Arrest & Detention

Pakistani journalist Peer Muhammad Khan Kakar held for 1 week over corruption allegations

Pakistan authorities must immediately cease harassing journalist Peer Muhammad Khan Kakar, drop any investigations into his work, and allow him to report freely and safely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On July 7, police in the Loralai district of the southwest Balochistan province arrested Kakar, a correspondent for the privately owned broadcaster Dunya News, according to the journalist’s son Amirullah Kakar, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview, and a statement by the Pakistan Press Foundation, a local press freedom group. His son said the arrest was in response to an…Read more

Pakistani journalist Imran Riaz Khan arrested

Pakistan authorities must immediately release journalist Imran Riaz Khan and ensure that members of the press can work freely and without fear of reprisal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On the evening of Tuesday, July 5, police in the outskirts of Islamabad, the capital, arrested Khan, an anchor with the privately owned broadcaster Express News and host of a YouTube channel with over 3 million subscribers, according to news reports and a statement by the Pakistan Press Foundation, a local press freedom group. Police arrested him in response to a complaint filed to authorities in Attock, in…Read more

Indian journalist Mohammad Zubair arrested in Delhi

Indian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release journalist Mohammad Zubair, and cease harassing him in retaliation for his work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. In the evening of Monday, June 27, officers with the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations unit of the Delhi police arrested Zubair, co-founder of the fact-checking website Alt News, after summoning him for questioning, according to multiple news reports and a tweet by Alt News co-founder Pratik Sinha. Sinha wrote that Zubair had been summoned for questioning in relation to a 2020 criminal investigation over his social media posts, for which he was already granted protection…Read more

Zimbabwe police detain and charge 2 journalists covering attempted arrest of opposition politician

Zimbabwean authorities should immediately drop all charges against journalists Blessed Mhlanga and Chengeto Chidi, as well as Moses Hakata, and let them work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On Saturday, May 7, police arrested both journalists after they photographed officers attempting to detain an opposition lawmaker in the town of Chitungwiza, south of Harare, the capital, according to news reports, a statement by the Zimbabwean chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa, a regional press freedom body, and both journalists, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app. The journalists were in the area…Read more

Pakistan police assault, detain journalist Jahangir Hayat in Punjab province

Pakistan authorities must conduct a swift and impartial investigation into the police assault of journalist Jahangir Hayat, as well as the detention of Hayat and his family, and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists has said. On May 1, police officers in the Icchra area of Lahore, the capital of Punjab province, assaulted and detained Hayat, a chief reporter for the privately owned daily newspaper Daily Business, according to a report by his outlet, video of the incident shared on social media, and the journalist, who spoke with CPJ by phone. Police also detained…Read more

Cameroon journalist Malcolm Barnabé Paho detained for 2 days, prosecuted for defamation

 Cameroonian authorities should drop the prosecution of journalist Malcom Bernabé Paho and decriminalize journalism in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On February 22, the national gendarmerie arrested Paho, director of the newspaper Midi Libre Hebdo; opened a criminal defamation case against him; and detained him for two days in the capital Yaoundé, following a complaint filed by Boba Denis, a pastor who heads the Africa Life World Mission church, an international religious organization, according to news reports  and the journalist, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app. Denis filed the complaint…Read more

Two Ugandan journalists charged with cyberstalking the president, remanded to prison

Ugandan authorities should unconditionally release The Alternative Digitalk television journalists Norman Tumuhimbise and Faridah Bikobere, drop any pending investigations against seven other journalists from the online media outlet, and rigorously investigate allegations that at least two of these journalists suffered serious physical abuse while in the custody of security personnel, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On the afternoon of March 10, a group of armed police and military officers raided the offices of The Alternative Digitalk, arresting the nine and confiscating equipment, including cameras, laptops, and books, according to media report, a…Read more

Indian authorities arrest journalist Nilesh Sharma, re-arrest Fahad Shah

Authorities in Chhattisgarh state and the Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir region must immediately release journalists Nilesh Sharma and Fahad Shah and drop all investigations launched based on their journalistic work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On March 2, police in Chhattisgarh’s capital Raipur arrested Sharma, editor of privately owned satirical news website Indiawriters.co.in, at his home, according to multiple news reports. Separately, on Sunday, March 6, police in Jammu and Kashmir re-arrested Shah, editor of the privately owned news website The Kashmir Walla, hours after he was granted bail in another case, according to multiple news reports.…Read more

Sierra Leonean police detain journalist Solomon Maada Joe overnight

Authorities in Sierra Leone should stop harassing journalist Solomon Maada Joe and allow him to work without intimidation, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On February 7, Joe, the head of news at the privately owned Radio Bo KISS 104 FM, was arrested by police while at the local station in the southern region of Bo answering a summons over allegations that the journalist had threated Alhaji Mohamed Jalloh, a local businessman, according to Joe, who spoke to CPJ by phone, and a report by a privately owned news website Sierraloaded. Officers told Joe…Read more

Photographer Faysal Mujeeb beaten, detained by Pakistan Rangers while covering political party event

Pakistan authorities must conduct an immediate and impartial investigation into the beating and detention of Faysal Mujeeb and ensure law enforcement agencies allow journalists to operate freely and safely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On the evening of December 9, officers with the Pakistan Rangers, a paramilitary federal law enforcement agency, beat and detained Mujeeb, a photographer with Dawn-White Star, a photographic firm associated with the DAWN Media Group, while he was covering an event of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement political party in the Azizabad neighborhood of Karachi city, in the southern…Read more