News

January 14, 2026 - Kenya - A decade-long legal fight by a Kenyan journalist alleging unlawful detention and torture by state security officers has reached the Supreme Court of Kenya, marking a significant test of legal protections for press freedom and accountability in the country. The journalist ' Justus Ochieng' claims he was arrested, held for eight hours, and physically abused by police while reporting, including being slapped, kicked, and otherwise mistreated, allegations that prior courts examined before allowing the case to ascend to the highest judicial level. The Supreme Court will now review constitutional issues,...

January 14, 2026 - Turkey - A prosecutor in Turkey has asked a court to sentence veteran journalist Zafer Arapkirli to up to four years in prison on charges of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in a social media post, according to the Stockholm Center for Freedom. The case was heard in the İstanbul 60th First Criminal Court, where prosecutors argued that Arapkirli’s comment — characterising someone (without naming Erdoğan) as “a very bad scriptwriter” — exceeded permissible criticism and thus constituted a criminal insult. Arapkirli has denied wrongdoing, describing the prosecution as an effort...

January 14, 2026 - Uganda - As Uganda prepares for its January 15, 2026 presidential and parliamentary elections, multiple credible reports document a sharp rise in violence and restrictions targeting journalists, rights groups, and information access, raising serious press freedom concerns. Independent monitors and the Committee to Protect Journalists note that journalists covering opposition rallies have been assaulted by security forces or other actors, reflecting a broader pattern of intimidation that has long plagued Uganda’s electoral cycles. During this period, authorities also ordered a temporary nationwide internet blackout — a move widely viewed as aimed...

January 13, 2026 - Georgia - A European Union (EU) delegation in Georgia marked the first anniversary of the detention of veteran Georgian journalist Mzia Amaglobeli, founder of the independent outlets Batumelebi and Netgazeti, with renewed appeals for her immediate and unconditional release. The commemoration took place in Tbilisi and underlined persistent concerns among international and local press freedom advocates over her continued imprisonment on charges related to alleged “high treason,” which she and supporters reject as politically motivated. EU representatives reiterated that Amaglobeli’s detention has raised serious questions about due process, judicial independence, and...

January 13, 2026 - Sudan - A coalition of press freedom and human rights organisations has called on Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to immediately release Sudanese journalist Muammar Ibrahim, who has been held since October 26, 2025, after being detained in El Fasher, North Darfur, while attempting to leave the city amid hostilities. In joint statements, the organizations say Ibrahim’s detention has been marked by an alarming lack of verified information about his health, legal status, and conditions of confinement, noting he has largely been held incommunicado without access to family or legal counsel....

January 13, 2026 - Egypt - At Al-Bawaba News in Egypt, journalists have escalated a labor rights sit-in to the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate amid a prolonged dispute with the outlet’s management over wages and working conditions. Reporters began an open-ended protest in November 2025, demanding application of the national minimum wage and improvements in employment terms after management announced the newspaper’s liquidation and printed its final issue. Journalists say management attempted to forcefully disperse the sit-in by cutting utilities, disabling security systems, and bringing in guards, allegations denied by the outlet’s leadership. Syndicate officials have...

January 12, 2026 - Iran - An editorial by HonestReporting argues that major Western news outlets have failed to adequately cover the ongoing nationwide protests in Iran, portraying this as a moral failure that dilutes the significance of the movement and obscures protesters’ demands. The piece contends that many prominent media organisations initially ignored the mass demonstrations, which began in late December 2025 amid deep economic distress and broad calls for political change, and later framed the unrest primarily as an economic story rather than a politically charged challenge to Iran’s ruling system. HonestReporting asserts...

January 12, 2026 - Syria - The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has raised concerns after Syrian government forces detained three journalists and barred independent coverage in the Aleppo neighbourhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyah following the regime’s recapture of those areas from Kurdish-affiliated forces. Two Rudaw media workers were briefly held and accused of terrorism before their release, while another reporter with a state-linked outlet was detained for about 12 hours despite having official permission to film. Most independent journalists were prevented from entering key zones, with reporting access limited largely to outlets aligned...

January 12, 2026 - Iran - A widespread communications blackout imposed by the Iranian government has severely isolated journalists and citizens while protests spread across the country over economic distress and political discontent, press freedom advocates warn. Since January 8, 2026, Iran has cut internet and telephone access nationwide amid demonstrations triggered by a collapsing currency, rising inflation, and broader dissatisfaction with the regime, making it difficult for journalists to report independently or share information with the outside world. RSF said the shutdown has blocked news websites, messaging apps, and international communications, leaving only state-affiliated channels operational, and documented recent intimidation and arrests of...

January 11, 2026 - Afghanistan - The Afghanistan Media Support Organization (AMSO) has condemned the recent arrest of Nazera Rashidi, a female journalist in Kunduz Province, who was detained by Taliban authorities earlier in January 2026 and transferred to an undisclosed location, calling for her immediate and unconditional release and urging respect for legal rights and the safety of female journalists. AMSO highlighted that Rashidi, who supports her underage siblings, has not been accused of any criminal activity, and that her detention reflects widening restrictions on press freedom under Taliban rule. In a separate statement,...

January 11, 2026 - Palestine - Israeli occupation forces briefly detained journalists and medics and abducted other residents following a raid on the Old City of Nablus that began in the early hours of Sunday morning, according to Palestinian security sources. The sources told WAFA that Israeli forces are currently surrounding journalists inside the al-Yasmina neighborhood while they were covering the ongoing incursion, which involved the use of live ammunition and the sealing off of the Old City. Ghassan Hamdan, director of the Medical Relief Society in Nablus, told WAFA that Israeli forces fired directly...

January 10, 2026 - Mexico - A crime reporter identified as Carlos Castro, director of the online news outlet Código Norte Veracruz, was shot and killed in Poza Rica in the eastern Mexican state of Veracruz, in an attack that underscores the continuing peril faced by journalists covering crime and corruption in Mexico. Castro, who had recently returned to Poza Rica after previously fleeing the city due to credible threats, was fatally shot at a restaurant late on January 8, 2026, state authorities and press freedom organizations reported. The State Commission for the Attention and...

January 10, 2026 - Pakistan - Journalist Muhammad Aslam Shah has been sent to prison on judicial remand in Karachi after his arrest under Pakistan’s controversial Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) 2025, local media outlets report, sparking renewed concerns about press freedom and the use of cybercrime legislation against journalists. Shah’s detention and remand follow a case registered on 29 December 2025 after a First Information Report (FIR) was filed by Tabish Raza Husnain, described as an official of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation (KWSC), alleging defamation and cyberstalking offences against him and...

January 10, 2026 - Slovakia - A prominent Slovak journalist, Peter Schutz (70), was violently attacked by an unknown assailant on the afternoon of January 10, 2026, at a shopping centre in eastern Slovakia, according to initial reports. The assault, widely condemned by media organisations, raised immediate concerns about journalist safety and political rhetoric in the country. At least two Slovak government ministers responded publicly to the attack not by focusing solely on violence against the press but by criticising Schutz’s published commentary and suggesting his writings contributed to tensions, prompting criticism from press freedom...

January 10, 2026 - Turkey - Türkiye marked Working Journalists’ Day on January 10, 2026, with nationwide recognition of the role and risks of journalism, paying special tribute to media professionals who have lost their lives in the line of duty, particularly those reporting from the Gaza conflict zone. The annual observance also celebrates the 1961 law that introduced enhanced labour rights for journalists in Türkiye, including job security and fair wages. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met with journalists in Istanbul’s Beyoğlu district, greeting members of the press and extending congratulations on the occasion. He...

January 09, 2026 - Syria - At least four media workers were wounded in a mortar attack attributed to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, according to regional media and security sources. The attack struck the Ashrafieh district on the city’s western outskirts on January 8, 2026, amid heightened tensions and shifting military deployments in the area. Reports said the media workers were covering developments linked to security movements following the partial withdrawal of SDF elements from positions around Aleppo when the shells landed. Syrian state media cited internal...

January 07, 2026 - Nigeria -  A veteran Nigerian photojournalist, Malam Umar Usman Iyale, has been kidnapped by suspected bandits in the Danhonu II community of Millennium City, located in the Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State, according to security and community sources. The Kaduna State Police Command confirmed the abduction on January 5, 2026, saying operatives have been deployed to locate and rescue him unharmed. Police spokesperson DSP Mansir Hassan stated that the journalist was seized by gunmen from his home around 9:00 pm on Monday, with the assailants carrying out the operation...

January 07, 2025 - Palestine - An international media association has denounced the Israeli government’s continued refusal to lift its ban on unrestricted media access to Gaza, despite the ceasefire in the embattled enclave. The Foreign Press Association (FPA) issued a statement on Tuesday expressing its “profound disappointment” with the government, which had told the Supreme Court two days earlier that the ban should be maintained due to “security reasons”. Israel, which has barred foreign journalists from independently entering Gaza since the war started in October 2023, was responding to an FPA petition seeking free and...

January 07, 2026 - Bangladesh -  Rana Pratap Bairagi, a 38-year-old Hindu businessman and acting editor of Dainik BD Khabar, was fatally shot by unidentified assailants in Jashore district, Bangladesh, on January 5, 2026, in an attack that has intensified concerns about rising violence against religious minorities in the country. Bairagi owned an ice-making factory in Kopalia Bazar and was ambushed by men who reportedly called him out of his workplace before shooting him multiple times in the head. Police recovered bullet casings at the scene, and the motive remains under investigation. Bairagi’s killing occurred...

January 07, 2026 - USA/Venezuela -  Venezuelan authorities detained at least 14 journalists and media workers in Caracas on January 5, 2026, as the country grappled with political turmoil following the capture of President Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces. The detentions occurred while reporters were covering the swearing-in of interim president Delcy Rodríguez and related political events at the National Assembly, reflecting renewed pressure on the press during a volatile moment in Venezuela’s governance and media landscape. The National Union of Press Workers (SNTP) reported that 13 of those detained were affiliated with international media...

January 06, 2026 - USA/UK - The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has come under scrutiny after internal editorial guidance reportedly instructed its journalists not to describe the United States’ forcible removal of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro as a “kidnapping.” Leaked internal directives circulated on social media and referenced by commentators indicate that BBC staff were told to use terms such as “captured” or “seized” in reports, and avoid the word “kidnapped” when describing the U.S. military operation that led to Maduro’s arrest in early January 2026. The memo, said to have originated in a BBC...

January 06, 2026 - Ghana - Ghana’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Dr. Dominic Ayine, has renewed the government’s pledge to pursue accountability in the 2019 assassination of investigative journalist Ahmed Hussein-Suale, acknowledging ongoing challenges in the long-running inquiry but insisting authorities have not abandoned efforts to assemble sufficient evidence for prosecution. Ayine’s remarks, delivered in early January 2026, come almost eight years after Suale was fatally shot near his home in Accra while engaged in investigative reporting. Suale, a key member of the investigative team, Tiger Eye Private Investigations, and a close associate...

January 06, 2025 - Ghana - A Class Media Group reporter, Samuel Addo, alleges he was physically assaulted and robbed by personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) while covering a fire outbreak at Kasoa New Market in the Central Region on January 4, 2026, prompting a formal police complaint and widespread condemnation from media bodies. Addo recounted that after reporting live from the scene and seeking comment from GNFS officers, he was confronted by around ten fire service personnel, who allegedly seized him by the neck, twisted his arms behind his back, and...

January 05, 2026 - Palestine -  Israeli forces carried out a series of dawn raids across the occupied West Bank on January 5, 2026, detaining dozens of Palestinians, including a journalist and a 15-year-old boy, as part of intensified security operations in the territory, multiple local sources reported. The raids spanned several governorates, reflecting an ongoing campaign of arrests that has persisted since the outbreak of the 2023 Gaza war. Among those taken into custody was journalist Inas Ikhlawi, who was reportedly arrested at her home in Idhna near Hebron without any formal charges immediately...

January 05, 2026 - Turkey -  A prosecutor in Istanbul, Turkey, has submitted a final opinion requesting prison sentences ranging from five to ten years for seven journalists, an editor, a translator, and a sociologist, alleging that their contributions to pro-Kurdish publications constituted “aiding an armed terrorist organisation.” The case, heard by the Istanbul 13th Heavy Penal Court, stems from reporting and written work published in Yeni Özgür Politika and its supplement PolitikArt, outlets based in Germany that cover Kurdish issues and politics. The defendants named in the prosecutor’s opinion include Bianet editor Tuğçe Yılmaz...