News

October 04, 2024 - Palestine -  The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) marked one year since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza, calling it the deadliest period for journalism in recent history. In 12 months, at least 128 Palestinian journalists were killed, with the total number of journalist fatalities in the region—including Israel, Lebanon, and Syria—reaching 138. The IFJ described the devastation as a “media Nakba,” a term evoking both human tragedy and cultural erasure. The relentless Israeli bombardment not only took lives but also dismantled Gaza’s media infrastructure. Twenty-one radio stations were destroyed...

October 04, 2024 - Slovakia -  Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico initiated a strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP) targeting Peter Bárdy, editor-in-chief of Aktuality.sk, and publisher Ringier Slovak Media. The lawsuit concerns the use of Fico’s photograph on the cover of Bárdy’s book titled Fico – Obsessed with Power. Fico is seeking €100,000 in damages from each defendant, claiming misuse of his likeness and non-material harm, despite not challenging the book's content. The International Press Institute (IPI), along with nine press freedom organisations, including CPJ, RSF, EFJ, ECPMF, and others, condemned the legal action as a...

October 04, 2024 - Peru - Peruvian investigative journalist Paola Ugaz—known for exposing sexual, physical, and financial abuses within the Catholic lay organization Sodalitium Christianae Vitae—faces a disturbing escalation in legal pressure: a court has ordered the lifting of confidentiality on her phone records and geolocation data from 2013 to 2020. This unprecedented judicial move stems from two stacked criminal suits against Ugaz: one for alleged money laundering in 2021, and a broader illicit enrichment inquiry initiated in August 2023. These cases, part of a long campaign of intimidation by interests tied to the Sodalitium,...

October 04, 2024 - Russia/Ukraine -  The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned the Russian government's threat against Italian journalist Davide Maria De Luca, marking a new low in the country's ongoing crackdown on independent war reporting. De Luca, a freelance correspondent for the Italian newspaper Domani, had been reporting from the Russian border region of Kursk following a Ukrainian incursion in late September 2024. While embedded with Ukrainian forces, De Luca produced a series of reports and videos documenting the aftermath of the conflict, including footage from Sudzha, a Russian town briefly entered by Ukrainian troops....

October 04, 2024 - Palestine -  In the year following Hamas’s October 2023 attack and the ensuing war on Gaza, Israeli journalists have faced an alarming rise in state repression, censorship, and intimidation, according to a new report by Reporters Without Borders (RSF). While much of the world’s focus has been on the devastation in Gaza, the media climate inside Israel has also deteriorated sharply, with press freedom increasingly sacrificed in the name of national security. RSF outlines how the Israeli government has expanded censorship laws, particularly targeting media outlets perceived as critical of its...

October 04, 2024 - Azerbaijan -  In a politically charged crackdown coinciding with Azerbaijan’s hosting of COP29 in Baku, authorities have prolonged the pretrial detention of 11 journalists from independent media outlets, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). These individuals face criminal charges related to alleged currency smuggling—accusations widely criticized as politically motivated and aimed at silencing dissent. The journalists represent four critical outlets: Toplum TV, Kanal 13, Abzas Media, and Meclis.info. Pretrial detention extensions by as much as three months were issued in August and September 2024. Among those affected are Alashgar...

October 03, 2024 - Palestine -  One year since the outbreak of war on October 7, 2023, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has exposed how Israeli forces have systematically dismantled Gaza’s media landscape, orchestrating a near-total blackout on independent journalism. The conflict has become the deadliest for journalists in recent history, and the deliberate targeting of media infrastructure has stripped both local and global audiences of critical access to information. According to RSF, over 130 journalists have been killed in Gaza over the past year, with at least 32 of them deliberately targeted while on assignment....

October 03, 2024 - Belgium/Lebanon -  Two Belgian reporters working for Flemish broadcaster VTM News—correspondent Robin Ramaekers (49) and cameraman Stijn De Smet (37)—were wounded on October 2, 2024, while covering Israeli airstrikes in central Beirut, as part of the broader Israel–Hezbollah conflict. Their injuries occurred during a live report on bombing strikes targeting Hezbollah-related sites in the city’s southern suburbs. Ramaekers sustained facial fractures, while De Smet was shot in the leg. Both were quickly hospitalized and survived the attack, which also killed six civilians and injured eleven others in that blast. Their coverage, alongside...

October 03, 2024 - France -  France 24 journalist Wassim Nasr, an expert on jihadist movements in the Sahel region, is under formal investigation in September 2024 by the military-led governments of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. Prosecutors in all three countries accuse him of “complicity” and “apology for terrorism” following his coverage of jihadist attacks, including the deadly September 17 bombing in Bamako and violence in Djibo, Burkina Faso. These governments, which came to power through coups and have subsequently distanced themselves from Western allies, claim Nasr’s commentary “amounts to blatant support” for terrorist groups...

October 03, 2024 - Cuba - Independent Cuban journalist and activist Yeris Curbelo Aguilera has been sentenced to two years in prison in what press freedom advocates call a politically motivated move aimed at silencing dissent. Curbelo, who reports for non-state outlets Palenque Visión and CubaNet, was convicted on September 24, 2024, of “causing minor injuries” during an altercation with several young men in Guantánamo earlier this year. He was originally arrested on June 16, detained for two days, and released on bail pending trial. Curbelo and human rights groups maintain that the confrontation was...

October 03, 2024 - Georgia -  A recent press freedom mission to Georgia by international media watchdogs, including the Council of Europe’s Safety of Journalists Platform and the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), has issued a stark warning: Georgia’s press environment is deteriorating rapidly amid growing political polarization and state hostility. Their report, “Press Freedom and the Safety of Journalists in Peril,” reveals that journalists in the country are facing systemic harassment, legal intimidation, and a climate of fear ahead of the 2024 parliamentary elections. The findings highlight a troubling pattern of verbal and physical...

October 03, 2024 - France - The Journalism Trust Initiative (JTI), launched by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in 2019, is bolstering its capacity to promote transparency, ethics, and editorial independence by expanding its network of accredited auditors in France and neighboring regions. Previously limited to a single auditor, the JTI now includes two ISO‑17065-accredited firms—CEVA Solution and ICPF, authorized to independently audit media outlets in France, Belgium, and Switzerland. This expansion supports around 120 media outlets already engaged in the JTI process, including approximately 50 entering audits, by offering more local options and greater flexibility....

October 03, 2024 - Senegal -  Respected Senegalese political analyst and journalist Cheikh Yerim Seck was summoned to the cybercrime division of Dakar police and detained following remarks made on private television channel 7 TV. During the broadcast, Seck challenged official government figures on the country’s economic conditions, citing data from the Ministry of Finance. Authorities subsequently charged him with "spreading false news" and defamation. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), alongside the Coordination of Press Associations (CAP) and the Senegalese journalists’ union SYNPICS, denounced the detention as arbitrary and abusive. IFJ Secretary General Anthony Bellanger...

October 03, 2024 - Russia - Russia has escalated its crackdown on independent war reporting by launching criminal proceedings against several foreign journalists who covered Ukraine’s brief incursion into the Kursk region in August 2024. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has condemned the charges as politically motivated and is urging Russian authorities to drop them immediately. Among those targeted are Kathryn Diss, Europe bureau chief for Australia’s ABC News, and Italian journalists Stefania Battistini and Simone Traini from RAI. All three were reporting from the Russian border town of Sudzha while embedded with Ukrainian...

October 02, 2024 - Congo - Catholic journalist Edmond Bahati Mbarushimana, also known as Edmond Bahle Monja, was murdered in the Ndosho district of Goma, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. He served as the coordinator for Radio Maria Goma, a Catholic radio station, and was shot at close range while returning home from work. His killing shocked both the local community and the wider Catholic press network, drawing international condemnation. Authorities announced the arrest of 35 individuals linked to the crime. Among those detained was a man who reportedly admitted to being paid...

October 02, 2024 - Sudan - Since the outbreak of war in April 2023, Sudan’s journalistic ecosystem has suffered catastrophic damage. According to reports by UNESCO and the Sudanese Journalists Syndicate, roughly 90% of the country’s media infrastructure — encompassing television, radio, print outlets, and news agency facilities — has been either destroyed, looted, or forced out of use. The destruction has deeply affected media workers. Around 1,000 journalists have been displaced, many forced to flee into exile or abandon the profession entirely due to lack of resources and safety. Print newspapers, some in operation for...

October 02, 2024 - Turkey/Saudi Arabia -  Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi was brutally murdered inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul—lured for consular paperwork, strangled, and dismembered by a team of Saudi agents. Despite overwhelming international evidence, including U.S. and U.N. intelligence pointing to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s involvement, justice has remained elusive. In 2019, Saudi Arabia quietly tried and convicted eight individuals—five sentenced to death (later pardoned) and three imprisoned—for the murder. However, the trial held behind closed doors failed to implicate any senior officials, igniting widespread concern that this was a staged display...

October 02, 2024 - Kosovo/Serbia -  Serbian news agency Tanjug is facing grave threats to its staff following coverage of Kosovo that sparked a chilling death threat. On September 30, 2024, the agency received an email threatening to “shoot journalists in the back of the head” if they entered Kosovo. The sender accused Tanjug of being a propaganda tool of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and condemned its use of the term “Kosovo and Metohija,” a phrase rejected by many Kosovar Albanians as a denial of Kosovo’s sovereignty. The threat included surveillance claims, stating the sender...

October 02, 2024 - Ukraine -  Within an hour after Slidstvo.Info published a high‑profile investigation detailing a luxurious apartment secretly owned by the mother‑in‑law of Vitalii Koval—Ukraine’s newly appointed Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food—the outlet’s website came under a targeted cyber‑attack. According to the platform’s security provider, the DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) assault began precisely at 17:00 local time, just sixty minutes after the article’s 16:01 publication, lasting around 30 minutes. Though the website remained online, the timing strongly indicates the attack was a calculated attempt to disrupt the outlet’s reporting. The exposé had...

October 01, 2024 - UK -  Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, recently released after 14 years of legal limbo, made his first public remarks on October 1, 2024, addressing the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg. In a powerful and emotional testimony, Assange reflected on the personal cost of his prosecution and the broader threat it poses to press freedom worldwide. Appearing before European lawmakers, Assange said he had pleaded guilty not because he believed he committed a crime, but because it was the only path to freedom. “I pleaded guilty...

October 01, 2024 - Senegal -  The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has taken a vital step in reshaping how migration is covered in the media by consulting editors in Senegal on the ethical and accurate reporting of migration-related issues. This initiative, part of a broader effort across West Africa, aims to equip newsroom leaders with the tools and awareness needed to guide journalists in reporting migration stories with sensitivity, depth, and responsibility. Migration remains a deeply personal and politically charged issue in Senegal, where thousands undertake perilous journeys in search of better opportunities. Media...

October 01, 2024 - Cameroon -  Cameroonian journalist Kingsley Fumunyuy Njoka has been sentenced to 10 years in prison by a military tribunal, drawing international condemnation for what press freedom advocates describe as an egregious attack on journalism. Njoka, a freelance journalist known for reporting on the Anglophone crisis, was convicted on September 24, 2024, of “secession” and “complicity with an armed group”—charges widely regarded as politically motivated and baseless. Njoka was first arrested in May 2020 in Douala without a warrant. Authorities accused him of managing WhatsApp groups allegedly linked to separatists and claimed...

October 01, 2024 - Uzbekistan - Otabek Sattoriy, a prominent independent anti-corruption blogger in Uzbekistan, remains eerily silent and unreachable eight months after his judicial “release,” Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reports. Despite a February 5, 2024, court decision commuting his original sentence to “correctional work” and a fine equivalent to 20% of his income, Sattoriy has neither appeared publicly nor maintained any contact with media, family, or civil society. He also hasn’t posted on social media, contradicting the court’s mandate that he be permitted to do so.  Sattoriy's troubles began with his coverage of corruption...

October 01, 2024 - Gambia - In a troubling attack on media freedom, Gambian authorities have arrested and charged two respected journalists—Charles Faye, publisher of The Standard, and Babucarr Mbye, editor of The Trumpet—for allegedly publishing “false news” related to President Adama Barrow’s succession plans. The arrests took place on September 25, 2024, after the outlets ran a report claiming Barrow would delay stepping down for another term—an assertion the presidency quickly called “unverified and false.” The journalists are now facing charges under Section 133(1) of The Gambia’s Criminal Code, a provision frequently criticized for...

October 01, 2024 - UK -  Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has strongly criticized political parties in the United Kingdom for increasingly restricting journalists' access to their annual conferences. Citing multiple reports of denied accreditations and opaque press entry procedures, RSF warned that such practices are incompatible with democratic principles and threaten the integrity of political discourse in Britain. The warning follows a series of incidents in which media professionals, including those from smaller outlets, freelancers, and international journalists, were either barred from attending or faced excessive hurdles to obtain access to key party gatherings. These...