Arrest & Detention

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

Nigerian journalist Luka Binniyat detained over complaint by Kaduna state official

Nigerian authorities should immediately and unconditionally release journalist Luka Binniyat and drop all charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On November 4, police officers in Barnawa, a town in the northern state of Kaduna, arrested Binniyat, a freelance journalist who contributes to the U.S.-based news outlet The Epoch Times, according to an Epoch Times report and Jonathan Asake, president of the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union, a local rights group, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview. Binniyat, who also works as a spokesperson for the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union, was arrested at the…Read more

Rwandan journalist Théoneste Nsengimana detained since October 13

Rwandan authorities should immediately and unconditionally release journalist Théoneste Nsengimana and cease harassing members of the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On October 13, security personnel arrested Nsengimana, who runs the YouTube channel Umubavu TV Online, according to tweets by the Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB), a law-enforcement body, and an interview with his wife, Chantal Umwari, published by the YouTube channel Ishema TV. Authorities have charged Nsengimana with membership in a criminal group, dissemination of propaganda aimed at harming the Rwandan government abroad, spreading rumors, and inciting unrest, according to media reports, documents related to the…Read more

Tanzanian cartoonist detained over cartoon of president

Tanzanian flag with fabric structure Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns cartoonist Optatus Fwema’s arbitrary detention for the past two weeks in Tanzania over a cartoon of the president. This is the latest chilling message to journalists in a country where press freedom has been worsening steadily in recent years. Fwema has been held at Oysterbay police station in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s business capital, ever since he was arrested at his home on 24 September. The police returned to his home on 5 October to look for incriminating evidence without telling his lawyer.…Read more

Zimbabwe journalist detained, charged for filming police clash with vendors

Zimbabwean authorities must drop all charges against journalist Elizabeth Mashiri, stop arbitrarily arresting journalists, and allow them to work without interference, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On August 17, police in Gweru, the capital of Midlands Province, arrested Mashiri, an assistant editor and Midlands bureau chief for privately owned daily newspaper the Mirror, and detained her for about four hours at the central police station on allegations of disorderly conduct, according to the journalist, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app, a news report, a statement by the Zimbabwe chapter of the regional press freedom…Read more