News

January 24, 2025 - Tunisia -  Mohamed Boughalleb, a veteran Tunisian journalist, remains arbitrarily detained as part of an escalating crackdown on freedom of expression in Tunisia. His detention is rooted in a Facebook post criticizing the Ministry of Religious Affairs—criticism that led to his arrest on March 22, 2024, and an eight-month prison sentence for defamation. However, Boughalleb was not released after completing that sentence. Instead, authorities placed him in pre-trial detention under Tunisia’s controversial Decree-Law 2022-54 on Cybercrimes, accusing him of spreading “fake news” and insulting others online. The charges are reportedly linked...

January 24, 2025 - Bangladesh -  An international legal team filed a formal complaint with the United Nations Human Rights Council, urging intervention in the case of Bangladeshi journalists Shakil Ahmed and Farzana Rupa. The pair, both prominent media professionals, were arrested in 2024 and remain in detention on what rights groups say are politically motivated charges aimed at silencing dissent. Shakil Ahmed, a former news chief at Ekattor TV, and his wife, Farzana Rupa, were accused of involvement in deadly protests during a student-led uprising in mid-2024. Despite a lack of concrete evidence, both...

January 24, 2025 - Mexico -  Mexican journalist Calletano de Jesús Guerrero was shot and killed outside a church in Teoloyucan, in the State of Mexico. Guerrero, 57, served as deputy editor of the Facebook-based news outlet Global Mexico and had been under federal protection since 2014 due to threats linked to his investigative reporting on crime and politics. According to witnesses, Guerrero was attacked by armed men on a motorcycle in the church parking lot. Despite being enrolled in Mexico’s official protection mechanism for journalists, the safeguards in place failed to prevent his assassination....

January 23, 2025 - Syria -  Ibrahim Ajaj, a veteran photographer for Syria’s state news agency SANA, was abducted from his home in Hama by two unidentified armed men. His body was found shortly after, riddled with bullets, sparking widespread condemnation from international press freedom organizations. Ajaj had survived years of working in Syria’s perilous media landscape, continuing his role through the collapse of the Assad regime in late 2024. Yet despite having threats reported by relatives, he remained vulnerable—highlighting increasing physical danger for journalists in Syria—even those affiliated with state media . The International Federation...

January 23, 2025 - Iran -  Iranian journalist and civil rights activist Mehdi Mahmoudian has been imprisoned to serve an eight-month sentence after being convicted of “propaganda against the regime.” The sentence, issued by Branch 26 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court under Judge Iman Afshari, also includes a two-year travel ban, a ban on smartphone usage, and a prohibition on joining political or social organizations. Mahmoudian was summoned on February 3, 2025, to the Execution of Sentences Branch, where he was taken into custody and transferred to Evin Prison. His arrest came despite an earlier approval...

January 23, 2025 - Palestine/Israel -  The Palestinian Authority (PA) arrested Al Jazeera journalist Mohamed Atrash in Hebron, reportedly to prevent him from covering an Israeli military raid in Jenin. PA security forces stormed Atrash’s home in the early hours, detaining him without formal charges. The arrest followed previous efforts by the PA to bar him from reporting in the area. Al Jazeera Media Network strongly condemned the arrest, calling it an “arbitrary and unjustified” act meant to suppress press freedom and block media coverage of critical events in Jenin. The network stated that Atrash...

January 23, 2025 - Syria -  Syria witnessed the deaths of two photojournalists in separate, tragic incidents that underscored the persistent dangers faced by journalists in conflict zones. On January 23, state-linked sports photographer Ibrahim Ajaj, who worked for Syria’s official news agency SANA, was found shot dead near Hama. His body was discovered riddled with bullets, and no group has claimed responsibility for the killing. According to reports, Ajaj had previously received threats. Syria’s transitional government swiftly condemned the murder and vowed to investigate the incident and hold the perpetrators accountable. This marked a...

January 23, 2025 - Kenya -  Journalist Daniel Chege, a reporter for the Standard Media Group, was violently assaulted by members of the Kenya National Police’s General Service Unit (GSU) while covering a protest in Molo, Nakuru County. The demonstration was organized in response to the death of local activist Richard Otieno, whose body had been discovered under unclear circumstances. Chege was reporting from a vehicle near the protest site when GSU officers approached and, despite his media credentials, dragged him out. According to eyewitnesses and his media colleagues, the officers tore his shirt and...

January 23, 2025 - Somalia -  Somaliland authorities have released freelance journalist Shafi’i Abdi Mohamed, known professionally as Shafii Shaaciye, after holding him in detention for one week without formal charges. His arrest on January 16, 2025, came shortly after his return to Hargeisa, reportedly in response to social media posts that were critical of the government. According to local reports, police raided Shaaciye’s home early in the morning and took him into custody. On January 18, he was presented before the Maroodi Jeh court, which extended his detention by seven days without providing a...

January 23, 2025 - General -  Wael Al-Dahdouh, Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief, has become a global symbol of journalistic courage and heartbreak. Once reporting daily from the frontlines of Gaza, he now lives in exile, physically distant but emotionally tethered to a homeland devastated by war. In just months between October 2023 and January 2024, Al-Dahdouh lost nearly his entire family. His wife, daughter, son, and grandson were killed in an Israeli airstrike. Later, his eldest son—also a journalist—was killed while reporting. Despite his unimaginable grief, Al-Dahdouh returned to the field within days, continuing...

January 23, 2025 - Iran -  Iranian authorities have escalated their campaign against independent journalism, increasingly resorting to home raids, court summonses, and threats targeting both domestic and exiled reporters. According to IranWire, the crackdown is part of a systematic effort to silence dissent and prevent critical reporting amid rising internal and external tensions. In recent months, multiple journalists in Iran have reported pre-dawn police raids on their homes, followed by official summonses to appear before state security courts. These incidents are often accompanied by vague or politically motivated charges such as “national security violations”...

January 23, 2025 - Turkey -  A Turkish court sentenced five journalists to prison following a retrial related to alleged links with the exiled cleric Fethullah Gülen, whom Ankara accuses of orchestrating the failed 2016 coup. The verdict, issued by the 25th Istanbul Court of Serious Crimes, reignites concerns over judicial independence and the ongoing criminalization of journalism in Turkey. The journalists were originally arrested in 2016 during the sweeping purge that followed the coup attempt. They were convicted in 2018 on terrorism-related charges, accused of supporting a terrorist organization through their reporting and affiliations....

January 23, 2025 - Jordan -  Jordanian authorities released satirical journalist Ahmed Hassan al‑Zoubi after he served approximately seven months in prison. His sentence was commuted to community service by the Amman Criminal Court, following an earlier one-year jail term handed down in August 2023 for a critical social media post about a transportation strike in Ma’an Governorate. Al‑Zoubi—a well-known columnist for the state-owned newspaper Al‑Rai and founder of the online platform Sawaleif—began serving his sentence in July 2024. Jordan’s Cybercrime Law, enacted in 2023, was cited in his conviction, with charges of inciting discord...

January 23, 2025 - Georgia -  Veteran Georgian journalist and media manager Mzia Amaghlobeli, co-founder and director of the independent outlets Batumelebi and Netgazeti, was arrested amid post-election protests in Batumi. She was accused of "assaulting a police officer" after slapping the local police chief, Irakli Dgebuadze, following verbal abuse he directed at her. Her arrest on January 12 sparked widespread concern, especially after Georgia’s police reportedly falsified detention records and mistreated her in custody. She was denied bail and placed in pre-trial detention under what many see as politically motivated circumstances. Within days, Amaghlobeli began...

January 22, 2025 - Sudan -  Sudanese journalist Yahya Hamad Fadlallah died on January 13, 2025, just days after being released from nearly a month-long detention by Sudanese military intelligence. His death has sparked outrage among press freedom advocates and human rights organizations, who have linked it directly to torture and medical neglect during his custody. Fadlallah, a veteran journalist and respected voice in Khartoum Bahri, was arrested on December 11, 2024, along with his son. During his detention, he was reportedly subjected to repeated beatings and denied access to medical treatment for his diabetes,...

January 22, 2025 - Afghanistan -  The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on Pakistani authorities to immediately end the harassment, detention, and deportation of Afghan journalists seeking refuge in Pakistan. The appeal follows multiple incidents in January 2025 where Afghan reporters were threatened, detained, or forcibly returned to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, despite holding valid visas and documentation. According to CPJ, at least two Afghan journalists and their family members were detained in early January and deported from Islamabad without legal proceedings. Others, including journalists Mujeeb Awrang and Ahmad Mosavi, were taken from their homes...

January 22, 2025 - Turkey/Iraq/Kurdistan -  Turkish authorities detained Eylem Babayiğit, a Kurdish journalist and former contributor to the now-closed Özgür Gündem newspaper, during a raid on her home in Istanbul. She is accused of “membership in a terrorist organization” under Turkey’s broad anti-terrorism laws, which have been frequently used to target Kurdish media workers and political dissenters. Babayiğit’s arrest is linked to her past journalistic work, particularly her involvement with Kurdish outlets and her reporting on minority rights, social issues, and state repression. Authorities allege that she has ties to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party...

January 22, 2025 - Palestine/Israel/USA -  Stanford University has announced it will not pursue disciplinary action against student journalist Dilan Gohill, who was arrested in June 2024 while covering a pro-Palestinian protest on campus. Gohill, then a freshman and reporter for The Stanford Daily, was among several individuals detained during a demonstration that entered and briefly occupied the university president’s office. Despite wearing a Stanford Daily sweatshirt and a visible press badge, Gohill was arrested and charged with burglary, conspiracy, and vandalism. University administrators at the time—President Richard Saller and Provost Jenny Martinez—supported the charges...

January 22, 2025 - Bangladesh -  Bangladeshi journalists Farzana Rupa and Shakil Ahmed, both formerly with the private broadcaster Ekattor TV, have filed a formal complaint with the United Nations Human Rights Council over their ongoing detention, alleging political persecution and arbitrary imprisonment. Their legal team submitted the complaint to the UN’s Special Procedures in January 2025, urging international intervention. The couple was arrested at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on August 21, 2024, as they attempted to leave the country. Authorities charged them with inciting violence during a wave of student protests that erupted earlier...

January 21, 2025 - Tanzania -  Tanzanian journalist and activist Maria Sarungi Tsehai was abducted in Nairobi, Kenya, by four unidentified men—some posing as police officers—before being released several hours later. Tsehai, known for her outspoken criticism of the Tanzanian government and her leadership of the #ChangeTanzania movement, was targeted while traveling by taxi in the Kilimani area. According to Tsehai’s own account, the men blindfolded and handcuffed her, confiscated her phones, and subjected her to physical and verbal abuse during a four-hour ordeal. She was eventually released at an undisclosed location on the outskirts...

January 21, 2025 -Yemen -  Ahmad Maher, a Yemeni journalist and former correspondent for Al-Sharea newspaper, was finally released on January 18, 2025, after spending nearly two and a half years behind bars. His arrest on August 6, 2022, by security forces in Aden was carried out without a warrant. He was subjected to enforced disappearance, held incommunicado, and tortured—beaten, electrocuted, and waterboarded—force a confession, which was later published online to damage his reputation. Initially accused of “spreading false news” and forging documents, Maher was later linked to a bombing case without evidence. For months,...

January 21, 2025 - USA -  As Donald Trump begins his second term as U.S. President, Amnesty International has issued a strong warning, highlighting the potential rollback of critical human rights protections in the United States and across the Americas. In a joint statement released on January 21, 2025, Amnesty International’s regional directors across the Americas expressed deep concern over Trump’s anticipated policies. They warned that his hardline agenda could worsen the treatment of migrants, weaken protections for asylum seekers, and encourage authoritarian practices in neighboring countries. Ana Piquer, Amnesty’s Americas director, emphasized that Trump’s...

January 21, 2025 - Nigeria -  Human rights advocates and the family of slain journalist Alex Ogbu marked five years since his killing by accusing the Nigerian Police Force of failing to comply with a court ruling. Ogbu, a journalist with Regent Africa Times, was shot and killed by police during a protest by members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria in Abuja on January 21, 2020. Following a legal battle led by the Falana & Falana Chambers, the Federal High Court in Kurudu, Abuja, ruled on June 21, 2023, that the Nigerian police must...

January 21, 2025 - Syria/ Kurdistan -  Suleiman Ahmed, a Kurdish journalist and Arabic-section editor at Rojnews, was released on January 20, 2025, after being held for more than 454 days by authorities in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. He was arrested on October 25, 2023, at the Faysh Khabur border crossing while returning from a family visit to Syria. Kurdish security forces, affiliated with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), accused him of espionage and links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Following his arrest, Ahmed was subjected to enforced disappearance and denied access to...

January 21, 2025 -Azerbaijan -  Azerbaijani authorities filed six additional charges against four journalists from the independent media outlet Toplum TV and arrested another reporter, Farid Ismayilov, as part of an escalating crackdown on press freedom. The new charges increase the possible prison terms from a maximum of eight years to 12 years. The charges, reportedly related to financial crimes such as currency smuggling, are viewed by media rights groups as politically motivated. Farid Ismayilov, who had previously been targeted during a March 2024 raid on Toplum TV, was again arrested despite having serious health...