Pakistan police open multiple criminal investigations into four journalists

Pakistan authorities must immediately drop their investigations into journalists Sami Abraham, Arshad Sharif, Sabir Shakir, and Imran Riaz Khan, and refrain from arresting and targeting journalists in retaliation for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. Since May 18, police across Pakistan have filed multiple first information reports (FIR), which open an investigation, against Abraham, an anchor with the privately owned broadcaster BOL News and the host of a popular current affairs YouTube channel, Khan, an anchor with the privately owned broadcaster Express News, and Sharif and Shakir, both anchors with the privately owned broadcaster…Read more

Journalists stabbed, assaulted in Bangladesh

  • Posted on May 23, 2022
  • /Under Assault
Bangladesh authorities must conduct a swift and transparent investigation into two separate attacks on journalist Md Rashid Chowdhury and bystander Jashim Uddin, and on journalists Azim Nihad, Rahul Mahajan, and Lokman Halim, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On the evening of Friday, May 13, a group of teenagers stabbed Chowdhury, executive editor of the privately owned daily newspaper Dainik Agrabani Pratidin, in the central city of Narayanganj, according to news reports. The teenagers also stabbed Uddin when he attempted to intervene, according to those sources. Separately, on the morning of May 8, the brother…Read more

Zimbabwe police detain and charge 2 journalists covering attempted arrest of opposition politician

Zimbabwean authorities should immediately drop all charges against journalists Blessed Mhlanga and Chengeto Chidi, as well as Moses Hakata, and let them work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On Saturday, May 7, police arrested both journalists after they photographed officers attempting to detain an opposition lawmaker in the town of Chitungwiza, south of Harare, the capital, according to news reports, a statement by the Zimbabwean chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa, a regional press freedom body, and both journalists, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app. The journalists were in the area…Read more

Pakistan police assault, detain journalist Jahangir Hayat in Punjab province

Pakistan authorities must conduct a swift and impartial investigation into the police assault of journalist Jahangir Hayat, as well as the detention of Hayat and his family, and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists has said. On May 1, police officers in the Icchra area of Lahore, the capital of Punjab province, assaulted and detained Hayat, a chief reporter for the privately owned daily newspaper Daily Business, according to a report by his outlet, video of the incident shared on social media, and the journalist, who spoke with CPJ by phone. Police also detained…Read more

RSF’s 2022 World Press Freedom Index : a new era of polarisation

The 20th World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reveals a two-fold increase in polarisation amplified by information chaos – that is, media polarisation fuelling divisions within countries, as well as polarisation between countries at the international level. The 2022 edition of the World Press Freedom Index, which assesses the state of journalism in 180 countries and territories, highlights the disastrous effects of news and information chaos – the effects of a globalised and unregulated online information space that encourages fake news and propaganda.  Within democratic societies, divisions are growing as…Read more

Bangladeshi reporter lured into trap, murdered by drug traffickers

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the cold-blooded murder of a Bangladeshi reporter as he was covering drug-trafficking across Bangladesh’s eastern border with India. The police must ensure respect for the law by bringing the suspects to trial, RSF said. Mohiuddin Sarker Nayeem, a reporter for the Dainik Cumillar Daklocal newspaper, was gunned down at around 11 p.m. on 13 April, just a few metres from a border crossing in Burichang, Chittagong division. Bangladeshi border guards who heard the shots rushed him to a nearby hospital but a doctor pronounced him dead on arrival. Premeditated murder…Read more

Indian police beat and detain journalists Kanishk Tiwari and Aditya Singh Bhadauria

  • Posted on April 19, 2022
  • /Under Assault
Indian authorities should thoroughly and transparently investigate the recent police beating of journalists Kanishk Tiwari and Aditya Singh Bhadauria, and hold the officers responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On April 2, police in the central state of Madhya Pradesh arrested Tiwari, a reporter, and Bhadauria, a camera operator, while they covered a protest against the arrest of a theater artist at the Kotwali Police Station in the state’s Sidhi district, according to various news reports and Tiwari, who spoke to CPJ by phone. At a local police station, an officer forced the…Read more

Cameroon : Two journalists and an Equinox TV programme suspended

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns a decision by Cameroon’s National Communication Council (CNC) to suspend the head of one of the country’s most outspoken and popular TV channels, one of its star presenters, and one of its leading current affairs programmes for a month. The suspensions are arbitrary and unjustified, and constitute a serious press freedom violation, RSF said. The one-month suspensions of Equinoxe TV director Sévérin Tchounkeu, presenter Cédric Noufele and the programme “Droit de Réponse” (Right of Reply) were announced by the media regulator on 1 April. Alluding to a teachers’ strike, the CNC accused Equinoxe TV of “failing…Read more

Zambian journalist Eric Chiyuka charged with assault after covering land altercation 

  • Posted on April 11, 2022
  • /Under Assault
Zambian authorities must investigate an alleged police assault of community reporter Eric Chiyuka and immediately drop the charges of assault against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. Around 11 a.m. on March 26, Chiyuka, who works for the ruling party-aligned, privately owned online publication CIC Press, was taking photographs and video of a physical altercation between municipal police officers and members of the Evangelical Church of Zambia over a disputed piece of land in the northwest town of Mufumbwe, when he was ordered to stop by town council official Gilliard Mwamba, according to…Read more

CPJ calls on Sri Lankan government to respect press freedom amid nationwide state of emergency

The government of Sri Lanka should respect press freedom, ensure unrestricted access to social media and communication platforms, and allow the media to work freely and independently during a nationwide state of emergency, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On Friday, April 1, the Sri Lankan government declared the emergency, which allows authorities to conduct warrantless arrests, and imposed a curfew to contain protests after violent demonstrations over the country’s economic crisis erupted last week, according to news reports. On the evening of March 31, Sri Lankan police and security forces arrested at least…Read more