Attacks on the Media

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

Shooters attack three Pakistani journalists in two separate incidents

Pakistan authorities must immediately investigate the attacks against journalists Haider Mastoi, Khan Muhammad Pitafi, and Chaudhry Ikhlaq, hold those responsible to account, and take steps to end the intensifying wave of violence against journalists in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On May 29, an unknown number of unidentified gunmen on three motorbikes stopped Mastoi, a reporter for Sindh News TV and Times News media outlets, and shot him four times while he was on his way home in Rohri town, located in Pakistan’s Sukkur District, according to press freedom nonprofit…Read more

4 journalists killed in Pakistan, others attacked, in May

The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply alarmed by the continued killings of journalists in Pakistan, including four in May so far, and calls on Pakistan authorities to immediately investigate these incidents, hold those responsible to account, and end the wave of violence against journalists in the country. The killings represent the highest number of journalists killed in the South Asian country in any single month  since CPJ began collecting data in 1992. On May 21, Nasrullah Gadani, a reporter for local Sindhi language newspaper Awami Awaz, was attacked by armed assailants in the…Read more

Daily Khabrain reporter Ashfaq Ahmed Sial shot dead in Punjab, Pakistan

Pakistani authorities must immediately investigate the killing of journalist Ashfaq Ahmed Sial, ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice, and take steps to prevent the ongoing violence against journalists in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. On the morning of Wednesday, May 15, two masked motorcyclists shot Sial, a reporter for the Daily Khabrain newspaper, while he was on his way to work in Muzaffargarh, a city in central Punjab province, before fleeing the scene, according to local nonprofit Freedom Network and news reports. Sial was taken to a hospital, where he died from his…Read more

Ugandan journalist Juliet Kyarisiima beaten and robbed while covering land dispute

  • Posted on May 21, 2024
  • /Under Assault
Ugandan authorities must credibly investigate an assault on broadcast journalist Juliet Kyarisiima, hold the perpetrators to account, and ensure that journalists covering public events do not face violence, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On the evening of May 12, in Uganda’s western Buhweju District, three men armed with sticks and machetes assaulted freelance reporter Kyarisiima while she was covering a public meeting on a land dispute pitting the local Catholic church and its parishioners against a businessman, according to media reports and the journalist, who spoke with CPJ via telephone. The meeting, presided over…Read more

Private media outlet Class Media Group firebombed in Ghana

Authorities in Ghana should swiftly and comprehensively conclude their investigation of the April 25 firebomb attack on Class Media Group’s office, hold those responsible to account, and ensure that journalists at the media outlet can work safely, said the Committee to Protect Journalists on Monday. On April 25, four unidentified men on two motorbikes threw petrol bombs inside the privately owned Class Media Group’s office in the Labone district of Ghana’s capital Accra, and fled the scene, according to media reports and Class Media Group Operations Officer Theodore Edwards, who spoke to CPJ by phone.  Class…Read more

Police investigate Nigeria’s Foundation for Investigative Journalism after corruption coverage

Nigerian authorities should immediately drop their investigation into the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) and its founder, the award-winning undercover reporter, Fisayo Soyombo, and stop intimidating the chairperson of FIJ’s board of trustees, Bukky Shonibare, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On February 21, Soyombo published an investigation detailing how he had smuggled rice into Nigeria with the collusion of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) officials and accused local businessman Ibrahim Dende Egungbohun of being a smuggler. FIJ’s accompanying documentary was also broadcast by Arise News. On February 26, Egungbohun’s lawyer, David Olaoluwa Folalu, petitioned the police,…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

Mozambican authorities accuse journalists of colluding with ‘terrorists’

Senior officials in Mozambique’s northern Cabo Delgado province must withdraw comments accusing journalists of colluding with terrorists and publishing false news and the authorities must allow the media to report on the conflict without intimidation, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Thursday. In a public address on February 17 in the provincial capital of Pemba, Cabo Delgado governor Valige Tauabo accused unnamed journalists and media outlets of striking “deals” with terrorists and being “in sync with terrorists,” according to news reports. Tauabo said that coverage of the region had an “imprint of evil” because journalists’…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