province. The shooting took place as Ghunio, an investigative journalist, was covering reports on armed robbers (dacoits) operating in nearby riverine zones. Local authorities and his family suspect his professional reporting triggered the attack, while police have also referenced a personal feud as a possible motive. Witnesses and police noted that at least seven masked assailants...