News

July 13, 2025 - Media -  Far-left Israeli journalist and activist Israel Frey was released to house arrest on July 13, 2025, after being arrested for a social media post in which he welcomed the deaths of five Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers killed in Gaza. Frey, known for his controversial views and outspoken criticism of the Israeli military, posted on July 8 that “the world is a better place this morning” without the soldiers, whom he referred to as participants in “one of the most brutal crimes against humanity.” He ended the post by...

July 11, 2025 - Nicaragua -  Exiled Nicaraguan journalists living in Costa Rica are facing escalating harassment, while their families back in Nicaragua endure surveillance, intimidation, and reprisals. This dual-front repression reflects the Ortega-Murillo regime’s expanding efforts to silence dissent beyond its borders, as documented by recent investigations from the Foundation for Freedom of Expression and Democracy (FLED) and testimonies published by The Tico Times and Havana Times. Between April and June 2025, FLED recorded at least 40 press freedom violations targeting Nicaraguan journalists in exile, mostly through online harassment, smear campaigns, and digital surveillance....

July 11, 2025 - Turkey -  Freelance court reporter Furkan Karabay has been fined 10,500 TRY (≈ $320) by an Istanbul court after being convicted of “insulting the president” for social media posts criticizing President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, including one following the devastating February 6, 2023, earthquakes. Karabay faced charges under Article 299 of the Turkish Penal Code, a frequently invoked law that criminalizes insults against the president and carries penalties ranging from one to four years imprisonment, potentially extended if the insult is public. The case, monitored closely by press freedom advocates, reached its fifth hearing on July 11, 2025, before...

July 11, 2025 - Greece -  Greek journalist Yannis Pretenteris narrowly escaped a potential assassination attempt after police discovered and defused an explosive device outside his residence in the Neo Psychiko neighborhood of northern Athens on July 10, 2025. The improvised explosive device (IED), reportedly containing around five kilograms of TNT, was found near the fence of his home early in the morning. Bomb disposal experts safely neutralized the device, and authorities have launched a terrorism investigation to identify those responsible. Pretenteris is a prominent political commentator and columnist with a long career in Greek...

July 11, 2025 - Palestine/Israel -  On July 11, Israeli forces killed Palestinian journalist Ahmad Abu Aisha, a correspondent for Palestine Today TV, when a drone struck him outside his home in Sawarha, central Gaza’s Nuseirat camp. His death raises the wartime press casualty count to 229 journalists killed since October 7, 2023. The Gaza government media office condemned this strike as part of Israel’s “systematic assassination of Palestinian reporters,” asserting Abu Aisha was specifically targeted while performing his professional duties. The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate likewise denounced the attack as a deliberate act to suppress truthful...

July 10, 2025 - Turkey/Iran -  Iran has intensified its campaign against Kurdish dissent, issuing death sentences to protesters and prosecuting journalists and politicians over peaceful expressions of solidarity. These developments mark a severe escalation in the state’s repression of political and media freedoms, particularly targeting Kurdish communities under the banner of suppressing the “Jin, Jiyan, Azadi” (Women, Life, Freedom) movement. In the city of Sanandaj, five Kurdish civilians were sentenced to death, adding to a total of 11 death sentences handed down by the Revolutionary Court for participation in anti-government protests. These charges stem...

July 10, 2025 - Spain/Morocco -  Moroccan authorities expelled two Spanish journalists—Leonor Suárez and Óscar Allende—and human rights activist Raúl Conde from occupied Laayoune on July 8, 2025. They were detained at a checkpoint while reporting on human rights in Western Sahara, in coordination with the Sahrawi media group Equipe Media, then escorted under surveillance to Agadir and expelled without official explanation. The trio condemned the expulsions as “illegal,” accusing Moroccan authorities of deliberately silencing reporters and observers in the territory. Raúl Conde described how plainclothes agents stopped the car, refused to provide any formal justification, and drove them...

July 10, 2025 - Azerbaijan -  A fresh wave of repression is sweeping Azerbaijan, as academic and media dissenters face sweeping prosecutions amid the country’s consolidation of power under President Ilham Aliyev. The Daraj report, alongside corroborating sources, highlights that after the ethnic Armenian exodus from Nagorno-Karabakh, Baku's crackdown has deepened significantly. On June 20, 2025, a Baku court handed down hefty prison terms—between 7 and 9 years—to several Abzas Media journalists on dubious “money laundering” charges. That case saw the prosecution of at least seven reporters, including correspondents for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, on allegations...

July 10, 2025 - Palestine -  Israeli authorities have extended the detention of Dr. Nasser Laham, editor-in-chief of the Maʿan News Agency and West Bank bureau chief for Al Mayadeen, following his arrest on July 7, 2025. Laham was taken from his home in the town of Ad-Doha, near Bethlehem, during a pre-dawn military raid in which Israeli forces reportedly ransacked his home and confiscated personal belongings. Laham’s arrest is part of an escalating crackdown on Palestinian journalists amid the ongoing war in Gaza. On July 10, an Israeli military court at Ofer prison ordered...

July 09, 2025 - Jordan -  As violence in Gaza escalates and press freedom in Jordan faces renewed scrutiny, two developments this week shed light on the ongoing human toll and the risks facing journalists in the region. According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, Israeli airstrikes over the past 24 hours killed at least 105 Palestinians and injured 530 more, pushing the overall death toll since the conflict began on October 7, 2023, to a staggering 57,680. The total number of wounded now stands at 137,409. Since March 18, 2025, alone, over 7,100 people...

July 09, 2025 - Tunisia -  In a chilling escalation of Tunisia’s crackdown on dissent, Ramla Dahmani, sister of imprisoned journalist and commentator Sonia Dahmani, was sentenced in absentia to two years in prison on July 1, 2025. Her crime: publicly calling for her sister’s release. The verdict, which she only discovered on July 8 through her legal team, came without any official notification and was based on allegations of spreading “false news” through social media posts. Ramla has been vocal in defending Sonia, who was convicted in three separate cases for similar “false news”...

July 09, 2025 - Iraq/Kurdistan -  Deadly clashes erupted in the Khabat district of Erbil on the night of July 7, 2025, exposing deepening rifts between the Herki tribe and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). The violence, which reportedly claimed at least two lives—one from each side—and left several wounded, is the latest in a series of confrontations that reflect long-standing tensions over land, power, and political dominance in the Kurdish region. According to reports from NRT TV and The Insight International, the confrontation involved armed Herki tribesmen and security forces affiliated with the KDP,...

July 09, 2025 - Iran -  During its 12-day war with Iran in early 2025, Israel intensified its crackdown on the press, exploiting national security fears to suppress dissent, silence critical voices, and tighten control over media narratives. According to a new report by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the Israeli government used the conflict not only to justify expanded military operations but also to escalate long-standing assaults on press freedom. The CPJ report highlights how Israeli authorities invoked wartime censorship to block coverage of sensitive military developments, often under the guise of protecting...

July 09, 2025 - Mexico/USA -  Mario Guevara, a veteran Salvadoran-American journalist and prominent figure in Atlanta’s Spanish-language media, remains in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody despite a federal immigration judge granting him bond. Guevara, who fled El Salvador in 2004 and has lived in the U.S. for two decades, was arrested on June 14 while livestreaming a protest in DeKalb County, Georgia. Though identifying himself as the press, he was charged with minor offenses, including obstruction and unlawful assembly. Shortly after his arrest, ICE issued a detainer and transferred him to the...

July 09, 2025 - Chad -  A special criminal court in N’Djamena has acquitted four Chadian journalists after facing serious charges of conspiring with Russia’s Wagner Group. The ruling, delivered on July 8, 2025, ends months of legal uncertainty and detention for three of the reporters, who had been held in custody since March. The accused—Olivier Monodji, director of the private daily Le Pays and a correspondent for Radio France Internationale; Ndilyam Guekidata, editor at Le Pays; Mahamat Saleh Alhissein of Télé Tchad; and Ahmat Ali Adji of Toumaï Web Médias were charged with “undermining...

July 09, 2025 - Paraguay -  In a groundbreaking collaborative investigation, Forbidden Stories and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) have resumed the work of murdered Paraguayan journalists to reveal a sprawling web of organized crime, corruption, and impunity that has taken root in Paraguay. Under the banner of the "Alianza" project, more than 50 journalists from 30 media outlets across 20 countries have come together to finish what those killed could not. At the center of the investigation are three Paraguayan journalists — Pablo Medina, Edgar Pantaleón Fernández Fleitas, and Leo Veras...

July 08, 2024 - Iran/UK -  The London-based Persian-language broadcaster Iran International has become the target of a major cyberattack, claimed by a pro-Iranian hacktivist group known as Handala Hack. On July 8, 2025, the group announced that it had breached Iran International’s internal systems, gaining access to communications, servers, and databases containing personal information of staff, journalists, and tens of thousands of viewers and supporters. The hackers have threatened to leak sensitive data unless their unspecified demands are met. Handala Hack accused Iran International of operating as a front for Israeli intelligence, specifically alleging...

July 08, 2025 - Palestine -  Israeli journalist and far-left activist Israel Frey is under criminal investigation after he publicly celebrated the deaths of five Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers killed in Gaza. In a controversial post on X (formerly Twitter) on July 8, Frey declared, “The world is a better place this morning, without five young men who partook in one of the most brutal crimes against humanity.” His remarks, referencing the previous day’s casualties in Gaza, sparked a wave of outrage across the political spectrum and led to swift action from authorities. Frey,...

July 08, 2025 - Palestine - In Gaza, where bombardments continue with relentless intensity, a group of Palestinian journalists is defying death to document a war that has already claimed more than 57,000 lives and wounded over 134,500. An editorial written by journalists Emad Drimly and Sanaa Kamal, published by Xinhua, offers a haunting and powerful reflection on the experiences of Gaza’s press corps—those who run toward danger while the world often looks away. Since the start of Israel’s military operations on October 7, 2023, at least 220 Palestinian journalists have been killed, many while...

July 08, 2025 - Egypt/Germany -  Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the United Nations, human rights organizations, and legal experts are urging the German federal government to provide robust protection to exiled Egyptian journalist Basma Mostafa. Residing in Berlin since June 2021, Mostafa fled Egypt after three arrests over her investigative work exposing state violence, torture, and extrajudicial killings. Despite having been granted asylum in early 2022, Mostafa remains under continuous threat. She has endured online gender-based harassment, physical assaults, and persistent surveillance by individuals allegedly connected to the Egyptian state. A notable incident occurred on...

July 08, 2025 - Turkey -  The Mesopotamian Women Journalists Association (MKG) reported a sharp escalation in the Turkish government’s suppression of press freedom. The month saw seven female journalists detained, two of whom were remanded to prison, signaling the intensified criminalization of journalistic activity. Additionally, authorities raided three journalists’ homes, subjected two individuals to mistreatment, and issued threats against three more. One prominent case involved Zeynep Durgut, a reporter for Mezopotamya Agency, who was threatened due to her investigative reporting, highlighting the growing dangers facing those who dare expose the truth. The MKG denounced...

July 07, 2025 - Colombia -  Gustavo Chicangana, the 62‑year‑old news director of Guaviare Estéreo and a reporter for Caracol Radio Guaviare, was seriously shot alongside his wife, Ana Milena Torres, as they left their residence in San José del Guaviare. Chicangana sustained injuries to the throat, chest, and shoulder, while Torres was wounded in the throat and chin. Both remain in stable condition, receiving medical care—Chicangana at a Bogotá hospital, and Torres at a local facility. Chicangana, also affiliated with Colombia’s Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP), had long been a target of threats linked...

July 07, 2025 - Ireland - Brian “Tosser” Meehan—the only person convicted for the 1996 murder of investigative journalist Veronica Guerin has begun unescorted day releases from Shelton Abbey open prison, marking a significant step in his gradual reintegration process. Now 57, Meehan has been spotted on his fifth such release, casually dressed in cream chinos, an orange shirt, and sporting a new beard. He was seen visiting family and friends in Dublin neighborhoods like Crumlin and Finglas, accompanied by an associate. Convicted in 1999 for driving the motorcycle used in the fatal ambush executed by...

July 07, 2025 - Sudan -  Two Sudanese freelance journalists, Nasr Yaqoub and Mohamed Ahmed Nazar, were arrested on July 7, 2025, by armed members of the Sudan Liberation Movement–Transitional Council (SLM–TC), a rebel group aligned with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). The arrests occurred in Abu Shouk camp near El Fasher, North Darfur—a region gripped by escalating conflict between the SAF, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and various allied militias. The detentions followed a violent incident on July 5, when Yaqoub was shot in the leg by an SLM–TC fighter after he refused to...

July 07, 2025 - Palestine -  Mahmoud Abu Hassira walks the ruins of northern Gaza with a camera and a broken heart. The seasoned photojournalist, once focused on telling others’ stories, now carries his own—a story of unspeakable personal loss, survival, and a relentless commitment to document the suffering of a people under siege. On November 4, 2023, an Israeli airstrike obliterated his family home. Mahmoud survived alongside his father, but his wife, two young children—seven-year-old Ziyad and four-year-old Ghada—and 33 relatives were killed. Most were women and children. Earlier that day, he had taken...