Arrest & Detention

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

Indian journalist Santu Pan arrested, 3 others assaulted in West Bengal violence

Indian authorities must drop the charges against journalist Santu Pan, who was arrested live on air while reporting on allegations of abuse by West Bengal officials, and investigate the earlier assault of three journalists reporting on clashes related to one of those officials, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Thursday. On Monday, police arrested Pan, who works for the privately owned news broadcaster Republic Bangla, while he was reporting from a woman’s home in the village of Sandeshkhali, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) east of West Bengal’s state capital, Kolkata, and remanded…Read more

Cameroonian journalist Bruno Bidjang detained for alleged ‘rebellion’

Cameroonian authorities must immediately release journalist Bruno François Bidjang, drop legal proceedings against him for alleged rebellion, and allow journalists to comment freely on public affairs, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Thursday. On February 6, gendarmes from the Yaoundé State Secretariat for Defense (SED) summoned Bidjang, managing director of the privately-owned L’Anecdote media group and news program presenter on Vision 4 television, to secretariat headquarters for questioning.  He was then detained on allegations of “rebellion” in connection with a video posted and later removed on TikTok, according to his lawyer Charles Tchoungang and…Read more

Rwandan journalist Dieudonné Niyonsenga says he was beaten, detained in ‘hole’

The Committee to Protect Journalists has expressed alarm at reports that Dieudonné Niyonsenga had been tortured in a Rwandan prison and called on authorities to unconditionally release the journalist, who is serving a seven-year sentence.  During a January 10, 2024, hearing at the court of appeal in the capital Kigali, Niyonsenga said that he was held under “inhumane” conditions in a “hole” and was frequently beaten, according to media reports and court documents reviewed by CPJ. Niyonsenga, who also goes by Cyuma Hassan, appeared in court with a head wound and said that his hearing and vision were impaired by the conditions of his detention,…Read more

South African journalist Thomo Nkgadima charged with intimidation after photographing mayor’s home

South African authorities should drop criminal trespass and intimidation charges against freelance journalist Thomo Nkgadima and ensure that members of the press do not face reprisal for reporting issues of public interest, the Committee to Protect Journalists have said. On December 24, 2023, police in Fetakgomo Tubatse Municipality in South Africa’s northern Limpopo Province summoned and arrested Nkgadima, who contributes to the privately owned newspaper Sunday World, in response to a complaint of trespass and intimidation by the municipality’s mayor, Eddie Maila, the journalist and Sunday World digital editor Tumo Mokone told CPJ. In a statement to…Read more