Arrest & Detention

Authorities detain 2 Ugandan journalists on charges of publishing without license

Ugandan authorities should release journalists Dickson Mubiru and Alirabaki Sengooba, drop all criminal charges against them, and take steps to reform laws that can be used to stifle journalism, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On June 20 the Buganda Road Chief Magistrates Court in the capital, Kampala, charged Mubiru, managing editor of the privately owned news website theGrapeVine, and Sengooba, a reporter with the outlet, with publishing information without a broadcasting license, according to their lawyer, Nasser Kibazo, and a copy of the charge sheet reviewed by CPJ.  Authorities cited a May…Read more

Mozambique journalist arrested, 2 harassed and robbed at protest

The Committee to Protect Journalists on Friday expressed alarm that police arrested one journalist and two others were robbed of equipment while covering a protest in the Mozambican capital, Maputo.  At around 6:00 p.m. on June 4, seven police officers chased and arrested Sheila Wilson while she was reporting live from a protest by hundreds of former secret service agents over alleged non-payment of pensions, according to news reports and the journalist, who spoke to CPJ. Wilson, a reporter with the the non-governmental organization Center for Democracy and Human Rights, was broadcasting live on the Facebook page of the advocacy…Read more

Nigerian journalist Jamil Mabai detained by religious police while seeking interview

Nigerian authorities should swiftly and comprehensively investigate the detention of freelance journalist Jamil Mabai by religious police in northern Katsina State and hold them to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday.  Mabai, who was on assignment for the privately owned Trust TV, had been invited to the offices of the Hisbah, which enforces Islamic Sharia law, on May 14 to interview their spokesperson, Nafiu Muazu Akilu, following reports that a wedding guest was shot dead while Hisbah officials were enforcing a ban on DJs playing music, according to the journalist, who spoke…Read more

Zambian police detain 2 journalists, make them delete interviews with opposition

The Committee to Protect Journalists on Monday called on Zambian authorities to thoroughly investigate a police assault on journalist Rodgers Mwiimba and his two-hour detention, alongside a second journalist, Innocent Phiri. On April 13, police officers arrested the two television journalists at Matanda Grounds, a public space in the town of Kafue, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of the capital, Lusaka, where the opposition United Kwacha Alliance planned to hold a political rally, according to news reports and the two journalists, who spoke with CPJ. Authorities banned the rally on the grounds that the recently formed opposition…Read more

Armed men take Nigerian journalist Segun Olatunji from Lagos home

The Nigerian military should swiftly and publicly account for the whereabouts of First News editor Segun Olatunji, who was taken by armed men identifying themselves as officers with the army, disclose any charges against him, and ensure his safety, said the Committee to Protect Journalists on Thursday. On March 15, around 15 armed men in two unmarked vans arrived at Olatunji’s home in Alagbado, a community in Nigeria’s western Lagos state. The men, two of whom wore military-style uniforms, introduced themselves as officers of the Nigerian army and forced Olatunji to come with…Read more

Journalist Md Shofiuzzaman Rana arrested, 5 correspondents confined in Bangladesh government office

Bangladesh authorities must immediately drop all charges against journalist Md Shofiuzzaman Rana and investigate the harassment of five journalists in northern Lalmonirhat district, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. Rana was held in jail for a week after police arrested the journalist on March 5. Rana, who works for the Bangla-language newspaper Desh Rupantor, was arrested at a local government office in the northern Sherpur district after he filed a right to information (RTI) application regarding a government-run development program, according to news reports, the local press freedom group Bangladeshi Journalists in International Media, and Mustafa Mamun,…Read more

Indian journalist Ashutosh Negi arrested for reporting on murder investigation

Indian authorities must drop the charges against journalist Ashutosh Negi, who was arrested in connection with his reporting on a murder investigation in the northern state of Uttarakhand, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. Negi, editor of the weekly Hindi newspaper Jago Uttarakhand, was arrested on March 5 from his home in Pauri town, 94 miles (151 kilometers) from the state capital of Dehradun, according to multiple news outlets and his lawyer, Navnish Negi (no relation), who spoke to CPJ by phone. Although Negi was released on bail on Wednesday, he faces accusations under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled…Read more

Nigerian police detain, assault journalist Kasarahchi Aniagolu

Nigerian authorities must investigate and hold accountable the police officers who detained and assaulted journalist Kasarahchi Aniagolu, and ensure journalists can work without fear that they will be attacked or harassed while reporting the news. Police officers detained, slapped, bodily assaulted, and hit Aniagolu with a gun. A reporter with the privately owned newspaper The Whistler, she was reporting on a police raid of a currency trading area in Wuse, a business hub in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, on February 21, 2024, according to reports by privately owned news website Sahara Reporters and her outlet, and the journalist, who…Read more

Pakistani journalist Imran Riaz Khan held in terrorism investigation

Pakistani authorities must immediately and unconditionally release journalist Imran Riaz Khan, whose whereabouts are unknown, and stop harassing and detaining members of the press for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Tuesday. On March 1, the journalist—whose current affairs YouTube channel Imran Riaz Khan has some 4.6 million subscribers—was freed on bail in a corruption case and re-arrested hours later, on separate terrorism charges, outside a court in the eastern city of Lahore, according to multiple media reports and Azhar Siddique, one of Khan’s lawyers, who spoke to CPJ. “Pakistan authorities must immediately and unconditionally…Read more

Pakistani journalist Asad Ali Toor arrested after responding to summons for questioning

Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency arrested independent journalist Asad Ali Toor on Monday after he was ordered to appear for questioning in connection to an alleged “explicit and malicious” campaign against Supreme Court judges, according to news reports and the journalist’s lawyer, Imaan Mazari-Hazir, who spoke to CPJ. Toor operates Asad Toor Uncensored, a YouTube channel where he covers political affairs with over 160,000 subscribers. The Committee to Protect Journalists called on authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Toor, and to cease harassing him for his journalistic work. Toor was arrested in the capital, Islamabad, at the FIA’s cybercrime…Read more