Statements

  
A Hong Kong cityscape is pictured in March 2024 through barbed wire.

European Parliament calls for repeal of Hong Kong security laws

Brussels, April 25, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomed Thursday’s call by the European Parliament for the repeal of two Hong Kong security laws that it said undermine press freedom and for the release of Jimmy Lai, founder of the now-shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily. The parliamentary resolution condemned Hong Kong’s adoption last month of…

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Texas police detain, charge FOX 7 Austin journalist covering pro-Palestinian protest

New York, April 25, 2024 — Texas authorities should immediately drop all charges against a FOX 7 Austin journalist detained while covering a pro-Palestinian protest and take steps to ensure journalists can do their jobs safely and without interference, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. Law enforcement officers arrested a FOX 7 Austin photographer…

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European Union high representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, shown here speaking to journalists in Brussels in 2023, told the European Parliament on April 23, 2024, that the European External Action Service was ‘appalled’ by the ‘unprecedented’ number of journalists and media workers killed in six months of the Israel-Gaza war. (Photo by John THYS / AFP)

CPJ welcomes call by EU’s Borrell on protecting journalists in Israel-Gaza war; urges further action by EU states

Brussels, April 23, 2024— The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes Tuesday’s remarks by the European Union’s Josep Borrell about the need to protect journalists in the Israel-Gaza war and calls on all EU member states also to make or renew calls that both sides should respect international law during the conflict, take all measures to…

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Headshots of Italian journalists Giovanni Tizian (left), Stefano Vergine, and Nello Trocchia who are under criminal investigation over their reporting on an alleged conflict of interest involving Italy’s Defence Minister Guido Crosetto.

CPJ, others oppose prosecution of Italian investigative journalists in leaks probe

The Committee to Protect Journalists and more than 70 other signatories, including Italian and international press freedom groups and European media outlets, called on Italy on Tuesday to respect the right to report, rather than risk criminalizing journalism by prosecuting three reporters with Italy’s Domani newspaper in order to identify their sources. In a leaks…

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Authorities arrested journalist Blaise Mabala and accused him of insulting a provincial government official during his October 18, 2023, radio program. (Photo credit: Blaise Mabala)

Prosecutor requests 15-month sentence for jailed DRC journalist Blaise Mabala

Kinshasa, April 22, 2024— Ahead of a court decision expected on Saturday in the prosecution of radio journalist Blaise Mabala, the Committee to Protect Journalist is alarmed that prosecutors in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have asked that he be sentenced to 15 months in prison and urges authorities to stop criminalizing the work…

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Terry Anderson (left) at a 2011 panel discussion and in Germany with his sister in 1991, one day after being freed by his abductors in Lebanon, where he was held captive for almost seven years. (Photos (left to right): Getty Images via AFP/Frederick M. Brown, AP/Thomas Kienzle)

‘Part of the CPJ family’: Journalist, former hostage Terry Anderson dies at 76

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply saddened by the death of Terry Anderson, journalist and CPJ’s former vice chair and honorary chairman. Anderson, a former Associated Press journalist who was kidnapped and held hostage in Lebanon for six years, knew firsthand the threats that faced journalists seeking to report freely, and was an…

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Tunisian journalist Mohamed Boughaleb sentenced to 6 months in prison for defamation

New York, April 18, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Tunisian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release journalist Mohamed Boughaleb after he was convicted by a Tunis court of defamation and sentenced to six months in prison on Wednesday. “The sentencing of journalist Mohamed Boughaleb to six months in prison over social media posts…

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Jeune Afrique journalist Farid Alilat is seen in an interview.

CPJ condemns expulsion of journalist Farid Alilat on arrival at Algiers airport

New York, April 15, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists urges Algerian authorities to allow Farid Alilat, a journalist and Algerian citizen, to enter the country without fear of arrest, after he was denied entry at Algiers International Airport on Friday. Algerian police detained Alilat on arrival from Paris and questioned him for 11 hours about…

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On April 11, the country’s High Authority for Communication issued a directive banning coverage on political parties and activities of a political nature of associations. (Screenshot: Le360/YouTube)

Mali’s media regulator bans outlets from covering political groups  

Dakar, April 11, 2024 – The Committee to Protect Journalists urges Mali’s media regulator to lift its ban on political reporting in the country and allow journalists to cover the news without restrictions.  On Thursday, the country’s High Authority for Communication (HAC) issued a directive that “invited all media” to “stop all broadcasting and publication” of coverage on…

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Togolese authorities release journalist Apollinaire Mewenemesse with conditions 

Dakar, April 10, 2024 — The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of journalist and La Dépêche publishing director Apollinaire Mewenemesse and calls for Togolese authorities to lift the conditions placed on his freedom, drop all charges against him, and cease criminalizing journalism. On April 9, a court in Lomé, Togo’s capital city, released…

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