At least 17 journalists injured covering protests in Bangladesh

Bangladesh police must ensure that officers do not harm members of the press covering protests, and should investigate attacks on journalists by demonstrators and police officers, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On March 25 and 26, in Dhaka, the capital, members of the Chhatra League, the youth wing of the ruling Awami League political party, attacked people demonstrating against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Bangladesh, and used sticks to beat journalists covering the protests, according to news reports. Also on March 26, Dhaka police fired tear gas and rubber bullets…Read more

Pakistani journalist Ajay Lalwani dies after suffering three gunshot wounds

Authorities in Sindh province, Pakistan, must immediately launch a credible investigation and apprehend those responsible for the killing of journalist Ajay Lalwani, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.  Lalwani, a local general news correspondent for the privately owned Urdu language Daily Puchano, died yesterday after suffering three gunshot wounds on Wednesday evening in Sukkur, in northern Sindh Province, according to Imdad Soomro, a correspondent of national English daily The News, who saw Lalwani in the hospital before he died, and Ashiq Jatoi, editor of the Daily Puchano, both of whom spoke to CPJ over the…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

Nigerian police attack journalist Eniola Daniel over photographs of building demolitions

Nigerian authorities should conduct a credible and transparent investigation into the assault of journalist Eniola Daniel and hold his attackers to account, say the Committee to Protect Journalists. At about 11 a.m. on February 28, seven police officers—six in uniforms and one in plain clothes—attacked Daniel, a reporter with the privately owned Nigerian newspaper The Guardian, after he photographed makeshift buildings that the officers had demolished in the Western Apapa council area of Lagos state, according to the journalist, who spoke by phone with CPJ, and a report and video of the attack posted by his employer. Daniel…Read more

Ugandan soldiers assault journalists at Bobi Wine event, face opaque military trial

On February 17, a group of Ugandan military police officers used sticks and batons to beat at least 10 journalists covering opposition politician Robert Kyagulanyi, known popularly as Bobi Wine, while he delivered a petition to a United Nations office in Kololo, a neighborhood of the capital Kampala, according to nine of those journalists, who spoke to CPJ, media reports, and statements by local press rights groups. The following day, the head of Uganda’s military, General David Muhoozi, gave a press conference in which he apologized for the attacks and promised to pay the journalists’ medical bills. Also that…Read more

Bangladeshi journalist Borhan Uddin Muzakkir dies of gunshot wounds

Bangladeshi authorities must swiftly identify the killers of journalist Borhan Uddin Muzakkir and hold them to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On February 19, in the Companiganj area of Bangladesh’s southern Noakhali district, police and armed demonstrators opened fire during clashes in the street between two factions of the ruling Awami League party, each of which is seeking power in the Companiganj area, according to the Daily Star. At least nine people were shot at the demonstration, according to that report. A bullet from an unidentified shooter hit Muzakkir, a reporter…Read more

Commonwealth Day 2021

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Commonwealth Day 2021 will be celebrated on Monday 8 March 2021, with a schedule of virtual events about which more information will soon be made available below. Each year, there is usually a service held at Westminster Abbey to mark Commonwealth Day. However, due to the pandemic, no service will be held this year. Instead Her Majesty The Queen will deliver her annual message in ‘A Celebration for Commonwealth Day’, which will be broadcast on Sunday 7 March on BBC ONE in the UK. HRH The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of…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

Nigerian news website Peoples Gazette blocked, threatened with legal action

Nigerian authorities should ensure access to the Peoples Gazette new site is not disrupted and its reporters can work without fear of harassment or intimidation, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On January 26, four mobile internet service providers operating in Nigeria – India-based Airtel, South Africa-based MTN, Nigeria-based 9mobile, and Glo, which is owned by local company Globacom – blocked the privately owned Peoples Gazette in Nigeria, according to the outlet’s managing editor, Samuel Ogundipe, who spoke to CPJ via phone.  As of February 5, access continued to be restricted on all four of the providers,…Read more