Indian reporter M. Karthi attacked, threatened in Tamil Nadu

Indian authorities must swiftly and transparently investigate an attack on journalist M. Karthi and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. At about 8:30 p.m. on March 3, an unidentified man stopped Karthi, a reporter at the Tamil-language weekly Kumudam, in Sivakasi, Tamil Nadu state, and said, “Will you publish news, you bastard? I will kill you today,” and then hit Karthi in his head and face with an iron rod, according to news reports, Karthi’s official complaint to police, which CPJ reviewed, and local reporter K. Rajendran, who spoke to…Read more

Pakistani journalist murdered after warning of threats against him

Pakistan authorities should take swift action to launch a thorough and credible investigation into the murder of journalist Aziz Memon, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Memon, who worked for the privately-owned Sindhi TV channel KTN News and the Sindhi-language Daily Kawish newspaper, was found strangled to death in an irrigation ditch yesterday near the town of Mehrabpur in the Naushahro Feroze District of Sindh province, according to newsreports. “The tragic murder of Aziz Memon deserves swift justice, which is something Pakistani authorities have repeatedly failed to deliver for journalists,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Steven Butler.…Read more

Nigerian journalist Alex Ogbu dies at protest

Nigerian authorities should conduct a credible and transparent investigation into the death of journalist Alex Ogbu, publicize the results of his autopsy, and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On January 21, Ogbu, a reporter and editor with the local independent outlet Regent Africa Times, died from head injuries sustained at a protest in Abuja, the capital, held by members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria religious organization, according to Regent Africa Times publisher Shola Akingboye and Francisca Ogbu, the journalist’s wife, who both spoke to CPJ over messaging app…Read more

Three journalist arrested, two radio stations closed in Gambia

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is extremely concerned about Sunday’s serious press freedom violations in Gambia, where three journalists were arrested and others were attacked during a banned protest in the capital, and the authorities closed two radio stations.     The protesters were calling for President Adama Barrow to resign on completing the first three years of his five-year term, as he had promised to do when he took office The detained journalists are Giby Jallow, the manager of King FM, a member of his staff, and Pa Modou Bojang, the manager of Home Digital FM. The authorities closed their radio…Read more

Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria journalist dies after attack

Authorities in Nigeria should conduct a swift and credible investigation into the killing of Maxwell Nashan, a reporter and newscaster with the government-owned Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), and determine whether his journalism was the motive for the attack, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Farmers found Nashan bound and gagged in Badarisa in the early hours of January 15, about 2 km from the FRCN office and about 3 km from his home in the Lainde community of northern Adamawa State, according to his employer, colleagues, and a relative, who…Read more

Journalist assaulted by demonstrators in Malawi

Journalist Patricia Kayuni was attacked by protestors while she was covering a demonstration in Chitipa in northern Malawi.  This statement was originally published on cpj.org on 14 January 2020. Malawian authorities should conduct a thorough and transparent investigation into the assault of journalist Patricia Kayuni and ensure that those responsible are held to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On January 10, a group of protesters approached Kayuni, a reporter for the Roman Catholic Church-owned radio station Tuntufye FM, while she was covering a demonstration in Chitipa, in northern Malawi, and demanded that she…Read more

Nigerian security forces fire on journalists, protesters

Nigerian authorities should investigate attacks by security forces on journalists at a recent protest in Abuja, and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On November 12, security forces fired live rounds to disperse a group of demonstrators at the Department of State Services (DSS) headquarters in Abuja, the capital, and shot at journalists and beat at least one reporter, according to journalists who spoke with CPJ, news reports, and a video of the protest uploaded to YouTube by the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. Demonstrators gathered at the DSS building…Read more

Arson attack damages indigenous newspaper office in Canada

Authorities in the Six Nations Territory in Canada should conduct a prompt and thorough investigation into an arson attack on the offices of the Turtle Island News newspaper, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. In the early morning of October 28, a truck rammed into the outlet’s newsroom in Six Nations Territory in Southern Ontario, and unidentified individuals doused the vehicle and the building with gasoline before setting it ablaze, according to a report by the paper and Turtle Island News publisher Lynda Powless, who spoke to CPJ via phone. No one was hurt in the incident, but…Read more

Nigerian journalists charged with criminal defamation, breach of peace

Authorities should drop all charges against journalists Joe Ogbodu and Prince Amour Udemude, and reform Nigeria’s penal code to ensure that journalism is not criminalized, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On October 24, a magistrate court in Asaba, the capital of Nigeria’s southern Delta State, arraigned Ogbodu, an editor with the privately owned news website Big Pen Nigeria, and Udemude, a reporter with the privately owned National Mirror newspaper, on four counts of criminal defamation and one count of disturbing the peace, according to the journalists and a report by Big Pen Nigeria. Defamation and disturbing the…Read more

CPJ publishes 2019 Global Impunity Index

On 29 October, the Committee to Protect Journalists published an important document called "Getting Away With Murder". The 2019 Global Impunity Index highlights the growing problem of countries where journalists are slain but their killers go free. This important report can be accessed here and should be read by all journalists and those that believe in freedom of the media.Read more