Attacks on the Media

Journalists harassed, 1 beaten after opposition protest coverage in Pakistan

  • Posted on June 7, 2023
  • /Under Assault
Pakistani authorities must cease harassing journalists covering the country’s political unrest and respect the media’s right to report freely and safely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. Since May 16, police have visited the homes of at least three journalists who reported from the scene of a May 9 protest and attack on an army corps commander’s residence, according to news reports, a statement by the Lahore Press Club reviewed by CPJ, and journalists who spoke to CPJ. On Tuesday, May 23, the Lahore High Court ordered authorities to cease harassing journalists and media…Read more

Malawi journalist Francis Mzindiko assaulted while covering political event

  • Posted on June 7, 2023
  • /Under Assault
Malawi authorities should thoroughly and speedily investigate the recent assault of journalist Francis Mzindiko and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On the morning of May 17, political activists attacked Mzindiko, a photographer with the privately owned Times Group newspaper, while he covered a fight between supporters of the ruling Malawi Congress Party and its allied United Transformation Movement in the city of Blantyre, according to media reports, a statement by the Malawi chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa regional press freedom group, and the journalist, who spoke to CPJ.…Read more

Indian soldiers beat 3 journalists in Manipur

Authorities in the northeast Indian state of Manipur must investigate the beating of journalists Soram Inaoba, Nongthombam Johnson, and Brahmacharimayum Dayananda, and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On the afternoon of Monday, May 22, soldiers with the Indian Army’s Jat Regiment assaulted the three journalists while they were covering a fire in the New Checkon area of Imphal, the state capital, according to multiple news reports and Bijoy Kakchingtabam, president of the All Manipur Working Journalists’ Union, who spoke to CPJ. Soldiers dragged the three journalists from the building where they…Read more

Lesotho journalist Ralikonelo Joki killed after radio show 

Lesotho authorities must launch a credible investigation into the killing of journalist Ralikonelo ‘Leqhashasha’ Joki and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday.  Around 10 p.m. on Sunday, May 14, an unknown number of people shot Joki in the head once and body at least 13 times as he left the privately owned radio station Ts’enolo FM in the capital, Maseru, according to multiple news reports and a statement by the Lesotho chapter of regional press freedom group Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA).  Joki, the host of the current affairs show “Hlokoana-La-Tsela” (I Heard…Read more

Journalists arrested and attacked, media offices set ablaze amid Pakistan protests

Pakistan authorities and the leadership and supporters of the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party must respect the rights of journalists covering the country’s political unrest, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. Amid protests following the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday, May 9, authorities and supporters of Khan’s PTI party have repeatedly attacked and harassed members of the press, according to a statement by the local press freedom group Pakistan Press Foundation and local journalists who spoke to CPJ. On Thursday, Pakistan’s Supreme Court declared Khan’s arrest illegal and ordered his immediate release. As of the…Read more

Pakistani journalist Gohar Wazir abducted, allegedly electrocuted

Pakistan authorities must conduct an immediate and impartial investigation into the abduction and alleged electrocution of journalist Gohar Wazir and hold the perpetrators to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. At around 4 p.m. on April 19, five unidentified men abducted Wazir, a reporter for the privately owned Pashto-language broadcaster Khyber News and head of the National Press Club Bannu journalists association, from a market in the city of Bannu, in northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to news reports, a statement by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, a nongovernmental organization, and a person…Read more

Zambian ruling party supporters attack 3 journalists

Zambian authorities should thoroughly investigate the recent assaults of three journalists and one radio station employee in separate incidents involving ruling party supporters and ensure that those responsible are held to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. Around noon on April 8, in the eastern district of Petauke, six supporters of the ruling United Party for National Development went to the office of privately owned broadcaster Radio Explorer and assaulted reporter Charles Chimwemwe Banda, according to news reports and the journalist, who communicated with CPJ via messaging app. His attackers accused him of collaborating…Read more

Sierra Leone journalist Alie Melvin Tokowa beaten while filming political dispute

  • Posted on April 11, 2023
  • /Under Assault
Sierra Leone authorities should thoroughly investigate the recent attack on journalist Alie Melvin Tokowa and hold the perpetrators to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On March 28, a group of about seven people kicked, choked, and beat Tokowa, manager of radio broadcaster FOP 89.7FM Moyamba, as he attempted to cover an event by the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party in the southern district of Moyamba, according to the journalist, who spoke to CPJ by phone, and a statement by the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists, a local trade group. The attackers, whom…Read more

CPJ calls on Bangladesh authorities to cease harassing staff of Prothom Alo newspaper

Bangladesh authorities must immediately drop all investigations into the staff of the Prothom Alo newspaper in retaliation for its work and allow its employees to do their jobs freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. In the early morning of Wednesday, March 29, authorities arrested Prothom Alo correspondent Shamsuzzaman Shams under the Digital Security Act for allegedly spreading “false news” in a March 26 article. On Wednesday evening, authorities in the capital city of Dhaka opened another DSA investigation into Prothom Alo editor Matiur Rahman, Shams, an unnamed camera operator at the outlet, and…Read more

Maldives parliament considers amendment restricting journalists’ coverage of elections

Maldives legislators should reject or revise a recently proposed legislative amendment restricting journalists’ ability to cover elections, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On Monday, March 13, the Maldives parliament opened debate regarding an amendment to the country’s General Elections Act proposed in mid-February by a lawmaker with the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party, which would allow only journalists working for media outlets registered with the government and approved by the Election Commission to report from voting and vote-counting sites on election days, according to multiple news reports and Ahmed Naif, secretary-general of the Maldives Journalists Association,…Read more