Adani Group files criminal defamation suit against freelance Indian journalist Ravi Nair

Indian authorities should not pursue criminal defamation charges against journalist Ravi Nair, and should ensure he can work free from legal harassment, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On July 26, police in New Delhi ordered Nair to appear in a court in Gandhinagar, the capital of the western state of Gujarat, on July 29, according to multiple news reports and the journalist, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview. The police presented Nair with a bailable arrest warrant, which required his presence in court but did not mandate his arrest, according to those…Read more

Sri Lankan security forces detain, assault journalists covering political unrest

  • Posted on August 2, 2022
  • /Under Assault
Sri Lankan authorities must thoroughly and swiftly investigate recent attacks on journalists by the country’s security forces, hold the perpetrators to account, and cease harassing the staff of Xposure News, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On the early morning of July 22, Sri Lankan security forces assaulted at least four members of the press, including three journalists with the privately owned digital news platform Xposure News, covering a military raid on a protest site and subsequent demonstration in Colombo, the capital, according to those journalists, who spoke with CPJ by phone.…Read more

Indian journalist Rupesh Kumar Singh arrested following 9-hour home raid

Indian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release journalist Rupesh Kumar Singh, cease harassing him in retaliation for his work, and allow him to report freely and safely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On Sunday, July 17, police in the Ramgarh district of eastern Jharkhand state arrested Singh, a freelance journalist, following a nine-hour raid on his home, according to multiple news reports and Singh’s wife, Ipsa Shatakshi, who spoke to CPJ by phone. During the raid, police seized two mobile phones, two laptops, a hard drive, a notebook, and some personal items, according to those…Read more

Botswana journalist Tshepo Sethibe criminally charged over ‘alarming publications’

Botswana authorities should immediately drop the criminal charge against Moeladilotlhoko News Boiler director Tshepo Sethibe, return devices seized from the outlet, and refrain from harassing the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday.  On July 13, about 25 law enforcement officers arrested Sethibe at his home in the town of Mogoditshane, northwest of the capital Gaborone, and charged him under a law barring “alarming publications,” according to news reports, a Facebook post by his outlet, and the journalist and his lawyer, Obonetse Jonas, both of whom spoke with CPJ via messaging app.  After arresting Sethibe,…Read more

Pakistani journalist Peer Muhammad Khan Kakar held for 1 week over corruption allegations

Pakistan authorities must immediately cease harassing journalist Peer Muhammad Khan Kakar, drop any investigations into his work, and allow him to report freely and safely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On July 7, police in the Loralai district of the southwest Balochistan province arrested Kakar, a correspondent for the privately owned broadcaster Dunya News, according to the journalist’s son Amirullah Kakar, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview, and a statement by the Pakistan Press Foundation, a local press freedom group. His son said the arrest was in response to an…Read more

Journalist Hasibur Rahman Rubel found dead in Bangladesh

Bangladesh authorities must thoroughly and swiftly investigate the disappearance and death of journalist Hasibur Rahman Rubel, determine if he was killed for his work, and hold any perpetrators accountable, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On the evening of July 3, Rubel received a phone call and left the office of Kushtiar Khabar, the privately owned newspaper where he worked as acting editor, in the southwest Khulna division’s Kushtia district, according to multiple news reports and a local journalist familiar with the case, who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity due to fear of…Read more

Tanzanian regulator suspends DarMpya online news outlet, citing expired license

Tanzanian flag with fabric structure Tanzanian authorities should allow the DarMpya online news outlet to resume operations without further interference and reform the country’s online content regulations so they cannot be used to muzzle the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On July 1, the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) ordered DarMpya to suspend publication immediately, according to news reports and a copy of TCRA’s July 1 letter. The letter cited the TCRA’s June 28 inspection of the outlet’s office in the commercial capital of Dar es Salaam, where authorities found that the outlet’s…Read more

Police attack News First journalists covering Sri Lanka protests

  • Posted on July 12, 2022
  • /Under Assault
Sri Lankan authorities should thoroughly and transparently investigate the recent police attack on journalists covering anti-government protests, and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On the evening of Saturday, July 9, members of the paramilitary police Special Task Force assaulted a reporting team with the privately owned broadcaster News First covering a protest outside Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s residence in the capital city of Colombo, according to a report by CNN and multiple reports by News First. That evening, demonstrators broke into Wickremesinghe’s residence and set it on fire amid protests over…Read more

Zimbabwean journalist Anyway Yotamu charged after assault by police

  • Posted on July 12, 2022
  • /Under Assault
Zimbabwean authorities should drop all charges against freelance journalist Anyway Yotamu, investigate his assault by police, and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.  At about 11 a.m. on Thursday, July 7, police officers assaulted Yotamu while he was filming an altercation between taxi drivers and parking attendants in the central business district of the capital, Harare, according to the journalist and his lawyer Shamiso Dhlakama, both of whom spoke to CPJ via messaging app, multiple local media reports, a Facebook post by the Zimbabwe chapter of the regional press freedom group Media Institute…Read more

Nigerian authorities criminally charge 2 journalists over political reporting

Nigerian authorities should immediately drop all charges against publisher Haruna Mohammed Salisu and reporter Idris Kamal and allow journalists to work free from legal harassment, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.  On June 27, police in the city of Bauchi, the capital of northern Bauchi state, arrested and detained Salisu and Kamal, both with the privately owned Wikkitimesnews website, according to the journalists and their lawyer, Idrees Gambo, all of whom spoke to CPJ by phone, and a statement by the International Press Center, a local press freedom organization. Police released the journalists later that…Read more