2016
Turkey releases journalist, press freedom advocate
New York, June 30, 2016–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes today’s release of Erol Önderoğlu, the Turkey representative of the press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and Şebnem Korur Fincancı, an academic, columnist, and president of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, and called on Turkish authorities to drop all charges against them.
Zambian editors arrested trying to enter newspaper’s offices amid tax dispute
Nairobi, June 28, 2016–The editor-in-chief of independent Zambian newspaper The Post was arrested trying to enter his newspaper’s offices today, after authorities closed it in a dispute over allegedly unpaid taxes. Fred M’membe, his wife Mutinta, and his deputy managing editor Joseph Mwenda, were released on bail, but face charges of breaking into a building,…
Mongolian election unlikely to advance press freedom
During a visit to Mongolia this month, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry hailed the country as “an oasis of democracy.” Mongolia, sandwiched between powerful autocratic neighbors Russia and China, underwent democratic transition in 1990 when it broke away from Soviet rule, and has since held several elections characterized by the Asia Foundation as “reasonably…
TV station staff who produce satirical news shows arrested in Algeria
New York, June 27, 2016–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the arrest of two senior staff at a privately owned television station in Algeria on June 24. Mahdi bin Issa, the manager of KBC, and Riyadh Hartouf, a producer, face charges of falsifying permits and complicity in abuse of position, and were ordered…
Fresh threats to journalists from Islamic State group
New York, June 27, 2016 – Threats made against journalists in a video purportedly showing militants from the Islamic State group murdering five Syrians accused of working with media and nongovernmental organizations underscore the need to protect Syrian and Iraqi journalists fleeing the conflict, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of June 26
Columnist freed pending trial Istanbul’s 14th Court of Serious Crimes today ordered Cumhuriyet columnist Ahmet Nesin released, pending trial, the pro-Kurdish daily newspaper Özgür Gündem reported. Police on June 20 arrested Nesin, Erol Önderoğlu, Turkey representative for the press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF), and Şebnem Korur Fincancı, an academic, columnist and human rights…