Press Center

New York, February 28, 2017--Turkish prosecutors should immediately and unconditionally drop all charges against Deniz Yücel, Turkey correspondent for the German newspaper Die Welt, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Istanbul's Ninth Court of Penal Peace last night ordered the journalist, a dual citizen of Turkey and Germany detained since February 14, jailed pending trial on charges of "propagandizing for a [terrorist] organization" and "provoking the people to hatred and animosity," based on his journalism for Die Welt, according to German and Turkish press reports.

New York, February 25, 2017--Iraqi Kurdish reporter Shifa Zikri Ibrahim, known professionally as Shifa Gardi, was killed today by a roadside bomb while covering the Iraqi Army's offensive against the Islamic State group in western Mosul for the Kurdish TV station Rudaw, the network said. A cameraman for the network, Younis Mustafa, was also injured in the bombing.

New York, February 24, 2017--The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by the decision today to bar nine news outlets from an informal briefing known as "a gaggle" by President Donald Trump's White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer. Separately, at the Conservative Party Action Conference in Maryland today, Trump said that journalists should not be allowed to use anonymous sources, and accused the press of producing "fake news," according to reports.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) urged UN Secretary General António Guterres to take steps to address the urgent issue of safety of journalists.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Secretary General Christophe Deloire and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) Executive Director Joel Simon met with United Nations Secretary General António Guterres today to discuss the #ProtectJournalists campaign to appoint a UN Special Representative for the safety of journalists. David Callaway, board nominee for president of the World Editors Forum, part of WAN-IFRA, an early supporter of the campaign, also attended the meeting.

"On behalf of RSF, I welcome Secretary General Guterres' strong personal commitment to the safety of journalists and a free and independent press, said Christophe Deloire, RSF's Secretary General. The UNSG believes that these issues are fundamental to democracy and human rights and has pledged to take action. We are counting on him to make the UN more efficient so that journalists can be better protected."

"As journalists around the world are increasingly under attack physically and verbally it is encouraging and gratifying to have this kind of support from the Secretary General, said Joel Simon, CPJ's Executive Director. "We look forward to working with him to move this commitment forward."

CPJ launches Emergencies Response Team to promote and advance journalist safety

New York, February 21, 2017--Much work remains to be done to improve journalists' security in the face of unprecedented threats, including the spread of violent non-state actors, the shrinking rule of law, resurgent authoritarianism, and an industry shift toward reliance on freelancers, the Committee to Protect Journalists found in a report released today. Journalists, news outlets, and press freedom groups must find approaches that go beyond traditional training and advocacy, which is why CPJ has launched a new Emergency Response Team.

New York, February 15, 2017--Venezuela's state telecommunications regulator Conatel today ordered transmissions of CNN en Español to be suspended in the country, according to reports. A statement from the regulator said that Conatel was initiating administrative proceedings against the Spanish-language channel of CNN, which it said distorted the truth and "attack[ed] the peace and democratic stability of the Venezuelan people."

New York, February 14, 2017-- The Committee to Protect Journalists will launch its special report, "The Best Defense: Threats to journalists' safety demand fresh approach," on February 21, 2017.

The report finds that more work remains to be done to improve journalists' safety at a time of unprecedented threats, including the spread of violent non-state actors, the shrinking rule of law, and resurgent authoritarianism.

New York, February 8, 2017--Ukrainian investigators' announcement today that they consider Pavel Sheremet's journalism as the most likely motive in his July 2016 murder is a welcome step toward bringing his killers to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov told journalists in Kiev that police believe Sheremet, who wrote for the independent news website Ukrayinska Pravda, was killed in retaliation for his work.

New York, February 7, 2017--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned today's decision by the Supreme Court of Belarus to extradite Russian-Israeli blogger Aleksandr Lapshin to Azerbaijan to stand trial for traveling to the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh and for criticizing Azerbaijani policies.

New York, February 6, 2017--Today's ruling by Kenya's High Court that the country's criminal defamation law is unconstitutional is a welcome step toward safeguarding press freedom and free speech, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.