Sri Lankan mob holds 3 journalists captive for 5 hours

  • Posted on September 4, 2023
  • /Under Assault
Sri Lankan authorities must investigate the recent harassment of freelance Tamil journalists Selvakumar Nilanthan, Valasingham Krishnakumar, and Antony Christopher Christiraj and hold the perpetrators responsible, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. Around 12:30 p.m. on August 22, approximately 50 Sinhalese men led by a Buddhist monk surrounded vehicles holding the three journalists after they reported on alleged state-backed encroachments on Tamil cattle farmers’ land in the Mylathamadu area of the eastern district of Batticaloa, according to news reports, the rights group Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka, and the three journalists, who spoke to…Read more

Armed men attack Nigerian journalists covering clashes in Bayelsa state

  • Posted on September 4, 2023
  • /Under Assault
Nigerian authorities should swiftly identify and hold to account those responsible for recently attacking a group of journalists in southern Bayelsa state, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.  On August 14, a group of unidentified men carrying guns, knives, and sticks attacked journalists who were reporting on the aftermath of clashes between younger members of the Opu Nembe community and their leaders, according to the journalists, who spoke with CPJ, and news reports. The men assaulted and robbed one journalist and stole equipment from two others. Two of the journalists were injured while…Read more

CPJ urges India to review ‘dangerous’ legislation that threatens press freedom

ndian lawmakers must thoroughly review three bills that threaten the independence of the press, and the government should withdraw and significantly amend its new data protection law, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. “We are gravely concerned by the Indian government’s apparent attempts to pass a series of bills undermining press freedom, ahead of elections in 2024, without adequately consulting journalists or civil society,” said Beh Lih Yi, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator, in Kuala Lumpur. “Indian lawmakers must allow ample time for a transparent and exhaustive review of the bills, and the…Read more

India blocks The Kashmir Walla website and social media accounts

Authorities in India must immediately unblock the website and social media accounts of the independent Kashmiri news outlet The Kashmir Walla, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On Saturday, August 19, The Kashmir Walla became inaccessible in India following an order by India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to block its website under the IT Act without any prior notice, according to a statement by The Kashmir Walla, reviewed by CPJ, and news reports. The Kashmir Walla, which is known for its human rights reporting in the disputed territory of Indian-administered Jammu and…Read more

At least 7 Ugandan journalists assaulted, robbed at news conferences

  • Posted on August 14, 2023
  • /Under Assault
Ugandan authorities should investigate and prosecute those responsible for assaulting, robbing, and harassing seven journalists at two separate news conferences, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On July 20, unidentified men punched and kicked at least six journalists at the headquarters of the opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) in the capital city of Kampala and stole several of their mobile phones, according to media reports and five of the journalists, who spoke to CPJ. In a separate incident that day, John Xerxes Ogulei, a reporter with the privately owned Teso Broadcasting Services, told CPJ…Read more

Sri Lankan police arrest, beat journalist Tharindu Uduwaragedara

Sri Lankan authorities should immediately and unconditionally release journalist Tharindu Uduwaragedara and investigate allegations that he was beaten by police, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. At around 3 p.m. on Friday, July 28, police arrested Uduwaragedara after he covered a trade union protest in Borella, a suburb of the capital Colombo, according to Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka, a rights group operating from exile, and Jayantha Dehiaththage, the journalist’s lawyer, who spoke with CPJ by phone. Officers pulled Uduwaragedara out of a rickshaw while he was leaving the protest and forced…Read more

Zimbabwean ruling party supporters assault 3 freelance reporters 

  • Posted on August 14, 2023
  • /Under Assault
Zimbabwean authorities should thoroughly investigate the assaults of freelance reporters Annahstacia Ndlovu, Pamenus Tuso, and Lungelo Ndlovu in Bulawayo and hold their attackers to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. On Monday, July 17, in Bulawayo’s central business district, a group of people wearing regalia of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front, or ZANU-PF, slapped Annahstacia Ndlovu, a correspondent for U.S. Congress-funded Voice of America, across her face and punched her when she refused to delete a recording and photographs of their skirmish with vendors at a vegetable market in the city, according to news reports,…Read more

Bangladeshi journalist Golam Rabbani Nadim beaten to death after reporting on local politician

Bangladesh authorities must investigate the killing of journalist Golam Rabbani Nadim and bring those responsible to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. At around 10 p.m. on Wednesday, June 14, a group of men ambushed Nadim, a correspondent for privately owned website Banglanews24 and broadcaster Ekattor TV, while he was traveling home on his motorcycle in the Bakshiganj area in the Jamalpur district of northern Mymensingh division, according to news reports, security footage of the incident published by Ekattor TV, and a witness account by Al Mujahid Babu, a journalist present at the scene. A group…Read more

Pakistani journalists abroad face terrorism investigations at home

Pakistan authorities must cease harassing foreign-based journalists Wajahat Saeed Khan, Shaheen Sehbai, Sabir Shakir, and Moeed Pirzada and allow them to work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On Saturday, June 10, police in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad opened a criminal and terrorism investigation into freelance U.S.-based journalists Khan and Sehbai, along with two former army officers, for allegedly “inciting people to attack military installations, spread terrorism, and create chaos” on May 9 after the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, according to news reports and the two journalists, who spoke with CPJ…Read more

CPJ concerned by India Law Commission’s recommendation to expand sedition law

The Indian government must repeal the country’s sedition law and reject recommendations from the Law Commission to retain and expand the legislation, as it would impinge on press freedom, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday.  On May 24, the commission, which advises the Indian government on legal reforms, recommended retaining the country’s sedition law, expanding the definition of sedition, and increasing the punishment for violating the law, citing the need for national security. India’s Supreme Court suspended the law in May 2022. The Indian government had promised to “re-consider” and “re-examine” the British colonial-era law after its constitutional validity was challenged in the…Read more