2013

  

Gambian photographer detained for six days

Plainclothes officers of the Gambia’s National Intelligence Agency (NIA) arrested Pa Sulay Jadama on June 20, 2013, at the premises of the Banjul Magistrates’ Court and detained him incommunicado for six days, according to news reports.

Read More ›

Guinean journalist assaulted while covering attack

A group of persons with disabilities attacked Alhasane Bah, a journalist with the media group L’independent-Le Democrate, on July 4, 2013, as he attempted to photograph the group attacking another person with disabilities, according to news reports. The attack occurred near the Faycal Mosque in Donka district.

Read More ›

Government official publicly whips Nigerian journalist

An identified State Security Service agent publicly flogged a reporter on July 3, 2013, while he was on an official visit to the Benue State Government House to deliver a press invitation to the state governor’s chief of staff, according to news reports.

Read More ›

Two journalists shot dead in the Philippines

Bangkok, July 31, 2013–Authorities in the Philippines must identify the motive behind the murders of two journalists on Tuesday and ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Both reporters were columnists for the Aksyon Ngayon weekly tabloid newspaper.

Read More ›

New Zealand, US may have spied on McClatchy reporter

Concern over government surveillance of journalists has washed up on the faraway shores of New Zealand, with a report in the country’s Sunday Star this week asserting that the military there, with help from U.S. intelligence, spied on an investigative journalist who had been critical of its activities in Afghanistan. 

Read More ›

Obaida Batal, correspondent for Orient News, has been taken hostage in Syria. (Orient News)

Attacks on Orient News illustrate Syria’s many threats

It is increasingly difficult to document violations against the press in Syria, let alone hold those responsible to account. It has always been hard to verify facts within the country. But now, the sheer number of violations and the expanding list of violators have become admittedly overwhelming. 

Read More ›

Manning faces more than 100 years in prison (AP/Patrick Semansky)

Manning case raises worries about chilling effect

New York, July 30, 2013–Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, whose leak of classified documents to the website WikiLeaks sparked a military court-martial that raised alarms about the chilling effect on the press, was convicted today on six counts of violating the Espionage Act, along with theft and other charges, but was acquitted of the most serious…

Read More ›

The home page of Zambia Reports, the news website blocked by the Zambian government.

Zambia blocks another website, re-arrests reporter

Cape Town, July 30, 2013–Zambian authorities should stop blocking access to critical news websites and halt their harassment of journalists accused of working with the websites, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today after reports emerged of widening government obstruction.

Read More ›

Lohé Issa Konaté (Lydia Ouédraogo)

Jailed Burkinabe journalist appeals to African Court

Journalist Lohé Issa Konaté has been imprisoned in Burkina Faso since he was convicted in October of criminal defamation over articles in private weekly L’Ouragan alleging corruption and abuse of power at the office of the public prosecutor. In May, an appeals court rejected his appeal and upheld the 12-month sentence, according to defense counsel Halidou…

Read More ›

Another reporter attacked, hospitalized in eastern Ukraine

New York, July 29, 2013–Federal authorities in Ukraine should take over the investigation into today’s brutal attack on a TV journalist who had regularly reported on allegations of corruption in the regional police force, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Sergei Ostapenko, a reporter for Irta, suffered a broken jaw and other injuries in…

Read More ›