Intimidation & Harassment

Indian journalist Ganji Raghu arrested for alleged rioting

Authorities in the Indian state of Telangana should immediately release journalist Ganji Raghu and drop any criminal investigation into his work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On June 3, masked men in plain clothes grabbed Raghu, a reporter with the news website Tolivelugu, outside his home in Hyderabad, and forced him into an unmarked car with its license plates covered, according to news reports, CCTV footage of the abduction shared with CPJ by Tolivelugu senior reporter Magham Srinivas, and the journalist’s wife, Praveena, who spoke to CPJ over the phone. Later that day, police announced that…Read more

Ugandan police summon Daily Monitor employees in libel and false news investigation

Ugandan police should immediately drop their criminal investigation into the Daily Monitor newspaper and guarantee that the media can cover security forces’ alleged misconduct without retaliation, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On May 31, the police Criminal Investigations Department summoned Tony Glencross, the managing director of the Daily Monitor’s parent company, Nation Media Group-Uganda, and Tabu Butagira, the group’s managing editor, to record statements as part of a police investigation into allegations of criminal libel, incitement to violence, and false news publication, according to reports by the newspaper and the BBC. The investigation focuses on a May 31 report by…Read more

Botswana police charge Moeladilotlhoko News Boiler staff with criminal trespass

Botswana authorities should immediately drop the criminal charges against two journalists and three media workers at the Moeladilotlhoko News Boiler and cease harassing members of the press and seizing their devices, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The five are expected in court this month in connection to a case dating from January. On January 28, police in Phitshane outside Botswana’s capital Gaborone arrested Tshepo Sethibe and Michelle Teise, two reporters with Moeladilotlhoko, a privately-owned news outlet that publishes on Facebook, and four media workers with the company — media security specialist Gosego Phofusetso,…Read more

Journalist Asad Ali Toor summoned for alleged defamation of Pakistan government

Pakistan should authorities stop harassing journalist Asad Ali Toor and let him work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Yesterday, the Cyber Crime Reporting Center of Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency in Rawalpindi issued a summons addressed to Toor’s home, ordering him to appear for questioning on June 4, according to the Dawn newspaper and a copy of the summons, which CPJ reviewed. Authorities seek to question Toor in response to a complaint that he defamed an “institution of Government of Pakistan” on “social media,” according to the summons, which does not specify the…Read more

Nigerian BBC host Peter Nkanga receives death threats

Nigerian authorities should conduct a swift and thorough investigation into the death threats received by journalist Peter Nkanga and ensure his safety, the Committee to Protect Journalist said today. Since May 20, dozens of anonymous people have called and sent text messages to Nkanga, an Abuja-based reporter with the BBC, angered over a recent documentary aired by the broadcaster, according to the journalist, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview and shared copies of the threats. Nkanga told CPJ that he had gone into hiding for fear for his safety. “Nigerian authorities…Read more

Malaysian cartoonist Zunar investigated over criticism of state official

Malaysian authorities must cease their legal harassment of cartoonist Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque, known as Zunar, and drop any pending charges against him, say the Committee to Protect Journalists. On May 7, police in the northern state of Kedah summoned Zunar, who publishes his political cartoons on the Malaysiakini news website, and questioned him about a cartoon that lampooned Kedah Chief Minister Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor, according to news reports and the cartoonist, who spoke with CPJ in a video interview. Authorities also confiscated his phone during the interrogation and did not return it, Zunar said. Zunar told CPJ that police…Read more

Police detain Ghanaian journalist David Tamakloe overnight in relation to ‘false news’ complaint

Police in Ghana should drop their investigation into journalist David Tamakloe and allow him to report freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On April 1, in Accra, the capital, four police officers in plainclothes arrested Tamakloe, editor-in-chief of the privately owned Whatsup News website, and detained him for about 24 hours at the city’s National Police Headquarters, seized his two phones and mobile hotspot, and then released him on bail on April 2, according to Tamakloe, who spoke with CPJ in a phone interview, and a report by the privately owned Myjoyonline news website. Officers released…Read more

Ugandan president threatens to “bankrupt” leading daily

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni’s threat to bankrupt his country’s leading daily newspaper by means of a lawsuit is unworthy of a head of state, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says, calling on him to respect press freedom in Uganda. Speaking on International Women’s Day (8 March), the country’s president for the past 34 years said he was bringing a legal action against the Daily Monitor for reporting that the Wall Street Journalhad said his “inner circle” was given Chinese-made vaccines against Covid-19 ahead of other people in Uganda. “Monitor, I’m going to make you bankrupt,” Museveni said, adding that he would…Read more

Safety of journalists remains active concern in Northern Ireland as BBC Panorama team is threatened

A threat against a BBC Panorama documentary team is the latest incident evidencing a worrying climate for the safety of journalists in Northern Ireland, where journalists reporting on paramilitary groups and organised crime are among the most at-risk journalists in the UK. RSF calls again for immediate steps by the UK government to address this alarming trend and ensure the safety of journalists in Northern Ireland and throughout the UK. In early February, a member of the BBC Panorama documentary team investigating alleged criminal underworlds across sport, drug-running and arms-dealing throughout Europe faced…Read more

Indian finance authorities raid Newsclick office, homes of editors and managers

Indian authorities must immediately stop occupying the offices of the news website Newsclick and cease harassing its editors and managers, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Since yesterday morning, officers with the Indian Finance Ministry’s Enforcement Directorate have raided Newsclick’s New Delhi office, as well as the homes of its editor-in-chief, Prabir Purkayastha, one other editor, and two members of its management, according to a senior editor with the outlet, who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, and various news reports. As of today, officers continue…Read more