News

The Committee to Protect Journalists has condemned continued pressure on the media in the eastern Ukraine region of Donetsk and called on separatists to allow journalists to report the news without fear of reprisal. "The reporting of independent news from Eastern Ukraine is critical for local residents as well as for regional and global policymakers," CPJ Europe and Central Asia Programme...

Members of the International Press Institute (IPI)’s Executive Board Thursday in an open letter to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi expressed outrage at the lengthy sentences handed out this week to three Al Jazeera journalists behind bars in Egypt as well as sentences pronounced against six other journalists in absentia. Calling the sentences “unjustifiable”, the IPI Executive Board...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins the Macau Journalists Association (MJA) in condemning security guards at the University of Macau for physically preventing a journalist from photographing a student making a silent protest. Choi Chi-chio, the deputy publisher of Macau Concealers, an online media outlet, was dragged out of the university’s congregation hall on June 21 when...

Hours before a 15-day suspension on Pakistan’s Geo News ended on June 20, the country’s Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) suspended another Geo TV Network channel, Geo Entertainment, for 30 days and fined the company an additional 10 million rupees (approx. €75,000). The regulator also suspended ARY News for 15 days and imposed the same fine, according to reports by the Pakistan...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemns the fact that detained journalist Gao Yu has been deprived of her legal right to meet her defence lawyer for three months. Gao Yu, an outspoken independent journalist, went missing on April 24. It was announced on May 8 that she had been detained by the Chinese authorities on accusations of releasing “state secrets” to Hong Kong and...

A Suez court sentenced a journalist to three years in prison on Tuesday on charges of inciting and committing violence during protests in April, according to news reports. The move follows harsh prison sentences given to three Al-Jazeera journalists on Monday. Abdel Rahman Shaheen, a correspondent for Freedom and Justice News Gate, a news website affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, was...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has expressed its serious concern about the proposed media law that is currently being drafting in Somalia, stating that in its present form it would restrict the work of journalists and undermine media freedom and freedom of expression. In a Initiates file downloadletter sent to the Prime Minister of Somalia, Abdweli Sheikh Ahmed, the IFJ has...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) strongly condemn the decision of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PERMA) to suspend the licence of ARY TV and impose a fine of Rs. 10 million (approximately USD 100,000). ARY TV is second channel to be suspended in recent months – Geo TV was suspended for 15 days on May 21...

Authorities in Paraguay should carry out an efficient investigation into the murder of a radio host and lawyer on Thursday, establish a motive, and bring the perpetrators to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Edgar Pantaleón Fernández Fleitas was shot dead by an assailant who entered his law offices in his home in the northern city of Concepción before fleeing on a...

Last February, Trinidad and Tobago was praised by many human rights groups, including the International Press Institute (IPI), for approving legislation to partially decriminalised defamation. However, today press freedom advocates in the country are concerned about a cybercrime bill, currently being discussed in Parliament this week, which in its current language imposes disturbing restrictions...