“Iranian authorities must immediately clarify the legal basis for this mass detention of its citizens and cease treating those who communicate with the media as criminals,” said CPJ Chief Programs Officer Carlos Martinez de la Serna. “Labeling ordinary Iranians as ‘operational agents’ simply for their association with a news outlet is a dangerous tactic of intimidation and a blatant escalation in Iran’s violations of press freedom.

Iran’s intelligence ministry had been monitoring “the so-called citizen-journalists of the Zionist-Terrorist International Network” – a term the government uses to describe London-based Iran International – during the June 13 to 24 Iran-Israel war, state-owned Mehr News Agency reported. The ministry then “arrested and summoned 98 affiliated operational agents,” the agency said on July 28.

The ministry provided no evidence to support its allegations and did not disclose the names, locations, or legal status of those detained or summoned.

The Islamic Republic has previously arrested Iranians working with international media on vague charges, such as for “collaborating with hostile states” or “propaganda against the state.”

Iran’s reformist Ham Mihan newspaper reported that more than 100 journalists had been fired in the aftermath of the 12-day war, as authorities have cracked down on critical voices, with hundreds of arrests and several executions. 

CPJ emailed Iran’s mission to the United Nations in New York for comment but received no response.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

His arrest follows a warrant issued by a specialized criminal court that also targets two other journalists — Sabri bin Mukhshen and Muzahim Bajaber. All three journalists have been critical of the local government in recent reporting and social media posts. The warrant violated Article 13 of Yemen’s Press and Publications Law, which protects journalists from prosecution for expressing their opinions.

“Bajabeer’s arrest is yet another example of the systematic campaign to silence journalists in Hadramout and the areas controlled by Yemen’s Internationally Recognized Government (IRG),” said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna. “We call on the IRG to immediately release Bajabeer and end all forms of intimidation against the three Hadramout-based journalists.”

The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate condemned the ongoing harassment, threats, and surveillance against Bajabeer, his family, and colleagues by local authorities in a July 4 statement.

Bajabeer’s arrest comes a week after the July 21 release of journalist Muzahim Bajaber, who had been detained for more than a month and still faces three open cases related to his journalism. He spent 12 days in the Criminal Investigation prison without being presented to a prosecutor, in violation of Article 76 of Yemen’s criminal procedure law.

Yemen has been embroiled in a civil war since Houthi rebels seized the capital in 2014. The Saudi-backed IRG intervened in 2015 in an effort to restore the government to power.

CPJ contacted the IRG’s Ministry of Human Rights for comment but did not receive an immediate response.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Two journalists for the Cincinnati alternative newsweekly CityBeat were arrested while documenting a protest across the bridge connecting the Ohio city with Covington, Kentucky, on July 17, 2025.

Demonstrators had gathered at a vigil in Cincinnati in support of Ayman Soliman, an Egyptian immigrant and imam who was detained by immigration authorities July 9, according to local NPR affiliate WVXU.

After the rally, dozens of protesters marched to the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge, crossing from Ohio to Kentucky. Within minutes, they were confronted by Covington police officers.

CityBeat photo intern Lucas Griffith and investigative reporter Madeline Fening were documenting the protest and were among the first individuals detained.

In footage captured by WVXU reporter Nick Swartsell, multiple Covington Police Department vehicles can be seen driving toward the advancing line of protesters. In body-camera footage released by the department, officers are heard ordering protesters to move off the roadway and onto the sidewalk multiple times over approximately 90 seconds.

This content originally appeared on U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: Incident Database and was authored by U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: Incident Database.

Two journalists for the Cincinnati alternative newsweekly CityBeat were arrested while documenting a protest across the bridge connecting the Ohio city with Covington, Kentucky, on July 17, 2025.

Demonstrators had gathered at a vigil in Cincinnati in support of Ayman Soliman, an Egyptian immigrant and imam who was detained by immigration authorities July 9, according to local NPR affiliate WVXU.

After the rally, dozens of protesters marched to the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge, crossing from Ohio to Kentucky. Within minutes, they were confronted by Covington police officers.

CityBeat investigative reporter Madeline Fening and photo intern Lucas Griffith were documenting the protest and were among the first individuals detained.

In footage captured by WVXU reporter Nick Swartsell, multiple Covington Police Department vehicles can be seen driving toward the advancing line of protesters. In body-camera footage released by the department, officers are heard ordering protesters to move off the roadway and onto the sidewalk multiple times over approximately 90 seconds.

This content originally appeared on U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: Incident Database and was authored by U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: Incident Database.

The statement also urged Egyptian authorities to drop charges against Omar’s wife, Nada Mougheeth, who was detained after speaking to the media about her husband’s detention and alleged human rights violations surrounding his arrest. Mougheeth was later released on bail pending investigation after she was accused of joining a terrorist organization and spreading false news.

Egypt remains one of the world’s top 10 jailers of journalists, with 17 currently behind bars, according to CPJ’s recent prison census. Seven journalists were arrested in 2024, Omar among them, amid an escalating crackdown tied to the country’s worsening economic crisis.

Read the full letter in English here.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

A CPJ investigation found Bassène could never have committed the crime, yet Senegal’s Supreme Court dismissed Bassène’s final appeal of a life sentence on May 3, 2025. Bassène was finalizing a fourth book on the separatist conflict in southern Senegal at the time of his arrest.

“As a son of Casamance, I wrote out of duty, for posterity so that the history of this conflict would not disappear from the collective memory and that it would never happen again,” said Bassène from the Aristide Le Dantec hospital in Dakar, the Senegalese capital, where he underwent a June 4 to repair an eardrum perforated during his arrest. He added, “I thank from the bottom of my heart all the signatories who believe in my innocence and are fighting for my release.”

Read the full letter in English here and in French here.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

After being stopped for an alleged traffic infraction, 29-year-old Timothy Michael Randall was shot and killed less than a minute after stepping out of his car at the request of an officer. Cop watcher Otto the Watchdog arrived on the scene in Henderson, TX, to protest and was promptly arrested for disorderly conduct related to alleged profanity on his signage. Taya Graham and Stephen Janis of the Police Accountability Report engage the officer’s credibility issues as a state trooper, the dismissal of his criminal charges for the death of Randall, and the potential loss of qualified immunity for the shooting.

Credits:

• Produced by: Stephen Janis, Taya Graham
• Written by: Stephen Janis
• Studio Post-Production: Adam Coley

This content originally appeared on The Real News Network and was authored by Taya Graham and Stephen Janis.

Senegal’s special cybersecurity division (DSC) arrested Gadiaga over his remarks during a July 4, 2025, broadcast about Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko. On July 14, 2025, a judge opened a judicial investigation and charged Gadiaga with spreading false news, immoral speech, insulting a person exercising the prerogatives of the head of state, and receiving or soliciting donations in order to engage in propaganda likely to disturb public order, his lawyer, El Hadji Omar Youm, told news outlets.

During the broadcast on private television channel Télé Futurs Médias (TFM), Gadiaga responded to criticism from a ruling party official by saying that the party should not give lessons in ethics because its leader, Sonko, had been “convicted of sexual abuse.” Sonko was sentenced in absentia in June 2023 to two years in prison for the “corruption of youth.” 

In April, Sonko said his opponents were using journalists and “so-called news commentators” to spread false news and defame authorities.

“These charges represent an escalation in the government’s punitive attitude toward the media and promote a dangerous conflation between the press and the political opposition,” said Moussa Ngom, CPJ’s Francophone Africa representative. “Senegalese authorities must release news commentators Badara Gadiaga, Abdou Nguer, and Bachir Fofana, and refrain from reprisals against the media for their criticism. Alleged press offenses should not be criminalized.”

On July 10, Sonko alluded to the TV debate during a meeting with his party’s leadership and recommended that party members “stop going to television stations that fight [the party]. …I fight those who fight me, and let those who use their tools to fight me know that I will go to the end.” He also called for a boycott of “television stations that fight him.”

L’Observateur, a newspaper owned by the same parent company as TFM, Groupe Futurs Médias, responded to Sonko’s comments with an editorial saying: “We are not a media affiliate of a party, nor a propaganda battalion, nor an instrument of validation. We are a newsroom.”

Separately, deliberation of the trial of commentator Bachir Fofana, detained for allegedly spreading false news, has been postponed to July 16, and another commentator, Abdou Nguer, has remained in prison since April on various charges.

CPJ’s calls to Sonko’s office and the justice ministry went unanswered.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

According to a report by the Indian Express, victims Bulu Nayak (52) and Babul Nayak (43), residents of Singipur village in Sanakhemundi Tehsil in Ganjam District, had bought a cow and two calves from Haripur to be given as dowry in a family wedding. While they were taking the cattle to their village in a tempo rickshaw, a group of locals stopped them.

The group accused them of illegally transporting the cows, and snatched their mobile phones and money. They allegedly demanded Rs 30,000 to release the animals. When the duo refused, the group tied their hands and legs and brutally assaulted them. Next, they were taken to a local salon where parts of their heads were shaved. They were then made to walk on their knees for about two kilometres to Jahada village where they were allegedly forced to eat grass and drink water from a drain.

The incident took place in broad daylight on June 22, 2025 at Kharigumma village under Dharakot block in Ganjam district. Both the victims somehow managed to escape from the spot and were provided first aid at a local hospital, after which they lodged a complaint with the Dharakote Police.

After photos and videos of the incident went viral on social media, several social media users, including social activists and politicians, started sharing the visuals and demanding the arrest of the accused and that appropriate action be taken against them.

On June 23, the official X handle of the Ganjam SP reported that eight accused had been arrested and one minor boy apprehended after a case had been registered under the relevant sections of the BNS and SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

A case has been registered under relevant sections of BNS and SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

During investigation, 8 accused persons have been arrested and one CICL apprehended. All were forwarded to the Hon’ble court. (2/2) pic.twitter.com/LxUFlKkrSX

— SP Ganjam (@sp_ganjam) June 24, 2025

On June 26, the police reported that the main accused in the incident had been arrested A local news portal carried the names of the accused arrested in the case in a report dated June 25. They were identified as Sibashankar Mohanty, Satya Sahu, Bainath Bisoi, Om Gowda, Ganapati Palei, Santosh Dakua, Shankar Das, and Narayan Dakua and a minor.

Another report published on July 3 stated that a total of 16 people had been arrested in the case so far.

Alarming Increase in Cow-Vigilantism Violence

It is pertinent to note that cases of violence related to cow-vigilantism have skyrocketed in the recent past. From 2016 to 2020, lynching or mob violence following suspected cow slaughter or trade has claimed at least 50 lives, according to a report by ACLED, an independent non-profit organisation that tracks and analyses data on violent conflict and protest across all countries and regions.

ACLED recorded a sharp increase in the number of incidents of political violence related to the protection of cows in India in 2018. Compared to 2016, incidents of political violence related to cow protection increased by more than 40% in 2017 and almost doubled in 2018, with this increase in violence coinciding with the establishment of BJP-led governments in several states, including Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Jharkhand.

The report further revealed that more than 80% of reported incidents of cow protection-related violence were carried out against civilians. The victims of these attacks were usually those involved in the cattle trade and individuals belonging to minority groups, including Muslims, Dalits or Adivasi communities.

The post Dozens arrested in Odisha after 2 Dalit men tortured on false charges of cow smuggling appeared first on Alt News.

This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Pawan Kumar.

Frey is a journalist known for his reporting on the Israeli occupation in the West Bank for several outlets, including Haaretz and YNET, according to CPJ’s review of his work.

“Israeli authorities’ arrest of journalist Israel Frey underscores authorities’ growing intolerance of freedom of expression since the start of the war on October 7, 2023,” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. “Israeli authorities must immediately release Frey and all detained Palestinian journalists, and end their ongoing crackdown on the press and dissenting voices.”

After the news that five Israeli soldiers were killed by an explosive device in northern Gaza, Frey tweeted that “The world is a better place this morning without five young men who participated in one of the most horrific crimes against humanity.” 

Frey’s attorneys, Riham Nassra and Michal Pomeranz, told CPJ that the tweet does not legally constitute support for terrorism, describing the incident as a “political arrest.”

The State Attorney’s office responded to CPJ’s emailed request for comment with a copy of the court document about the case. The police and the Ministry of National Security issued a joint statement saying they would “deal firmly with anyone who incites or expresses support for the enemy.”

This is the third time Frey has been investigated, he told CPJ on Tuesday, before his arrest, adding that “In previous instances, it was alleged that my posts contained incitement, but the files were closed.” 

On October 16, 2023, Frey went into hiding after his home was attacked the previous day by a mob of far-right Israelis after he expressed solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

CPJ has documented Israeli authorities’ arrests of 85 Palestinian journalists since October 7, 2023, the start of the Israel-Gaza war. In that same time period, this is the first time Israeli authorities have arrested and opened an investigation against an Israeli journalist for expressing an opinion.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

The arrest followed an incident on July 5 in which a member of the same group allegedly shot at Yaqoub after he refused to surrender a Starlink device, which is essential for internet connectivity in the region, according to a Facebook post by Nazar, where he confirmed that Yaqoub was uninjured.

Yaqoub and Nazar were not covering an event during the arrest, but used the Starlink device to connect to the internet and cover the war on Facebook for 5,000 followers on Yaqoub’s page and almost 10,000 followers on Nazar’s page, according to a local journalist following the case who spoke with CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal.

“The July 7 arrest of freelance journalists Nasr Yaqoub and Mohamed Ahmed Nazar is a clear attack on the public’s right to know what is happening in Darfur,” said CPJ Middle East and North Africa Regional Director Sara Qudah. “Sudanese authorities must immediately release Yaqoub and Nazar and hold those responsible for firing at Yaqoub on July 5 to account.”

SLM–TC confirmed Yaqoub and Nazar’s detention to local news outlets after accusing the journalists of provocation and media incitement, according to the local journalist.

Residents in Darfur rely heavily on Starlink devices for internet access amid the collapse of war-torn Sudan’s formal communications infrastructure. Journalists using these networks face growing harassment and violence by armed groups operating with impunity, according to the journalist who spoke with CPJ.

CPJ’s email to the SLM–TC requesting comment on Yaqoub and Nazar’s arrest did not receive a response.

Since the war broke out between the SAF and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in April 2023, CPJ has documented at least fourteen killed journalists and media workers across Sudan.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

The warrant, reviewed by CPJ, was issued by a Specialized Criminal Court and violates Article 13 of Yemen’s Press and Publications Law, which protects journalists from punishment for publishing their opinions unless they violate the law.

“Bajaber’s arrest is the latest example of the deteriorating press freedom situation in areas controlled by the Internationally Recognized Government (IRG),” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. “We call on the IRG to immediately release Bajaber and to allow journalists to do their job without fear of reprisal.”

Yemen has been mired in civil war since 2014, when Houthi rebels seized the capital, Sanaa, and ousted the government. The Saudi-backed IRG intervened in 2015 in an effort to restore the government to power.

Journalists face grave threats in areas controlled by the Houthi, IRG, and Southern Transitional Council (STC). Violations—including arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, and unfair trials—are carried out with near-total impunity.

Bajaber, publisher and editor-in-chief of the independent, Hadramout-based media outlet, Al-Ahqaf Media Platform, was arrested by security forces in the IRG-controlled city of Al-Mukalla. 

In a separate incident, journalist Ahmed Maher—who was detained in August 2022 by security forces affiliated with the STC and released in January 2025—has recently over the last month been subjected to online incitement and threats, according to Yemeni press freedom and human rights organizations, as well as messages sent directly from the journalist to CPJ. 

CPJ emailed the Ministry of Human Rights in the IRG for comment on the arrest of Bajaber,      but did not receive an immediate response.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“Authorities in the DRC must not legitimize the detention of journalist Serge Sindani under the pretext of the ongoing war in the east of the country,” said CPJ Regional Director Angela Quintal, from New York. “Authorities must release Sindani without delay so that he can continue informing the local population about important public issues, including conflict in the region.”

The photo, taken from a distance, showed military planes at Bangoka International Airport in Kisangani, a city in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, with the caption: “RDC-Instant Kisangani — the city is calm and under control with our Sukhoi fighter jets. Happy Sunday,” according to a statement by the outlet, reviewed by CPJ and Kis24.info journalist Steves Paluku Mbusa, who spoke with CPJ.

According to the same sources, Sindani is detained in a military intelligence cell in Kisangani, a city in the northern central Tshopo province, and was questioned by Colonel Mwambi, who accused him of having bad intentions for showing military planes in the context of the current war in the region.

“Sindani is one of ours,” Mwambi told CPJ by phone. “He easily covers military activities in the Tshopo province. We are in an operational war province; he took the liberty of filming our war planes without any authorization from the military hierarchy. We do not know his intentions. Was it to inform our enemies? We are investigating his case.”

The DRC and Rwanda are set to sign a U.S.-brokered peace deal in Washington D.C. on June 27, aimed at ending decades of conflict in the eastern DRC.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Mario Guevara, a Spanish-language reporter who covers immigration issues, was arrested at an anti-Trump protest in Chamblee, Georgia, near Atlanta, on June 14, 2025, according to multiple media accounts.

He is now in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and faces deportation.

The protest was one of hundreds of “No Kings” demonstrations nationwide that denounced President Donald Trump’s administration and were organized against the backdrop of a Washington, D.C., military parade commemorating the 250th anniversary of the United States Army.

Guevara, one of eight people arrested at the DeKalb County, Georgia, protest, was taken into custody as he livestreamed the demonstration to his social media audience of more than 1 million followers.

In his Facebook Live video, Guevara wore a helmet and a vest that identified him as press.

“We’re going to move a little bit because the authorities are advancing this way,” he said in Spanish. “The police are moving forward quickly.”

As he walked beside a group of police officers in riot gear, he was taken to the ground.

“Officer, officer. I’m a member of the media,” he said before the video abruptly ended. “Let me finish.”

Guevara, a Salvadoran native who has been in the U.S. for over 20 years, was taken into custody by the Doraville Police Department and charged with obstruction of law enforcement, unlawful assembly, and walking along a roadway, according to police records.

Guevara built a social media following by reporting on ICE activities in Atlanta. He started his own media company, MGNews, and has been covering ICE since Trump’s first term, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“My lawyers are asking me to tone it down, to not be so aggressive,” Guevara told the newspaper in an interview about his work earlier this spring. “I’m acting as if I were a citizen … but I’m not scared.”

After Guevara’s arrest, his attorney, Giovanni Diaz, told the Journal-Constitution that ICE had issued a “detainer” against the journalist — typically an initial move in the deportation process.

ICE detainers are requests asking local jails to keep individuals in custody for up to 48 hours after their scheduled release, giving federal immigration authorities time to take them into custody.

On June 18, he was transferred to Georgia’s Folkston ICE Processing Center.

In a June 20 Facebook video, Diaz said Guevara should never have been arrested and that his firm is negotiating with the county to drop the charges. He said he is also preparing a bond request to secure Guevara’s release so he can fight his immigration case while free.

Diaz told the Journal-Constitution that Guevara lacks permanent legal status, although he has work authorization and a path to a green card through his son, who is a U.S. citizen. Diaz did not immediately return a U.S. Press Freedom Tracker request for comment.

In a post on social platform X, the Department of Homeland Security said accusations that Guevara was arrested by ICE because he is a journalist were “completely untrue” and that he was arrested for willful obstruction after he refused to comply with local police orders to move out of the street.

“Following his arrest by local authorities, ICE placed a detainer on him. Following his release, he was turned over to ICE custody and has been placed in removal proceedings,” the statement said. “This El Salvador national is in ICE custody because he entered the country illegally in 2004.”

This content originally appeared on U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: Incident Database and was authored by U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: Incident Database.

“Fatih Altaylı’s arrest is a blatant attempt to intimidate an influential commentator into self-censorship,” said Özgür Öğret, CPJ’s Turkey representative. “Authorities should immediately release Altaylı, stop targeting critical voices, and allow journalists to do their job without fear of reprisal.” 

On June 20, Altaylı—who regularly shares content to his 1.5 million YouTube subscribers and 2.8 million X followers—commented on a public poll in which 70% of Turkish voters indicated that they preferred to vote for another leader after Erdoğan, who won’t be eligible to run in the country’s 2028 elections due to a two-term limit. In his commentary, Altaylı said the Turkish people “love the ballot box” and wouldn’t want to abandon the right to determine their own future. He added, “This nation is a nation that strangled their sultan when they didn’t like things; didn’t want him. A nation that booed their sultan.”

In his testimony to the authorities, Altaylı said he didn’t threaten the president but merely voiced well known historical facts, and his comments meant to underline how the Turkish people value democracy. 

On Monday, a video of an empty chair was uploaded to Altaylı’s channel in protest of his arrest, which has been viewed more than 788,000 times. 

CPJ’s emailed request for comment on Altaylı’s arrest from the chief prosecutor’s office in Istanbul did not receive a reply.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Guevara, an Emmy-winning, Spanish-language reporter who covers immigration on his “MGnews” Facebook page and other social media platforms, was arrested on June 14 while livestreaming a “No Kings” protest against the actions of the Trump administration in an Atlanta, Georgia suburb. According to video footage of his arrest, Guevara was wearing a press pass and clearly identified himself as a journalist to law enforcement.

Guevara was transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody after the immigration authority issued a detainer against the journalist, who has authorization to work in the United States. At the time of the letter’s publication, Guevara was being held in the Folkston ICE Processing Center.

Read the full letter here.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

The main suspect – a man in his 30s who stabbed Akaravong three times in the throat and torso on Saturday – was arrested on Tuesday in Nîmes, about 300 miles (480 kilometers) from the city of Pau, Pau public prosecutor Rodolphe Jarry said in a statement on Wednesday. The suspects were not named.

Akaravong was rushed to a hospital in Pau in critical condition after the attack. His condition has since stabilized, Jarry told French media.

The public prosecutor’s office in Pau has launched an investigation into what they are referring to as an “attempted assassination.” Authorities did not confirm if the attack was politically motivated at this time, reported France’s Le Monde.

Human rights advocates say the attack fits a broader pattern of targeting activists abroad. Rights group Manushya Foundation described the attack as an example of “transnational repression.”

“The attack on Joseph is part of a dangerous and escalating pattern, in which authoritarian regimes continue to monitor, pressure, and even harm activists across borders,” the foundation said in a statement.

Akaravong, one of the most prominent critics of the communist government in Laos, fled the Southeast Asian nation in 2018 after criticizing the collapse of a saddle dam at the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy hydropower project in Attapeu province that killed dozens of villagers. He was granted political asylum in France in March 2022, the foundation said.

According to the Manushya Foundation, Akaravong was attacked while he was meeting with another Lao woman activist who had recently traveled to France after completing a five-year prison sentence in Laos last September for her criticism of the government on Facebook.

The foundation did not name the woman activist, but last September, Houayheuang Xayabouly was freed from prison in southern Laos. She was arrested in September 2019 after she criticized the government on Facebook for delaying a flood rescue effort.

In recent years, other Lao activists have gone missing or faced violence both inside Laos and outside the country, typically in neighboring Thailand.

The Pau public prosecutor’s office did not immediately respond to RFA’s request for comments.

Written by Tenzin Pema. Edited by Mat Pennington.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Staff.

CPJ wrote a letter to DeKalb County Chief Executive Officer Lorraine Cochran-Johnson requesting that charges against Guevara be dropped and has not immediately received a reply from the office.

“We are deeply concerned by the ongoing detention of Spanish-language journalist Mario Guevara by authorities in DeKalb County, Georgia. He must be released immediately and the charges against him dropped,” said CPJ U.S., Canada and Caribbean Program Coordinator Katherine Jacobsen. “Guevara was doing his job and reporting the news at the time of his arrest. It is alarming that the charges he is now facing could be a pretext to begin deportation proceedings against him.” 

Guevara, an Emmy-winning reporter who covers immigration on his “MGnews” Facebook page, and other social media platforms was livestreaming the protest in the Embry Hills neighborhood northwest of Atlanta when he was detained by police. At the time of his arrest, Guevara was wearing a press pass and clearly identified himself as a journalist to law enforcement, according to video footage of his arrest.

Originally from El Salvador, Guevara has work authorization in the United States and has been in the process of obtaining a green card through his son, who is a U.S. citizen. 

Guevara was charged with improperly entering a roadway; obstruction of law enforcement officers; and unlawful assembly, according to reports. During a court appearance yesterday, a judge granted Guevara bond. However, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a “detainer” against the journalist, which often precedes the deportation process, his lawyer, Giovanni Díaz, told reporters. 

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

After the biggest manhunt in Minnesota history, authorities have detained 57-year-old Vance Boelter, who is accused of fatally shooting democratic lawmaker and former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark in their Minnesota home early on Saturday in what authorities say were politically motivated assassinations. He is also accused of wounding state Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette at their home in a separate shooting.

“Melissa Hortman was an outstanding leader that was very loved and respected by many people, and what this means for us is that we lost a leader that was very important to us,” says Patricia Torres Ray, a former Minnesota state senator and a former colleague of both Hortman and Hoffman.

Police say they found three AK-47 assault rifles, a 9mm handgun and a hit list written by the gunman that contained the names of about 70 people, including prominent Democratic lawmakers and abortion providers and advocates. Flyers for Saturday’s No Kings rallies were also found, prompting many organizers in Minnesota to cancel their protests.

This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.

Ben Camacho, freelance reporter for LA nonprofit The Southlander

You were injured while covering protests on June 7 at the Paramount Home Depot, the site where one of the initial immigration raids that spurred the protests occurred. What happened in the lead-up to your injury?

Pretty much the whole day, pepper balls were being shot by the sheriffs towards the protesters. I was keeping an eye out for those all day. But they were also throwing stingers, which is like a flashbang. They were definitely being thrown directly at people at some point, which is extremely dangerous. And rubber bullets, of course, were kind of flying as well. Some protesters were throwing their plastic water bottles or maybe fist-sized pieces of concrete. It seemed like most of them just kind of fell short of their target.

I had on a gas mask and half-face, ballistic-rated goggles, and a press pass. Mind you, the National Guard, like the military, had not been deployed yet.

Before I was shot, I was in an area where people were peacefully protesting. I was keeping an eye on my co-reporter, who was getting video. That’s when I saw a projectile go straight into the area where he was, and that’s when I saw Nick Stern [a British photojournalist] get shot.

I ended up going over and helping him get away. As I went back toward the protest area, pain hit me in the kneecap. I started screaming. I had never felt that type of pain before. I started to turn around to try to walk away, and the pain got worse.

Someone came up to me and helped me walk away. Then I was shot again, this time in my right elbow. It was excruciating at this point. I was yelling at the top of my lungs. I was in such a weird, shocked state of mind.

The next day, I went to Urgent Care to get checked out. Thankfully, my injuries are just serious, nasty bruises and a nasty cut. I’ve been home since, making sure these minor injuries don’t become worse.

Could you have imagined this happening in Los Angeles?

The police violence this time around feels much, much higher than any protests in the past few years. I also covered the 2020 uprising [the Black Lives Matter protests] and, yes, there was extreme police violence back then too.

This time, police action feels a lot more indiscriminate and a lot stronger, and that’s just from [what I experienced with] the Los Angeles authorities.

How has being a person of color shaped your reporting experience?

I am from these communities that people are being taken from. My hometown, just outside of LA, is also rising up against this. And I have a significant audience on my reporting platforms. And because I’m not out there, that’s a voice lost. 

Abraham Márquez, investigative journalist for The Southlander

While covering protests, you were hit by less lethal munitions fired by law enforcement on June 6, and then by what seemed to have been the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department on June 7. Could you have expected this in your hometown?

You know, it’s not my first rodeo. I’ve never seen them [law enforcement in Los Angeles] be careful with the press in the years that I’ve been documenting protests here.  I don’t think I’ve ever experienced them telling the press, “Hey, go on this side, you’ll be safe here,” or them holding back from not attacking.

I think at this point, Los Angeles’ law enforcement feels somewhat empowered because their actions will be backed up by the federal government, if they do something wrong.LA is heavily policed right now — we’ve got sheriffs out; we’ve got CHP [California Highway Patrol] out; cops from other cities are here; we’re going to have the Marines and the National Guard. It feels like they can do whatever they want and get away with it.

What’s at stake when journalists are attacked?

Reporters are on the front lines trying to document the reality of what it is to live in this country. We’re trying to document that people are being arrested and deported without due process. Police officers are brutalizing people who are exercising their First Amendment right to protest and to assemble peacefully.

What has it been like emotionally covering this?

I haven’t had a chance to really sit back, zoom out, and really let this process. My phone’s been blowing up this whole week with alerts of potential ICE raids, or information about where people are, where they’re getting arrested. I’m just trying to prepare and get ready, and make sure that I’m ready for the next day.

Mekahlo Medina, anchor and reporter for NBC4 News

What has surprised you most about the nature of the recent protests and the response from law enforcement?  

LA is the epicenter of immigration. We have the most undocumented people in the entire country — I think just under a million in LA County, a population of 10 million. Immigration is a national issue, and I think we fully expected some sort of reaction once it came to our doorstep. We just didn’t know what that was going to be.

What has surprised me the most has been the federal response. I thought, maybe, we would see them as part of ICE operations, but not at the protests in the way that we have.

You and your news crew were fired on with pellet projectiles by federal agents while covering June 7 protests. Did you ever think this would happen in Los Angeles? 

I’ve covered many protests in the 20 years I’ve been here, and we have a very good relationship with LAPD [Los Angeles Police Department] around our coverage of the protests, and what we’re supposed to do and not supposed to do.

I felt going into protest situations last weekend [June 6- 8] that we would be fine. And then when we got shot by federal agents, I think we were all taken aback. I can’t say it was targeted toward me. But what I can say is, most of the protesters had already left. We had large cameras; I had “Press” on my vest. We were all clearly identified.

What worries you about the situation in Los Angeles going forward?

I’m concerned that the non-lethal munitions might actually hurt somebody to a degree where they could lose an eye or something else along those lines. That worries me a lot.

Television crews have had some of our equipment and trucks attacked or destroyed — without anyone in them — by protesters, but I would say most journalists are concerned about all the agents and what they’re firing.

In this country, for the most part, journalism and journalists have been respected. It’s part of our constitution — freedom of press. It’s embedded in who we are every day from day one. The government is trying to keep us [journalists] from doing our job. I think it should be a red flag for a lot of people.

Ryanne Mena, crime and public safety reporter for the Southern California News Group

You were hit twice with less-lethal munitions on June 6 and then again on June 7, resulting in a concussion. Could you have imagined this happening in your home community? 

After Trump was elected, I was really nervous for what would come in Los Angeles, because I know Los Angeles, and people show up for protests. But I didn’t think that I would be doing a job that would involve federal agents shooting at me.

Do you plan to continue covering this story?

Yes. I was born and raised in Los Angeles, and I have a very deep connection to the city and immigrant rights. I think it is so important to document why people are taking to the streets, and also to document the community that has been forming with all this anger.

It is an honor to be one of the reporters out there recording the first draft of history. This is history that we’re living through.

What do you want people outside of Los Angeles to understand about what’s happening now?

Seemingly, journalists are being targeted. There have been many of us who have been injured in the last several days, at least once on live TV with an Australian reporter. There are so many of us who have been injured by federal agents, by local law enforcement, and it’s all unacceptable. Every single agency that has been involved in harming journalists should be condemned and should be investigated, I believe.

Other journalists should get ready to get ready because I feel like Los Angeles is just the first place where this kind of violence against journalists, or similar things, might happen. This is only the beginning.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Katherine Jacobsen.

Los Angeles Times reporter James Queally was subpoenaed on May 9, 2025, by two Knock LA journalists for testimony at the trial of their civil case against the city of Los Angeles, California, and multiple police officers.

Queally and the two reporters were among the nearly 20 journalists detained while documenting protests near LA’s Echo Park Lake on March 25, 2021, after police surrounded and arrested everyone using a tactic called “kettling.”

Queally was released after approximately 30 minutes, with help from attorneys and a managing editor for the Times. Other journalists, including the two reporters for nonprofit community journalism outlet Knock LA, were charged with failure to disperse. The charges were quickly dropped.

The Knock LA reporters, Jonathan Peltz and Kate Gallagher, then filed a lawsuit against the city, as well as then-Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michel Moore and 10 police officers. The reporters alleged that their arrests violated both their constitutional rights and California’s Tom Bane Civil Rights Act, which protects journalists.

“This is a civil rights action challenging the Los Angeles Police Department’s longstanding policy, custom and practice of obstructing, targeting, and retaliating against members of the press for exercising their First Amendment rights to gather news regarding police officer activity in public places,” the lawsuit states.

Three weeks before the case was set to go to trial on May 27, attorneys for Peltz and Gallagher subpoenaed Queally, ordering him to appear as a witness and to testify about “the protest, his coverage of it, and being detained, but ultimately released when the officers identified him as a journalist.”

In a motion to quash the subpoena filed May 23, attorneys representing Queally argued that, in a rush to vindicate their own interests, the Knock LA journalists had infringed on the rights of a fellow reporter.

“The free flow of information to the public is jeopardized when litigants use the coercive power of the Court to force journalists to testify in support of parties’ private aims, which undermines reporters’ credibility and hampers their ability to do their job,” the motion said.

Dan Laidman, one of the attorneys representing Queally, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the decision to challenge the subpoena doesn’t reflect any position on the merits of the case.

“James Queally and the Los Angeles Times have demonstrated histories of supporting press freedom and fellow journalists,” Laidman wrote, but added, “Forcing reporters to testify in court about matters that they cover compromises their ability to gather the news, and under the First Amendment it’s only allowed as a last resort in exceptional circumstances.”

A hearing on the motion is scheduled for June 26, and the trial date has been moved to Aug. 5.

This content originally appeared on U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: Incident Database and was authored by U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: Incident Database.

“Following Kloop’s forced shutdown last year, the arrest of eight current and former Kloop staffers and incitement charges against journalists Aleksandr Aleksandrov and Joomart Duulatov is a grave escalation of Kyrgyz authorities’ vendetta against Kloop for its critical coverage of government corruption,” said Carlos Martínez de la Serna, CPJ’s program director. “All press members swept up in these targeted raids must be released without delay.”

Between Wednesday and Friday, officers with Kyrgyzstan’s State Committee for National Security (SCNS) raided Kloop’s offices and the homes of journalists and staffers in the capital of Bishkek and the southern city of Osh, seizing electronic devices, before taking them to SCNS offices for questioning, according to multiple reports.

Kloop founder Rinat Tuhvatshin called the arrests “abductions,” stating that the SCNS conducted searches and questioned the journalists without lawyers present and did not allow them to make any phone calls. 

In a May 30 statement, the SCNS accused Kloop of continuing to work despite the liquidation of its legal entity and said its “illegal work” was “aimed at provoking public discontent … for the subsequent organization of mass unrest.”

With Aleksandrov and Duulatov, an unnamed Kloop accountant detained Friday also remained in SCNS custody. If found guilty on the incitement charges, Aleksandrov and Duulatov could face up to eight years in prison.

A local partner in the global investigative network Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), Kloop regularly reports on alleged corruption and abuses by government officials. The outlet’s website has been blocked in Kyrgyzstan since 2023.

The charges against Aleksandrov and Duulatov echo those brought last year against 11 current and former staffers of investigative outlet Temirov Live. 

CPJ’s email to SCNS for comment did not immediately receive a reply.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

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A Chattanooga, Tennessee, public charter school has agreed to pay the family of an 11-year-old boy $100,000 to settle a federal lawsuit claiming that it wrongfully reported the student to police for an alleged threat of mass violence.

The incident happened at the beginning of the school year when Junior, who is autistic, overheard two students talking. (We are using a nickname to protect his privacy.) As Junior later described it, one asked if the other was going to shoot up the school tomorrow. Junior looked at the other student, who seemed like he was going to say yes, and answered yes for him. Students then reported that Junior had threatened to shoot up the school.

Administrators said he could return to school the next day, but hours later, a sheriff’s deputy tracked him down at a family birthday dinner and handcuffed him in the restaurant parking lot.

ProPublica and WPLN News wrote about the case last October as part of a larger investigation into a new law in Tennessee making threats of mass violence at school a felony.

According to the settlement, Chattanooga Preparatory School also agreed to implement training on how to handle threats of mass violence at school, including reporting only “valid” threats to police and differentiating between “clearly innocuous statements” and “imminent” violence.

A federal judge will hold a final hearing on the settlement on July 1. According to the family’s lawyer, this is the first known monetary settlement in a case challenging this law. Chattanooga Prep did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the news organizations.

Junior’s mother, Torri, said the settlement is “bittersweet.” He still gets fearful when he sees police cars, reminded of the evening he was taken to juvenile detention. We are only using Torri’s first name at her request, to prevent her son from being identifiable. His case was dismissed in juvenile court in December.

But Torri said she is happy that employees at the school will get training on how to do better in the future.

“I don’t want anyone — any child, anyone, any parent — to go through it or witness it,” she said. “Other kids will be more protected if they are ever put in that situation.”

Junior’s lawyers argued in the lawsuit that the school was at fault for reporting him to police as though he had made a valid threat, while knowing he had not. “Instead of reporting only valid threats of mass violence to police, Chattanooga Prep reports all threats to law enforcement regardless of validity,” an amended version of the lawsuit against the school reads. The school did not file a response to the legal complaint.

During the last legislative session, advocates for children with disabilities testified about problems with the law — but lawmakers did not alter the existing statute. Instead they added another similar statute to the books, which could open the door for children to be charged with harsher penalties.

The family’s lawyer, Justin Gilbert, said he hopes this settlement will force lawmakers to pay attention and make necessary changes to the law.

“Monetary figures — for better or for worse — can be a driver for policy change, and sometimes legislators can react to that, school districts can react to that,” Gilbert said. “Then that results in a deeper look at the settlement terms and what kind of training is necessary to hopefully prevent these kids from being arrested and expelled unnecessarily.”

This content originally appeared on ProPublica and was authored by by Aliyya Swaby, ProPublica, and Paige Pfleger, WPLN/Nashville Public Radio.

“The abduction-like arrest of blogger and veteran journalist Abduljalil Mohamed Abduljalil over his reporting on alleged corruption on his Facebook page is a clear example of how journalists are targeted in Sudan,” said Carlos Martínez de la Serna, CPJ’s chief of programs. “Authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Abduljalil, guarantee his safety, and stop targeting journalists for their work.”

On May 25, SAF security forces stormed Abduljalil’s home in the eastern city of Kassala, arrested him, without a warrant, and barred him from notifying his family, changing his clothes, and packing medicine for his many health conditions, according to a statement by the Sudanese Journalists Syndicate and news reports. He was held incommunicado for hours before his family received confirmation of his arrest later that night.

Abduljalil was arrested in connection to his posts critical of the government, especially those alleging corruption in the pilgrimage authority, a government body that oversees and organizes travel, logistics, and permits for Muslims traveling to Saudi Arabia to perform the pilgrimage, according to those sources, and a local journalist who is following the case and spoke with CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal. Abduljalil’s Facebook posts regarding the pilgrimage authority has since been removed.

The journalists’ union condemned Abduljalil’s arrest as an act of enforced disappearance and a dangerous escalation in targeting Sudanese journalists, and it called for an immediate investigation into the incident. 

Abduljalil, a blogger with 29,000 followers on his Facebook page and a former sports correspondent for Sudan Radio, is considered one of Kassala’s most prominent journalists. He regularly provides political commentary to local newspapers. His arrest comes amid rising public anger in Kassala over electricity and water cuts.

In a separate incident on May 10, SAF security forces arrested freelance journalist Mounir Al-Taraiki from his home in the Northern Sudan state and detained him for two days without charge. 

Ever since the ongoing war between the SAF and the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces broke out in Sudan in April 2023, CPJ has documented dozens of violations against the press, including arbitrary arrests, assaults, and the killing of at least fourteen journalists and media workers.

CPJ’s email to SAF about Abduljalil and Al-Taraiki’s arrests received no reply.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

X user Arun Yadav took a dig at Samajwadi Party for being Muslim supporters and wrote, “What is this traitor Jyoti doing with Samajwadi Party supremo, friends?” (Archived link)

In another tweet, Arun Yadav again made a similar claim by quoting a tweet from Samajwadi Party. (Archived link)

BJP supporter Dilip Kumar Singh also amplified the image. (Archived link)

This photo is being widely shared on X and Facebook with the same claims.

Fact Check

We performed a reverse image search of the viral photo and came across news reports from NDTV and Indian Express dated January 22, 2017. Among them was a picture that looked similar to the viral picture, but the woman seen next to Akhilesh Yadav is not Jyoti Malhotra, but Dimple Yadav, Akhilesh’s wife.

According to the report, this picture is from on January 22, 2017, when Samajwadi Party released its manifesto for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.

Thhe same photo is also included in a report in The Times of India, which has several images from the event.

We also found several pictures of this programme on the website of gettyimages. The captions state that on January 22, 2017, during a press conference at the Samajwadi Party office in Lucknow, Akhilesh Yadav was seen releasing the Samajwadi Party manifesto along with his wife and Lok Sabha member Dimple Yadav.

Comparing the viral picture and the actual original picture, it is clear that Jyoti Malhotra’s face has been superimposed on Dimple Yadav’s.

To sum up, Akhilesh Yadav and Dimple Yadav released Samajwadi Party’s state election manifesto in 2017. The photo taken during that time was edited and YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra’s face was added to it. And it is being shared with misleading claims.

The post Akhilesh with arrested YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra? No, it’s an edited image appeared first on Alt News.

This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Pawan Kumar.

X user @Shizu____4evr shared a picture of Jyoti Malhotra wearing a cap and scarf with the BJP symbol and wrote, “Jyoti you are a traitor.. the BJP stands with you..” (Archived link)

ज्योति तुम गद्दारी करो..
बीजेपी तुम्हारे साथ है..!!#JyotiMalhotraArrested pic.twitter.com/s4hqnNdrkz

— ✼ ҉ ҉ ҉ ҉ 𝑺𝒉𝒊𝒁𝒖 ҉ ҉ ҉ ҉ ✼ (@Shizu____4evr) May 17, 2025

Several ex-handles @kachaaalloo, @bamboo_cell, @SCR4India and Samajwadi Party national spokesperson IP Singh also shared this viral picture.

Sakshi Gupta, who claims to be the district president of AAP Mahila wing Delhi on X, also shared a picture of Jyoti Malhotra wearing a BJP cap, in response to which some users shared a picture of Jyoti Malhotra allegedly wearing an AAP cap and scarf.

आतंकियों की बहन तो ज्योति मल्होत्रा निकली।
सोफिया कुरैशी तो भारतीयों की बहन है जनाब pic.twitter.com/6LVo2nkPUm

— Sakshi Gupta AAP (@SakshiGupta_AAP) May 18, 2025

X handles @arpit637163, @ChamkeeleChuze, and @Deepak25189 also shared another picture of Jyoti wearing an Aam Aadmi cap and scarf. 

Fact Check

Alt News scoured all social media platforms of Aaj Tak News to fact-check the viral images. We found news reports related to YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra’s arrest and alleged spying for Pakistan. But we did not find the viral images anywhere.

We compared the viral image with other pictures (templates) posted on Aaj Tak’s social media handle. We noticed a significant difference between them, in terms of layout and style.

Besides, the lighting seen in the viral photos seem unnatural, and the design of the cap and scarf worn by Jyoti Malhotra is different from that of the election caps and scarves used by the BJP and Aam Aadmi Party.

We uploaded the first viral photo on the AI ​​detector tool sightengine.com. According to the results obtained from this, there was a 99% chance of this photo being AI generated.

The AI ​​detector tool sightengine.com said that there was a 99% chance of the second photo being created with the help of AI as well.

To sum up, both the viral photos of YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra which are being shared on social media targeting the Aam Aadmi Party and the BJP are fake and AI generated. 

The post Arrested YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra in BJP, AAP election caps? Fake photos viral appeared first on Alt News.

This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Pawan Kumar.

Facebook user Jamshed Khan shared the picture and wrote, “Spy Jyoti Malhotra is a seasoned player.” (Archived link)

X User Anamika also shared the image and wrote, “What is this sister to terrorists doing with the leader of blind bhakts?” (Archived link)

Many other users also shared this picture with the same claims. (Link 1, Link 2, Link 3)

ALSO READ: Viral photos of Rahul Gandhi with Jyoti Malhotra are morphed

Fact Check

We performed a reverse image search of this picture, and found multiple other versions where it is mentioned that PM Modi had an interaction with online gaming influencers. All of these posts are from last year.

On April 13, 2024, a video of the PM’s meeting with gamers was shared on the official YouTube channel of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The description of the video also mentions the name of the gamer as Payal Dhare and tags her YouTube channel. At the 31:36 mark in the video, a frame that looks similar to the viral picture is seen.

Alt News noticed that Payal Dhare had also posted a video of her meeting with PM Modi on April 13, 2024 on her YouTube channel. According to a report by News18, she hails from the Umranala village in Chhindwara, Madhya Pradesh and is an award-winning gamer.

Apart from this, we could not find any news reports to corroborate any meeting between Jyoti Malhotra and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. We took a screenshot from Malhotra’s YouTube channel and compared it with this image of Payal Dhare. The two are clearly not the same.

To sum it up, the viral image is of gamer Payal Dhare and not of Jyoti Malhotra, but it is being used to claim that Malhotra met the Prime Minister Modi. 

ALSO READ: Viral image of Akhilesh Yadav with Jyoti Malhotra, arrested on charges of ‘spying’, is fake

The post Arrested ‘spy’ Jyoti Malhotra with PM Modi? Photo viral with false claims appeared first on Alt News.

This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Priyanka Jha.

Facebook user Jamshed Khan shared the picture and wrote, “Spy Jyoti Malhotra is a seasoned player.” (Archived link)

X User Anamika also shared the image and wrote, “What is this sister to terrorists doing with the leader of blind bhakts?” (Archived link)

Many other users also shared this picture with the same claims. (Link 1, Link 2, Link 3)

ALSO READ: Viral photos of Rahul Gandhi with Jyoti Malhotra are morphed

Fact Check

We performed a reverse image search of this picture, and found multiple other versions where it is mentioned that PM Modi had an interaction with online gaming influencers. All of these posts are from last year.

On April 13, 2024, a video of the PM’s meeting with gamers was shared on the official YouTube channel of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The description of the video also mentions the name of the gamer as Payal Dhare and tags her YouTube channel. At the 31:36 mark in the video, a frame that looks similar to the viral picture is seen.

Alt News noticed that Payal Dhare had also posted a video of her meeting with PM Modi on April 13, 2024 on her YouTube channel. According to a report by News18, she hails from the Umranala village in Chhindwara, Madhya Pradesh and is an award-winning gamer.

Apart from this, we could not find any news reports to corroborate any meeting between Jyoti Malhotra and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. We took a screenshot from Malhotra’s YouTube channel and compared it with this image of Payal Dhare. The two are clearly not the same.

To sum it up, the viral image is of gamer Payal Dhare and not of Jyoti Malhotra, but it is being used to claim that Malhotra met the Prime Minister Modi. 

ALSO READ: Viral image of Akhilesh Yadav with Jyoti Malhotra, arrested on charges of ‘spying’, is fake

The post Arrested ‘spy’ Jyoti Malhotra with PM Modi? Photo viral with false claims appeared first on Alt News.

This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Priyanka Jha.

Later Thursday, an Istanbul court arrested Karabay, pending trial, on suspicion of “making targets of those who were tasked to combat terrorism” and “insulting” Turkish President Recep Tayyip. The arrest order, which CPJ reviewed, cites the journalist’s social media posts in April about the prosecution of Ekrem İmamoğlu, the arrested opposition mayor of Istanbul, according to the arrest order.

Karabay’s posts on X after March 21 have been deleted. CPJ couldn’t confirm when these posts were deleted or by whom. On May 16, his account on X was blocked in Turkey “in response to a legal demand.”

“Courts in Turkey keep arresting reporter Furkan Karabay on similar suspicions year after year, which points to a pattern of making him an example of due to his reporting,” said Özgür Öğret, CPJ’s Turkey representative. “Turkish authorities should free Karabay without delay and end the chokehold they have on the flow of the news in the country.” 

In a separate trial last month, Karabay was found guilty of defamation and “insulting” Erdoğan. He received a delayed prison sentence of 25 months in total due to reporting on the main opposition party’s claims of corruption against the president’s family.

On November 9, 2024, an Istanbul court arrested Karabay, pending trial, on a similar charge of suspicion of “making targets of those who were tasked to combat terrorism,” “insulting a public servant,” and “knowingly distributing misleading information to the public,” due to reporting on the arrest of an opposition mayor. He was released on the next day, and that trial is yet to begin.

On December 28, 2023, another Istanbul court arrested Karabay on suspicion of “making targets of those who were tasked to combat terrorism,” as well as defamation, due to his reporting on allegations of corruption in the judiciary. He was released pending trial in January 2024, and acquitted from both charges in October.

Journalists in Turkey who report on members of the judiciary or judicial developments are frequently charged with “making targets of those who were tasked to combat terrorism.”

CPJ’s email to the Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office did not receive a reply.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Mayor Ras Baraka of Newark, New Jersey, was arrested and detained by masked federal immigration police Friday when he joined three Democratic congressmembers set to tour a newly reopened 1,000-bed Immigration and Customs Enforcement jail run by GEO Group, which advocates say lacks proper permits. Baraka says he was asked to leave the premises and left the secure area to join a group of protesters in a public area outside the gate — when he was seized by officers in a chaotic scene. “This is completely insane, and it’s a scary moment in the history of this country as we watch democracy slip between our fingers,” Baraka tells Democracy Now!

This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.

“The Cuban government continues to engage in a campaign of harassment and intimidation against the country’s non-state media in an apparent effort to force them into silence or exile,” said Katherine Jacobsen, CPJ’s U.S., Canada, and Caribbean program coordinator, from Washington, D.C.

Hernández, 33, was arrested January 24 while reporting on drug trafficking in a school in the city of Matanzas, according to 14yMedio. He is currently being held at the Combinado del Sur prison, accused of “propaganda against the constitutional order”.

Barrenechea, 53, has been detained for five months awaiting trial on a “public disorder” charge after he participated in a protest on November 8, 2025, in Encrucijada, Villa Clara, after power blackouts caused by Hurricane Rafael. He faces a potential sentence of three to eight years in prison. His family is concerned about his deteriorating health.

Cuba has intensified repression against journalists under a new Law of Social Communication, which came into force on October 4, 2024. virtually outlawing the practice of journalism outside the official state media. The new law was promulgated after anti-government demonstrations swept the island in July 2021, resulting in the prosecution of people who reported or shared videos of the events online.

In recent months, Cuban state security agents have questioned at least eight journalists and media workers from non-state media outlets, many in connection with alleged crimes against the state, leading several to flee the country. El Toque reported that between 2022 and 2024, at least 150 Cuban journalists went into exile due to harassment by state security agents.

Several journalists told CPJ that officers warned them to stop working as journalists outside of official state media, and told them it was a crime to participate in foreign-funded training and support programs, or to receive grants from foreign governments.

Cuban authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“The Cuban government continues to engage in a campaign of harassment and intimidation against the country’s non-state media in an apparent effort to force them into silence or exile,” said Katherine Jacobsen, CPJ’s U.S., Canada, and Caribbean program coordinator, from Washington, D.C.

Hernández, 33, was arrested January 24 while reporting on drug trafficking in a school in the city of Matanzas, according to 14yMedio. He is currently being held at the Combinado del Sur prison, accused of “propaganda against the constitutional order”.

Barrenechea, 53, has been detained for five months awaiting trial on a “public disorder” charge after he participated in a protest on November 8, 2025, in Encrucijada, Villa Clara, after power blackouts caused by Hurricane Rafael. He faces a potential sentence of three to eight years in prison. His family is concerned about his deteriorating health.

Cuba has intensified repression against journalists under a new Law of Social Communication, which came into force on October 4, 2024. virtually outlawing the practice of journalism outside the official state media. The new law was promulgated after anti-government demonstrations swept the island in July 2021, resulting in the prosecution of people who reported or shared videos of the events online.

In recent months, Cuban state security agents have questioned at least eight journalists and media workers from non-state media outlets, many in connection with alleged crimes against the state, leading several to flee the country. El Toque reported that between 2022 and 2024, at least 150 Cuban journalists went into exile due to harassment by state security agents.

Several journalists told CPJ that officers warned them to stop working as journalists outside of official state media, and told them it was a crime to participate in foreign-funded training and support programs, or to receive grants from foreign governments.

Cuban authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

A Dakar court judge charged Zik Fm editor-in-chief Simon Pierre Faye with spreading false news on April 14 and released him under judicial control. On the same day, the Dakar gendarmerie questioned for several hours online broadcaster Source A TV’s journalists Omar Ndiaye and Fatima Coulibaly, and freelance news commentator Abdou Nguer, over their comments on the death of a local official. Nguer’s lawyer told local media that the gendarmes detained the journalist on false news charges related to a TikTok post that does not belong to him. The post called for an autopsy of the official. Ndiaye and Coulibaly were released without charges.

“Senegalese authorities must drop all charges against journalist Simon Pierre Faye, release news commentator Abdou Nguer, and end their judicial harassment of journalists,” said Moussa Ngom, CPJ’s Francophone Africa Representative. “Authorities should instead focus their efforts on advancing promised reforms to decriminalize press offenses.”

Police arrested Faye on April 10 for a post on his outlet’s Facebook page, later deleted, republishing another article on the alleged distrust of President Faye’s leadership.

Responding to a parliamentarian’s question about Faye’s detention, Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko said that “penal policy will now be zero tolerance” for spreading “false news.”

CPJ has documented detentions of Senegalese journalists on false news charges, an offense punishable by one to three years in prison. In his campaign, President Faye promised to replace imprisonment for press offenses with fines. 

Separately, on April 13, police and gendarmes stopped and questioned Al Jazeera Qatar journalist Nicolas Haque and his camera operator, Magali Rochat, upon their arrival in the southern Ziguinchor city, where they sought to report on the return of people displaced by the region’s conflict. The journalists were sent back to Dakar the day after, Haque told CPJ.

CPJ’s email to the government’s information and communications office was not answered.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“Alfousseini Togo’s arrest and detention for criticizing the judiciary sends a chilling signal to the entire Malian press, which is already suffering under the threat of government censorship,” said Moussa Ngom, CPJ’s Francophone Africa Representative. “Malian authorities should immediately release Alfousseini Togo and refrain from criminalizing media for doing their jobs.”

On the day of Togo’s arrest, a judge with the cybercrime unit in Bamako, the Malian capital, charged the journalist, who is the publishing director of the privately-owned weekly newspaper Le Canard de la Venise, with undermining the credit of the judiciary, disturbing public order and defamation over his April 8 report critiquing the justice system, according to news reports and Chiaka Doumbia, president of the Malian investigative journalists network, who spoke to CPJ. 

Togo is being held in Bamako prison awaiting his trial, set to begin June 12, 2025, Doumbia told CPJ. The journalist faces up to two years in prison under articles 37 and 38 of the Press Code, which relate to false news, disturbing public order, and defamation, and article 242-74 of the Criminal Code of Mali, relating to undermining the state’s reputation.

In his report, Togo questioned the credibility of a poll quoted by Justice Minister Mahamadou Kassogué that claimed public confidence in Mali’s justice index increased “from 30% to 72% in 2024.” Togo also said that the justice sector was ranked by the poll “second most corrupt after the police,” adding that the “current transitional regime is taking advantage of the ‘weakness’ of the justice system to order arrests, intimidation, kidnappings and even extrajudicial detentions, in violation of the law.” 

Several foreign media outlets have been suspended and journalists arrested in Mali since military officers seized power in a coup in 2020.

CPJ’s calls to the publicly listed Ministry of Justice’s numbers went unanswered.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“Alfousseini Togo’s arrest and detention for criticizing the judiciary sends a chilling signal to the entire Malian press, which is already suffering under the threat of government censorship,” said Moussa Ngom, CPJ’s Francophone Africa Representative. “Malian authorities should immediately release Alfousseini Togo and refrain from criminalizing media for doing their jobs.”

On the day of Togo’s arrest, a judge with the cybercrime unit in Bamako, the Malian capital, charged the journalist, who is the publishing director of the privately-owned weekly newspaper Le Canard de la Venise, with undermining the credit of the judiciary, disturbing public order and defamation over his April 8 report critiquing the justice system, according to news reports and Chiaka Doumbia, president of the Malian investigative journalists network, who spoke to CPJ. 

Togo is being held in Bamako prison awaiting his trial, set to begin June 12, 2025, Doumbia told CPJ. The journalist faces up to two years in prison under articles 37 and 38 of the Press Code, which relate to false news, disturbing public order, and defamation, and article 242-74 of the Criminal Code of Mali, relating to undermining the state’s reputation.

In his report, Togo questioned the credibility of a poll quoted by Justice Minister Mahamadou Kassogué that claimed public confidence in Mali’s justice index increased “from 30% to 72% in 2024.” Togo also said that the justice sector was ranked by the poll “second most corrupt after the police,” adding that the “current transitional regime is taking advantage of the ‘weakness’ of the justice system to order arrests, intimidation, kidnappings and even extrajudicial detentions, in violation of the law.” 

Several foreign media outlets have been suspended and journalists arrested in Mali since military officers seized power in a coup in 2020.

CPJ’s calls to the publicly listed Ministry of Justice’s numbers went unanswered.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

The government, controlled by Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP), launched a crackdown against CHP-controlled Istanbul municipalities, including two district municipality mayors and dozens of other politicians and municipality personnel, citing accusations of corruption. But authorities have since arrested thousands of protesters and have moved aggressively to tamp down media coverage of the demonstrations.

Authorities have raided the homes of at least nine journalists, detaining them along with at least four other journalists arrested while covering the protests, while hurting numerous others. Media regulators have also imposed suspensions and fines on pro-opposition broadcasters and threatened to cancel the licenses of TV channels covering the protests.

While many of the journalists arrested in the initial sweep have been released, press freedom advocates are concerned that authorities are deliberately targeting them to suppress coverage, as the government has done during times of civil unrest or protests in recent decades.

Since March 19, CPJ has documented the following press freedom violations:

Detentions

• On March 19, police detained freelance reporter and TV commentator İsmail Saymaz at his house in Istanbul. Saymaz, who has worked for pro-opposition outlets such as Halk TV and Sözcü, was put under house arrest pending investigation on March 21 for “assisting an attempt to overthrow the government” based on his interviews from years ago.
• On March 23, police detained Zişan Gür, a reporter for the leftist news website Sendika, from the field in Istanbul. He was released on March 27.
• On March 24, police detained five photojournalists who had covered the protests during raids on their homes in Istanbul: Yasin Akgül of Agence France-Presse (AFP), Ali Onur Tosun of NOW Haber, as well as freelancers Bülent Kılıç, Zeynep Kuray, and Hayri Tunç. An Istanbul court arrested the five for “violating the law on gatherings and demonstrations” on March 25, but they were released the following day. Prosecutors had argued that they were actually protesters, citing select police camera shots of them as evidence.
• On March 24, police detained freelance photojournalist Murat Kocabaş at his house in in the western city of Izmir. He was released on March 27.
• On March 25, police detained freelancer Yağız Barut as he was covering the protests in Izmir. He was released on March 27.
• On March 27, authorities arrested Kaj Joakim Medin, a Swedish reporter for newspaper Dagens ETC who was traveling to Istanbul to follow the protests, upon his arrival at the Istanbul airport. He was accused of insulting Erdoğan and of being a member of a terrorist organization, in relation to a 2023 investigation.
• On March 28, police detained Nisa Sude Demirel, a reporter with the leftist daily Evrensel, and Elif Bayburt, a reporter with leftist outlet ETHA, at their houses for covering the Istanbul protests. They were both released the following day.

Turkey has a history of imprisoning journalists, having been ranked among the top 10 worst jailers of journalists from 2012 to 2023, and the recent drop in number of journalists behind bars may be misleading as an indicator on its own.

Deportation

• On March 27, Istanbul police detained BBC correspondent Mark Lowen and deported him on a flight to London for covering the protests.

Injuries

• From March 21 to 23, at least 14 journalists were injured after being beaten or shot with rubber bullets by Istanbul police, while one reporter was assaulted by the protesters, according to the local media freedom group MLSA. Police also damaged journalists’ equipment.

Censorship

• Ebubekir Şahin, the government-appointed chair of the media regulator RTÜK, has threatened to revoke the broadcast licenses of Turkish TV channels covering the protests and opposition rallies.
• On March 27, RTÜK imposed heavy penalties on multiple pro-opposition TV channels, though the sanctions didn’t immediately go into effect since they can be challenged in court. Sözcü TV would have to stop broadcasting for 10 days if its appeal is rejected.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“Turkey was a haven for foreign journalists covering the region just a decade ago. Swedish journalist Joakim Medin’s arrest upon traveling to Istanbul is a chilling reminder that the country has gravely changed,” said Özgür Öğret, CPJ’s Turkey representative. “Turkish authorities should release Medin without delay in order to avoid further tarnishing the country’s reputation in international media circles.” 

Medin, a reporter for the Swedish newspaper Dagens ETC, was immediately taken into police custody upon his arrival in Istanbul to cover civil unrest amid the government’s crackdown on the city’s opposition municipalities.

Turkish authorities have accused Medin of being involved in a January 11, 2023, anti-Erdoğan protest in Stockholm, according to multiple reports. Authorities claim the gathering was organized by people with ties to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which Turkey recognizes as a terrorist organization. Prosecutors in the capital city of Ankara have initiated a criminal investigation against 15 suspects, including Medin, in connection with the event, according to a statementfrom the directorate of communications at the president’s office. 

Sweden’s Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard told Dagens ETC that his case is of the “highest priority,” and she is working with Sweden’s consulate general in Istanbul to get the journalist released. 

Separately, BBC correspondent Mark Lowen, who was covering Istanbul’s civil unrest was detained and deported by the authorities last week. Turkish authorities said he wasn’t accredited to work in the country.

CPJ’s email to the chief prosecutor’s office in Ankara and Istanbul regarding Medin and Lowen respectively but did not receive any reply.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

On March 25, Mozumdar, a reporter with the local digital outlet The CrossCurrent, covered a protest outside Assam Co-operative Apex Bank, after which he was summoned to Panbazar police station in Guwahati, Assam’s largest city, and arrested.

“The arrest of Dilwar Hussain Mozumdar is a blatant attempt to intimidate and silence independent journalism,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi. “Authorities must immediately release Mozumdar, drop any pending charges against him, and cease using legal harassment to muzzle journalists reporting on issues of public interest.”

The CrossCurrents has been consistently reporting on financial issues at the bank, where Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is a director.  

A Press Club of India statement and a Facebook post by Mozumdar said that the journalist questioned the bank’s managing director, Dambara Saikia, and then received a call from the police as soon as he left the bank, telling him to report to the station.

Authorities have filed two cases against Mozumdar. In the first, a security guard at the bank accused him of making offensive and derogatory remarks, in violation of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, The CrossCurrent’s editor Arup Kalita told CPJ. 

In the second, Saikia alleged that Mozumdar unlawfully entered the bank’s office, attempted to steal documents, disrupted operations, and threatened employees, Kalita added. 

Mozumdar was granted bail in the first case and was scheduled for release on Thursday. However, he was rearrested by the police in connection with the second case, Kalita said. Mozumdar plans to apply for bail in the second case on Friday.

At a news conference on Thursday, Chief Minister Sarma denied that press freedom had been violated, defended Mozumdar’s arrest, and said that those working for independent online portals were not real journalists as they lacked state accreditation. 

CPJ’s emails to Assam police and the Assam Co-operative Apex Bank requesting comment did not receive any responses.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“We have taken the difficult decision to temporarily withdraw our @Daily Monitor @ntvuganda journalists from covering the Kawempe North by-election for their safety because they are being targeted and attacked by armed soldiers and undercover security operatives,” Daniel Kalinaki, a general manager at Nation Media Group (NMG), East Africa’s largest independent media company, posted on the social media platform X on March 13.

Two Luganda-language broadcasters, Radio Simba and BBS Terefayina, followed suit, reacting to security agencies’ assault, harassment, and arrest of dozens of journalists reporting on the by-election in the capital Kampala.

In response to Pearl FM’s reports on vote-rigging allegations, the regulatory Uganda Communications Commission suspended the privately owned outlet on March 12 for airing “unsubstantiated statements that were sensational, alarmist, and capable of inciting violence.”

Uganda is due to hold general elections in January 2026, in which 80-year-old President Yoweri Museveni is expected to seek to extend his 38-year rule. Given the country’s history of electoral violence against journalists, events in Kawempe North have triggered anxiety about the 2026 poll.

‘Alarmingly dangerous’ election coverage

“Covering elections has always been an alarmingly dangerous task for Ugandan journalists,” said CPJ Africa Regional Director, Angela Quintal, in New York. “As the January 2026 elections approach, breaking free from this troubling history is essential for the integrity of the democratic process. Ugandan authorities must ensure that those who target journalists are held fully accountable.”

Kawempe North was won by a candidate from the opposition National Unity Platform (NUP), a party headed by Robert Kyagulanyi, commonly known as Bobi Wine. In Uganda’s last general election in 2021, at least 50 people died in protests over the pop star-turned-politician’s repeated arrest and Kyagulanyi was severely beaten. Museveni’s previous presidential challenger, Kizza Besigye, who lost to the former soldier four times, is facing the death sentence for treason.

In relation to the Kawempe North by-election, CPJ documented the following incidents:

●      On February 26, Joint Anti-Terrorism Task Force (JAT) officers assaulted Top TV reporter Ibrahim Miracle as he covered the arrest and assault of the NUP nominee. He sustained severe facial injuries.

●      NMG camera operator Stephen Kibwiika told CPJ that JAT officers beat him on March 3 with batons while he was reporting near the NUP headquarters despite wearing a “Press” vest. He said that he sustained ankle injuries and was unable to walk properly for several days.

●      NMG reporter Steven Mbidde told CPJ that on March 4 about eight officers restrained him and dragged him to the ground while he was live reporting the detention of NUP supporters.

●      On March 12, security officers struck Kibwiika on his head with a baton and kicked his groin while he covered allegations of ballot stuffing. Kibwiika told CPJ he was unable to walk, suffered intense headaches, and was hospitalized for three days.

On March 13:

●      Masked soldiers attacked state-owned New Vision newspaper reporter Ibrahim Ruhweza with batons and gun butts before briefly detaining him and his colleague Isaac Nuwagaba in an unmarked vehicle. Ruhweza told CPJ they were forced to delete their footage and photos.

●      Hasifah Nanvuma, a reporter with NMG’s Spark TV, told CPJ that several soldiers beat her on the back and arms while she was reporting from a polling station. At the time, she was wearing a “Press” vest.

●      Soldiers detained NMG’s photojournalist Abubaker Lubowa, camera operator Denis Kabugo, and reporter Raymond Tamale, in an unmarked vehicle for four hours. Lubowa told CPJ that they were blindfolded and beaten on their heads, arms, legs, and ribs. Lubowa told CPJ that the soldiers took their phones and watches and destroyed their cameras.

●      Privately owned NBS TV said security personnel assaulted and intimidated its photojournalist Francis Isano, camera operator Hassan Wasswa, and reporter Hakim Wampamba. Isano had to be carried into a hospital where he was admitted for several days.

●      Unknown assailants struck state-owned Uganda Broadcasting Corporation’s camera operator Jahiem Jamil Ssekajja with electrical wires while he was filming at a polling station. Ssekajja told CPJ he sustained welts on his body and developed a fever.

Acting military spokesperson Chris Magezi said in a statement that the armed forces were investigating reports of assaults and confiscation of journalists’ equipment.

In a March 27 statement to CPJ sent via messaging app, Magezi said a committee had been set up to investigate and make recommendations on “ways to harmonize and collaborate with media players better.”

Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson Patrick Onyango referred CPJ to national police spokesperson Rusoke Kituuma to request comment but he did not immediately answer CPJ’s calls.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Mass demonstrations are continuing in Turkey, where Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu has been arrested on corruption charges. Since protests broke out last week, Turkish authorities have detained more than 1,400 people, including students and journalists. İmamoğlu is the main rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the 2028 presidential election and was recently nominated for president by the Republican People’s Party. Erdoğan has led the country since 2003, but his popularity has dropped in recent years amid increasingly authoritarian policies cracking down on dissent. “Everyone knows that this is politically motivated and that Erdoğan is scared that he’s not going to win against Ekrem İmamoğlu,” says Turkish political scientist Ezgi Başaran.

This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.

Ataullah Abu Jununi, leader of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, or ARSA, was arrested on Tuesday at an apartment near Dhaka where he had been staying for four months.

The Rapid Action Battalion, an elite security force, said it took him into custody on suspicion of terrorism and illegal entry. Nine suspected accomplices were also arrested that day from northern Mymensingh district, RAB said.

Mohammad Shahinur Alom, the officer-in-charge of Siddhirganj police station, said Ataullah and his accomplices were being interrogated for 10 days under a court order.

“He is behaving in a very modest way. He has yet to give any significant information. Let us see what happens in the next several days,” Shahinur Alom told RFA affiliate BenarNews on Friday.

Ataullah’s arrest occurred the same day that Southeast Asian NGO Fortify Rights released a 76-page report alleging that ARSA and another group had committed potential war crimes through killing, abducting and torturing Rohingya who were sheltering at refugee camps in southeastern Bangladesh.

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The report also alleges that ARSA under Ataullah’s leadership carried out coordinated attacks on government security outposts in Myanmar in August 2017, prompting the Myanmar military and Buddhist vigilante groups to launch a brutal offensive against the entire Rohingya population in Rakhine state.

The crackdown forced about 740,000 to flee to the Bangladesh camps, which are home to about 1 million refugees.

“As the commander-in-chief of ARSA, Ataullah is responsible for ordering and overseeing egregious violations of international law, including targeted killings, abductions, and the torture of Rohingya civilians,” Fortify Rights CEO Matthew Smith said in a news release on Thursday, after Ataullah was arrested.

“This is a critical moment. Bangladesh has taken the important step of arresting Ataullah and others, and we encourage the ICC prosecutor to seek an arrest warrant for Ataullah to prosecute him in The Hague,” Smith said, referring to the International Criminal Court.

(ARSA)

Who is Ataullah?

Born in a refugee camp in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi in 1977, Attaulah and his parents moved to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, where he was enrolled in an Islamic religious school, according to the International Crisis Group (ICG).

As a young boy, he worked at a mosque in Saudi Arabia and attended the Rohingya community meetings where his speeches impressed Saudis, who backed his efforts to gain rights for Rohingya Muslims.

ICG said Ataullah became leader of ARSA in 2016. In 2017, he posted a video vowing to fight for the rights of the persecuted Rohingya in Rakhine, Myanmar.

In the Aug. 28 video statement, Ataullah stated that ARSA was established in response to Burmese government and paramilitary abuses against the stateless Rohingya community.

“Our primary objective under ARSA is to liberate our people from dehumanized oppression perpetrated by all successive Burmese regimes,” he said.

What is ARSA?

ARSA, a Rohingya insurgent group formerly known as Al-Yaaqin, gained international notoriety after it launched coordinated attacks on government security outposts in Rakhine state in August 2017, leading to the bloody crackdown against the Rohingya people.

In September 2021, popular Rohingya leader Muhib Ullah, who had visited the White House in Washington as part of his advocacy for Rohingya to be repatriated to Myanmar, was assassinated at his office in a refugee camp.

After years of denying an ARSA presence in the camps, Bangladesh authorities in June 2022 said Ataullah had ordered ARSA members to kill Muhib.

In 2023, ARSA joined forces with the Myanmar government, according to the ICG.

“Despite the Myanmar military junta being responsible for genocide and crimes against humanity against Rohingya, ARSA and the junta have joined forces to fight the Arakan Army, one of Myanmar’s most powerful ethnic armed organizations based in Rakhine state,” the ICG said.

How are Rohingya reacting?

After hearing the news of the ARSA leader’s arrest, refugee camp resident Mohmmad Amin said he had paid a 300,000 taka (U.S. $2,467) ransom to be released after members of the Rohingya militant group abducted him.

“Ataullah sold the Rohingya people for his personal gain. We are happy for his arrest. We hope Bangladesh will give him tough punishment,” Amin told BenarNews, adding, “Ataullah was involved in the murder of Muhib Ullah.”

In the same camp, a group of Rohingya circulated a video asking Bangladesh’s interim government to release Ataullah, terming him a leader fighting for the rights of the Rohingya.

(Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters)

Meanwhile, Imtiaz Ahmed, a professor of international relations at Dhaka University, questioned the report that Ataullah lived in an apartment near Bangladesh’s capital for months without being arrested, saying it was not believable. Still, the arrest is a significant development in relations with Myanmar, he said.

“Ataullah Jununi’s arrest is a significant signal from Bangladesh to the Arakan Army and the central government that ARSA is under control,” Ahmed told BenarNews.

Across the Bangladesh-Myanmar border in Rakhine state, the anti-junta Arakan Army rebels have made significant gains in battles with junta troops to gain control of the region.

“The U.N. secretary-general has stressed that Bangladesh should talk to the Arakan Army. Ataullah’s arrest could create a congenital atmosphere for probable repatriation of the Rohingya refugees, provided that Arakan Army and the central government agree,” he said.

Abdur Rahman in Teknaf, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, contributed to this report.

BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news organization.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Kamran Reza Chowdhury for BenarNews.

“We urge Jordanian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release journalist Omar Al Zayood, which would send a clear signal that authorities respect the freedom of the press and stop criminalizing journalists,” said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna, in New York. “We reiterate our call for the repeal of the 2023 cybercrimes law, which has further stifled the independence of the media in Jordan.”

The public prosecutor in the capital Amman ordered Zayood’s arrest after questioning him on the charge of “inaccuracy and insulting the dignity of individuals.” Penalties under the law include prison sentences of three months to three years, and fines of 5,000 to 20,000 Jordanian dinars (US$7,000 to 28,000).

CPJ was unable to confirm which Al Hashmiyah News report the lawsuit referred to or for how long Zayood was ordered detained.

Al-Khasawneh served as prime minister from 2000 until September 2024, when he resigned following parliamentary elections. King Abdullah II appointed Jjafar Hassan to replace him.

CPJ has criticized the Cybercrime Law, which criminalizes vaguely defined online activities, including social media posts deemed to be “fake” or that undermine national unity. Since its introduction, numerous journalists have been arrested and prosecuted for their critical online commentary on sensitive topics.

At least two journalists were imprisoned in Jordan at the time of CPJ’s latest annual prison census on December 1, 2024. Both have since been freed.

CPJ’s email to Al Hashmiyah News requesting comment did not receive a reply. CPJ was unable to find contacts for Amman’s public prosecutor or Al-Khasawneh.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Turkish authorities detained Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on Wednesday, accusing him of corruption and connections to terrorist organizations. The arrest comes just before the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) was set to nominate him to challenge President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the 2028 election.

Imamoglu, a leading figure in the CHP, gained prominence after winning the Istanbul mayoral election in 2019, ending over two decades of control by Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the city of 19 million. Recent opinion polls have indicated that Imamoglu could defeat Erdogan in a presidential vote.

On Wednesday morning, as authorities arrived to detain him, Imamoglu shared a video on X declaring, “We are facing great tyranny, but I want you to know that I will not be discouraged.”

CHP leader Ozgur Ozel condemned the arrest, describing it as “a coup against our next president.” Despite the detention, CHP plans to proceed with its scheduled primary on March 23.

The Turkish government has denied opposition allegations of political interference, asserting that the judiciary operates independently.

The arrest has sparked protests across Istanbul. Authorities have responded by banning demonstrations in the city for four days and reportedly restricting access to social media platforms.

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office stated that approximately 100 people, including journalists and businessmen, had been taken into custody on suspicion of criminal activities related to municipal tenders. They also said a separate investigation had resulted in charges against Imamoglu and six others, accused of aiding the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is designated a terrorist organization in the country.

The arrest followed the revocation of Imamoglu’s degree by Istanbul University, citing “nullity” and “clear error” in his 1990 transfer from a private institution in northern Cyprus. Imamoglu has said he will challenge the move in court. If upheld, the cancelation effectively disqualifies him from running for president, as Turkish law mandates that candidates hold a valid university degree.

In a show of solidarity, Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavas announced on Tuesday that he is suspending consideration of his own run. Yavas stated, “I am announcing to the public that I am suspending my decision to evaluate my presidential candidacy… until this unlawfulness is eliminated.”

Following the arrest, the country’s financial markets experienced significant turmoil. The Turkish lira depreciated by up to 14.5% against the US dollar, while the BIST 100 equity index dropped 5.9%.

The next Turkish presidential election is scheduled for 2028. Erdogan has reached his two-term limit and is ineligible to run again unless the constitution is amended or an early election is held.  In the 2019 municipal elections, Erdogan’s AKP party suffered significant losses, with the CHP winning major cities, including Istanbul and Ankara.

Erdogan himself began his political career as mayor of Istanbul. He also spent time in jail in 1999 for reciting a poem that a court ruled incited religious hatred.

This content originally appeared on Dissident Voice and was authored by RT.

“Mohamed Abukar Dabashe’s death is devastating. Unfortunately, he joins a long list of Somali journalists killed in Al-Shabaab attacks with impunity,” said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Muthoki Mumo. “Somali authorities should investigate the killing of Mohamed Abukar Dabashe and desist from further intimidation and censorship of journalists who are already operating under difficult circumstances.”

Mohamed Abukar’s body was found in a collapsed building, where he is reported to have lived, near the attack site. He worked with Risaala Media Corporation until 2023, and had recently been publishing his journalism on Facebook and the YouTube news channel Sirta Waraka, Risaala’s director Mohamed Abduwahab Abdullahi told CPJ.

Armed police raided Risaala’s offices about 20 minutes after it broadcast footage of the explosion site, ordered its radio and television channels off air, and arrested reporters Ali Abdullahi Ibrahim and Hamda Hassan Ahmed; camera operators Mohamed Said Nur and Abdullahi Sharif Ali; and technician Liban Abdullahi Hassan, according to Mohamed Abduwahab, who is also secretary general of the Somali Media Association, and a statement by the Somali Journalists Syndicate rights group.

The journalists were detained for about two hours at a police station, where they were warned not to broadcast such content, and released without charge. Risaala had resumed operations by the evening. 

Police also briefly detained at least 17 other journalists at the attack site and questioned them at a local station about their coverage, three journalists familiar with the incident, who are not being named due to safety concerns, told CPJ.

Police spokesperson Abdifatah Adan Hassan told CPJ by phone that police were trying to verify the identities of journalists at the site but did not make any arrests and that Risaala staff were asked to leave their office for safety.

CPJ’s calls to request comment from information minister Daud Aweis were not answered.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

A West Papuan liberation advocacy group has condemned the arrest of 12 activists by Indonesian police and demanded their immediate release.

The West Papuan activists from the West Papua People’s Liberation Movement (GR-PWP) were arrested for handing out pamphlets supporting the new “Boycott Indonesia” campaign.

The GR-PWP activists were arrested in Sentani and taken to Jayapura police station yesterday.

• READ MORE: Other West Papua reports

In a statement by the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), interim president Benny Wenda, said the activists were still “in the custody of the brutal Indonesian police”.

The arrested activists were named as:

Ones M. Kobak, GR-PWP leader, Sentani District
Elinatan Basini, deputy secretary, GR-PWP Central
Dasalves Suhun, GR-PWP member
Matikel Mirin, GR-PWP member
Apikus Lepitalen, GR-PWP member
Mane Kogoya, GR-PWP member
Obet Dogopia, GR-PWP member
Eloy Weya, GR-PWP member
Herry Mimin, GR-PWP member
Sem. R Kulka, GR-PWP member
Maikel Tabo, GR-PWP member
Koti Moses Uropmabin, GR-PWP member

“I demand that the Head of Police release the Sentani 12 from custody immediately,” Wenda said.

“This was an entirely peaceful action mobilising support for a peaceful campaign.

“The boycott campaign has won support from more than 90 tribes, political organisations, religious and customary groups — people from every part of West Papua are demanding a boycott of products complicit in the genocidal Indonesian occupation.”

Wenda said the arrest demonstrated the importance of the Boycott for West Papua campaign.

We express deep concern over the recent arrests of individuals in Sentani, West Papua for
distributing pamphlets advocating a boycott of Indonesian products from West Papua and
raising awareness of ongoing political issues in the region. The detention of these individuals
likely… pic.twitter.com/4e4hJ7FxUJ

— Benny Wenda (@BennyWenda) March 18, 2025

“By refusing to buy these blood-stained products, ordinary people across the world can take a stand against this kind of repression,” he said.

“I invite everyone to hear the West Papuan cry and join our boycott campaign. No profit from stolen land.”

Source: ULMWP

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

Reddy, who is a member of the Congress party, made the comments on March 15, while condemning two Pulse News journalists who were arrested on March 12 for an interview with a citizen who criticized the chief minister. Police described the social media-based outlet’s interview as “abusive” and said it could incite social divisions and unrest.

On March 17, reporter Thanvi Yadav and managing director Revathi Pogadadanda were granted bail after being held for five days, their lawyer Jakkula Laxman told CPJ. The journalists, expected to be released on Tuesday, could face jail if found guilty on charges of criminal conspiracy, publishing a statement with intent to promote hatred, and intentional insult likely to break the peace under India’s criminal law Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and publishing obscene material under the Information Technology Act.

“The bail for the two Pulse News journalists is a relief, but the criminal case against them is completely unreasonable, as are Chief Minister Anumula Revanth Reddy’s obscene threats to use violence against his critics and to muzzle the press,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi. “The Congress party’s national leadership must take a clear stand against such attacks in order to defend the press freedom that it vows to respect.”

Reddy told the state assembly that it was time “to define who is a journalist” by getting media organizations to submit a list of names to the government. Those not on the list would be “treated as criminals,” he said.

On March 12, Hyderabad Police posted mugshot photographs of Yadav and Pogadadanda on the social media platform X, treatment usually reserved for hardened criminals, as well as detailing the charges they faced, one of which was struck down by the court.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Over 300 protesters with the group Jewish Voice for Peace flooded the lobby of Trump Tower in New York on Thursday wearing red shirts saying “Not in Our Name.” They demanded the immediate release of Mahmoud Khalil and held banners reading “opposing fascism is a Jewish tradition.” About 100 protesters were arrested and face charges of trespassing, obstruction and resisting arrest. Democracy Now! was at the protest. “I refuse to allow this administration to speak in my name, to use our names as Jews, to carry out a fascist agenda,” protester Josh Dubnau said. “The Trump administration is a government that has far-right white supremacists, people that do the Nazi salute, and [Trump’s] fine with that.”

This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.

Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is being flown to The Hague to face charges of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court over his brutal “war on drugs,” during which police extrajudicially killed thousands of people, including many children. The ICC has been investigating Duterte since 2018. Duterte, now 79, served as president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He once compared himself to Hitler, saying he would be “happy to slaughter” 3 million drug addicts, and last year admitted under oath that he oversaw a “death squad” of gangsters while he served as mayor of the southern city of Davao. “It is really a monumental step in the dispensation of justice,” says Filipino scholar and activist Walden Bello, who previously served in the House of Representatives of the Philippines. He notes that despite the Duterte family’s protestations, the former president’s arrest is the result of a meticulous legal process that offers him a fair trial. “Due process is something that he never gave his victims,” says Bello.

This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.

Paolo* was just 15 years old when he witnessed the Philippine National Police (PNP) mercilessly kill his father in 2016.

Nearly nine years later, the scales are shifting as Rodrigo Duterte, the man who unleashed death upon his family and thousands of others, now faces the weight of justice before the International Criminal Court (ICC).

“Finally, naaresto din, [pero] dapat isama si [Senator Ronald dela Rosa], dapat silang panagutin sa dami ng pamilyang inulila nila. (Finally, he’s arrested but Dela Rosa should’ve been with him, they should be held accountable for how many families they left in mourning),” he said.

• READ MORE: Special Rappler coverage: The arrest of Rodrigo Duterte
• PHOTOESSAY: Buried in debt only to have their loved ones get a burial — Pacific Journalism Review
• Other Rodrigo Duterte reports

Paolo, then a minor, was also accosted and tortured by Caloocan police — from the same city police who would kill 17-year-old Kian delos Santos less than a year later.

He was threatened not to do anything else or else end up like his father. Paolo carried the threats and the fear over the years, even as he hoped for justice.

This hanging on for hope in the face of devastation was not for nothing.

Duterte was arrested today by Philippine authorities following the issue of a warrant by the ICC in relation to crimes against humanity committed during his violent war on drugs.

The ICC has been investigating the killings under Duterte’s flagship campaign, which led to at least 6252 deaths in police operations alone by May 2022. The number reached between 27,000 to 30,000, including those killed vigilante-style.

The Presidential Communications Office said that the government received from the Interpol an official copy of a warrant of arrest.

Duterte was presented by the Philippine government’s Prosecutor-General with the ICC notification of an arrest over crimes against humanity upon his arrival from Hong Kong on this morning.

Slow but sure step to justice
Paolo is not the only one rejoicing over Duterte’s arrest. Many families, including those from drug war hot spot Caloocan City, see this as the long-awaited step toward the justice they have been denied for years.

When the news broke, Ana* was overcome with joy and thanked God for giving families the strength and unwavering faith to keep fighting for justice. She knew the weight of loss all too well.

In 2017, police stormed into their home in Caloocan City and brutally killed her husband and father-in-law in a single night.

Ana, who was five months pregnant at that time, was caught in the violence and was hit by a stray bullet. She and other victims have since been supported by the In Defence of Human Rights and Dignity Movement.

“Sa wakas, unti-unti nang nakakamit ang hustisya para sa lahat ng biktima (At last, justice is slowly being achieved for all the victims),” she recalled thinking when she read that Duterte had been arrested.

But Ana is wishing for more than just imprisonment for Duterte, even as she welcomed the long-awaited accountability from the former president and his allies.

“Sana din ay aminin niya lahat ng kamalian at humingi siya ng kapatawaran sa lahat ng tao na biktima para matahimik din ang mga kaluluwa ng mga namatay (I hope he also admits to all his wrongdoings and asks for forgiveness from every victim, so that the souls of those who were killed may finally find peace),” she said.

Brutality they endured
For the families, the ICC’s move and the government’s action are an acknowledgment of the brutality they endured. The latest development is also a validation of their grief and provides a glimmer of hope that accountability is finally within reach. After years of being silenced and dismissed, they see this moment as the start of a reckoning they feared would never come.

Celina, whose husband was shot dead in a drug war operation, feels overwhelming joy but is wary that the arrest is just part of a long process at the ICC.

“Ang sabi nga po, mahaba-habang laban ito kaya hindi po sa pag-aresto natatapos ito, bagkus ito ay simula pa lamang ng aming mga laban [at] naniniwala kami at aasa sa kakayahan at suporta na ibinibigay sa amin ng ICC [na] sa huli, mananagot ang dapat managot, maparusahan ang may mga sala,” she said.

(As they say, this is a long battle, so it does not end with the arrest. Rather, this is only the beginning of our fight. We believe in and will rely on the ICC’s capability and support, knowing that in the end, those who must be held accountable will face justice, and the guilty will be punished.)

It is a stark contrast to the reality they have lived following the deaths of their loved ones. They were constantly under threat from the police who pulled the trigger. Many families had to flee to faraway places, leaving behind their own communities and source of livelihood.

“Nakakaiyak ako, hindi ko alam ang dapat kong maramdaman na sa ilang taon naming ipinaglalaban ay nakamit din namin ang hustisyang aming minimithi (I’m in tears — I don’t know what to feel. After years of fighting, we have finally achieved the justice we have long been yearning for),“ said Betty, whose 44-year-old son and 22-year-old grandson were killed under Duterte’s drug war.

For Jane Lee, the arrest only underscores the glaring disparity between the powerful and the powerless.

“Mabuti pa siya, inaresto ng mga kapulisan. Ang aming mga kaanak, pinatay agad,” she said. “Napakalaki ng pagkakaiba sa pagitan ng makapangyarihan at ordinaryong taong tulad namin.”

(At least he was arrested by the police. Our loved ones were killed on the spot. The difference between the powerful and ordinary people like us is enormous.)

Lee’s husband, Michael, was gunned down by unidentified men in May 2017, leaving her to raise their three children alone. Since then, she has volunteered for Rise Up for Life and for Rights, a group composed mostly of widows and mothers who remain steadfast in demanding justice for drug war victims.

Collective rage
Families from Rise Up in Cebu also voiced their collective rage against Duterte who ordered killings from the presidential pulpit for six years. They hope that Duterte will feel the same pain they felt when their loved ones were forcibly taken away from them.

This afternoon, Duterte condemned the alleged violation of due process following his arrest. His allies are also echoing this messaging, calling the arrest unlawful.

His longtime aide, Senator Bong Go, Go, tried to access Duterte in Villamor Air Base, asking the guards to let him deliver pizza since they hadn’t eaten yet.

“Katiting lang iyan sa ginawa mo sa amin na sinira mo ang aming buhay at hanapbuhay dahil sa iyong pekeng war on drugs,” the families of drug war victims in Cebu said. “Wala kang karapatan na kumuha ng buhay ng iba [kasi] Diyos lang may karapatan kaya sa ginawa mo, maniningil ang taumbayan lalo na kaming mga pamilya ng mga naging biktima.”

(That is nothing compared to what you did to us. You destroyed our lives and livelihood because of your fake war on drugs. You have no right to take another person’s life; only God has that right. Because of what you have done, the people will demand justice, especially we, the families of the victims.)

There is still no clear information on what comes next, whether Duterte will be immediately transferred to the International Criminal Court headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands, or if legal battles will delay the process.

But Mila*, whose 17-year-old nephew was killed by police in Quezon City in 2018, hopes for one thing if the former president finds himself in a detention cell soon: “Sana huwag na siya lumaya (I hope he is never set free).” 

Republished from Rappler with permission.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

Paolo* was just 15 years old when he witnessed the Philippine National Police (PNP) mercilessly kill his father in 2016.

Nearly nine years later, the scales are shifting as Rodrigo Duterte, the man who unleashed death upon his family and thousands of others, now faces the weight of justice before the International Criminal Court (ICC).

“Finally, naaresto din, [pero] dapat isama si [Senator Ronald dela Rosa], dapat silang panagutin sa dami ng pamilyang inulila nila. (Finally, he’s arrested but Dela Rosa should’ve been with him, they should be held accountable for how many families they left in mourning),” he said.

• READ MORE: Special Rappler coverage: The arrest of Rodrigo Duterte
• PHOTOESSAY: Buried in debt only to have their loved ones get a burial — Pacific Journalism Review
• Other Rodrigo Duterte reports

Paolo, then a minor, was also accosted and tortured by Caloocan police — from the same city police who would kill 17-year-old Kian delos Santos less than a year later.

He was threatened not to do anything else or else end up like his father. Paolo carried the threats and the fear over the years, even as he hoped for justice.

This hanging on for hope in the face of devastation was not for nothing.

Duterte was arrested today by Philippine authorities following the issue of a warrant by the ICC in relation to crimes against humanity committed during his violent war on drugs.

The ICC has been investigating the killings under Duterte’s flagship campaign, which led to at least 6252 deaths in police operations alone by May 2022. The number reached between 27,000 to 30,000, including those killed vigilante-style.

The Presidential Communications Office said that the government received from the Interpol an official copy of a warrant of arrest.

Duterte was presented by the Philippine government’s Prosecutor-General with the ICC notification of an arrest over crimes against humanity upon his arrival from Hong Kong on this morning.

Slow but sure step to justice
Paolo is not the only one rejoicing over Duterte’s arrest. Many families, including those from drug war hot spot Caloocan City, see this as the long-awaited step toward the justice they have been denied for years.

When the news broke, Ana* was overcome with joy and thanked God for giving families the strength and unwavering faith to keep fighting for justice. She knew the weight of loss all too well.

In 2017, police stormed into their home in Caloocan City and brutally killed her husband and father-in-law in a single night.

Ana, who was five months pregnant at that time, was caught in the violence and was hit by a stray bullet. She and other victims have since been supported by the In Defence of Human Rights and Dignity Movement.

“Sa wakas, unti-unti nang nakakamit ang hustisya para sa lahat ng biktima (At last, justice is slowly being achieved for all the victims),” she recalled thinking when she read that Duterte had been arrested.

But Ana is wishing for more than just imprisonment for Duterte, even as she welcomed the long-awaited accountability from the former president and his allies.

“Sana din ay aminin niya lahat ng kamalian at humingi siya ng kapatawaran sa lahat ng tao na biktima para matahimik din ang mga kaluluwa ng mga namatay (I hope he also admits to all his wrongdoings and asks for forgiveness from every victim, so that the souls of those who were killed may finally find peace),” she said.

Brutality they endured
For the families, the ICC’s move and the government’s action are an acknowledgment of the brutality they endured. The latest development is also a validation of their grief and provides a glimmer of hope that accountability is finally within reach. After years of being silenced and dismissed, they see this moment as the start of a reckoning they feared would never come.

Celina, whose husband was shot dead in a drug war operation, feels overwhelming joy but is wary that the arrest is just part of a long process at the ICC.

“Ang sabi nga po, mahaba-habang laban ito kaya hindi po sa pag-aresto natatapos ito, bagkus ito ay simula pa lamang ng aming mga laban [at] naniniwala kami at aasa sa kakayahan at suporta na ibinibigay sa amin ng ICC [na] sa huli, mananagot ang dapat managot, maparusahan ang may mga sala,” she said.

(As they say, this is a long battle, so it does not end with the arrest. Rather, this is only the beginning of our fight. We believe in and will rely on the ICC’s capability and support, knowing that in the end, those who must be held accountable will face justice, and the guilty will be punished.)

It is a stark contrast to the reality they have lived following the deaths of their loved ones. They were constantly under threat from the police who pulled the trigger. Many families had to flee to faraway places, leaving behind their own communities and source of livelihood.

“Nakakaiyak ako, hindi ko alam ang dapat kong maramdaman na sa ilang taon naming ipinaglalaban ay nakamit din namin ang hustisyang aming minimithi (I’m in tears — I don’t know what to feel. After years of fighting, we have finally achieved the justice we have long been yearning for),“ said Betty, whose 44-year-old son and 22-year-old grandson were killed under Duterte’s drug war.

For Jane Lee, the arrest only underscores the glaring disparity between the powerful and the powerless.

“Mabuti pa siya, inaresto ng mga kapulisan. Ang aming mga kaanak, pinatay agad,” she said. “Napakalaki ng pagkakaiba sa pagitan ng makapangyarihan at ordinaryong taong tulad namin.”

(At least he was arrested by the police. Our loved ones were killed on the spot. The difference between the powerful and ordinary people like us is enormous.)

Lee’s husband, Michael, was gunned down by unidentified men in May 2017, leaving her to raise their three children alone. Since then, she has volunteered for Rise Up for Life and for Rights, a group composed mostly of widows and mothers who remain steadfast in demanding justice for drug war victims.

Collective rage
Families from Rise Up in Cebu also voiced their collective rage against Duterte who ordered killings from the presidential pulpit for six years. They hope that Duterte will feel the same pain they felt when their loved ones were forcibly taken away from them.

This afternoon, Duterte condemned the alleged violation of due process following his arrest. His allies are also echoing this messaging, calling the arrest unlawful.

His longtime aide, Senator Bong Go, Go, tried to access Duterte in Villamor Air Base, asking the guards to let him deliver pizza since they hadn’t eaten yet.

“Katiting lang iyan sa ginawa mo sa amin na sinira mo ang aming buhay at hanapbuhay dahil sa iyong pekeng war on drugs,” the families of drug war victims in Cebu said. “Wala kang karapatan na kumuha ng buhay ng iba [kasi] Diyos lang may karapatan kaya sa ginawa mo, maniningil ang taumbayan lalo na kaming mga pamilya ng mga naging biktima.”

(That is nothing compared to what you did to us. You destroyed our lives and livelihood because of your fake war on drugs. You have no right to take another person’s life; only God has that right. Because of what you have done, the people will demand justice, especially we, the families of the victims.)

There is still no clear information on what comes next, whether Duterte will be immediately transferred to the International Criminal Court headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands, or if legal battles will delay the process.

But Mila*, whose 17-year-old nephew was killed by police in Quezon City in 2018, hopes for one thing if the former president finds himself in a detention cell soon: “Sana huwag na siya lumaya (I hope he is never set free).” 

Republished from Rappler with permission.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

Duterte, 79, arrived with his entourage aboard a Cathay Pacific flight and was served the warrant. He went voluntarily with the police, accompanied by his aides.

“Upon his arrival, the prosecutor general served the ICC notification for an arrest warrant against the former president for crimes against humanity,” the presidential palace said in a statement. “He is currently in the custody of Philippine authorities,” the palace said, adding that the officers who arrested Duterte were wearing body cameras.

A government doctor examined Duterte, who was seen walking with a cane, and said the former president was in good health.

He faces the charge of “the crime against humanity of murder” at the Netherlands-based International Criminal Court, or ICC, for a crackdown on addicts and dealers that he launched after becoming president in 2016 in which thousands of people were killed.

Duterte appeared before the Senate and the House of Representatives in October and November, respectively, where he defended his administration’s war on drugs that he said was meant to protect the youth.

Duterte has never denied his heavy-handed approach to crime but he did deny ordering police to kill suspects. He insisted that his approach was necessary to rid the Southeast Asian country of crime.

Police said more than 6,000 drug dealers and users were killed in shoot-outs as they resisted arrest. Rights groups more than 10,000 people were killed and that many of them were summarily executed.

At the House hearing, he dared the ICC to once and for all subject him to an investigation.

“I am asking the ICC to hurry up and if possible, if they can come here and start the investigation tomorrow,” Duterte said. “This issue has been left hanging for so many years. I might die even before they investigate me. That’s why I am asking the ICC, through you, to come here.”

On Tuesday, the former president tried to reason with arresting officers, asking them “What is the law and what is the crime that I committed?”

“I was apparently brought here not of my own volition, and somebody else’s. You have to answer now for that deprivation of liberty,” he said, according to a clip by GMA News television that showed him sitting down at the airport lounge and talking to the arresting officers.

The Philippines under Duterte withdrew from the ICC in 2019.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had earlier blocked tjhe ICC in the Philippines, but subsequently changed his mind after Duterte’s statement. Marcos insisted that the country’s justice system was working perfectly well.

Duterte’s lawyer, Salvador Panelo, charged that the police did not allow him to meet with his client. “It’s unlawful arrest,” he stressed. “He was deprived of legal representation at the time of his arrest.”

Panelo reiterated that because the Philippines had withdrawn from the ICC, the country was no longer under its jurisdiction.

Former justice secretary Leila de Lima, whom Duterte’s government jailed on false drug-related charges, welcomed the arrest of the former president at long last.

“The arrest of Rodrigo Duterte is the beginning of a much-need reckoning,” de Lima told Radio Free Asia affiliate BenarNews, minutes after Duterte was arrested. “This arrest should not only signal the end of impunity but ignite a larger movement for justice, transparency and the restoration of human rights.”

De Lima, who survived a hostage taking incident while in detention, stressed that the arrest “really had to happen.”

“The victims, the families of the thousands killed under Mr. Duterte’s war on drugs have been crying out for justice and they really looked at the ICC as their best hope because they feel, rightly so, that they could not really get a speedy justice from the local or domestic authorities,” she stressed.

She said the ICC had been quietly doing its job, and that Duterte’s arrest was expected by the rights community. “That is one of the most significant developments in current times,” she said, of the ICC arrest warrant.

The arrest, De Lima said, would “have a lot of impact on the political climate in this country.” She said that Marcos’ hands were tied by the political alliance he had made with the Duterte family at first. “

“But when the unity broke up, we could see the gradual softening of this administration’s position,” she stressed. “So politically, this is an ace on the part of Mr. Marcos (because) the issuance of the warrant of arrest was the best way of getting rid of Mr. Duterte (since) there have been reports of destabilization efforts attributed to forces within the (police) and the military still loyal to the former president.”

Bryony Lau, deputy director for the Human Rights Watch in Asia, said the arrest was a “critical step” towards accountability in the Southeast Asian nation.

“His arrest could bring victims and their families closer to justice and send the clear message that no one is above the law,” Lau said in a statement. “The Marcos government should swiftly surrender him to the ICC.”

Mark Navales and Jeoffrey Maitem contributed reporting from Davao City, and Gerard Carreon from Manila.

BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news organization.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Jason Gutierrez for BenarNews.

The journalists were identified as Bashdar Bazyani, Dana Salih, Sardasht HamaSalih, and Nabaz Shekhani.

Security forces closed the outlet’s office in Sulaymaniyah on March 1, saying it lacked a license, confiscated several computers, and ordered staff not to return to work, according to two sources who spoke to CPJ on condition of anonymity, citing fear of retaliation.

Three sources told CPJ that authorities released three of the journalists on bail on Sunday, March 2. Bazyani remained in custody as of Monday. 

“Authorities’ arrest of four journalists and the forced closure of Media21’s office is a direct attack on press freedom in Iraqi Kurdistan,” said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna in New York. “Authorities must immediately release journalist Bashdar Bazyani, drop charges against all four journalists, and allow the outlet to resume operations.” 

Two sources told CPJ that the arrests and shutdown are linked to a Media21 interview with the sister of a Kurdistan Regional Government official regarding a family dispute. The official filed a lawsuit after Bazyani messaged him about the interview ahead of publication.

Karwan Anwar, head of the Sulaymaniyah branch of the Kurdistan Journalists Syndicate, told CPJ that the journalists were charged with defamation under Article 433 of the penal code, which provides for an unspecified prison term and/or a fine. “Harsher penalties” can be imposed on media outlets. 

Media21, which launched on February 21, 2025, condemned the “unjust and illegal” arrests. “These individuals are key members of our investigative team and were arrested while carrying out their journalistic duties,” the statement said.

CPJ’s messages to the Kurdistan Regional Government official did not receive a reply. CPJ’s calls to Salam Abdulkhaliq, spokesperson for the Kurdistan Region Security Agency, were unanswered.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

An Istanbul court arrested Toktas on January 26 after pro-opposition Halk TV broadcast a conversation between its journalist Barış Pehlivan and an expert financial witness. The court said Halk TV had secretly recorded the two men’s telephone conversation and it had publicly named the witness to put pressure on him. Four other Halk TV staff were placed under judicial control and banned from foreign travel.

“Suat Toktaş and his four Halk TV colleagues must not be jailed for airing an interview that the government disagreed with. The public deserve to hear all sides of this story, which is of national importance and involves a top Turkish politician,” said Özgür Öğret, CPJ’s Turkey representative. “Authorities should immediately halt their prosecution of Halk TV and instead take a positive step towards improving Turkey’s dismal press freedom record.”

Pehlivan’s interview took place after Istanbul’s opposition Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu hosted a news conference where he named the witness, who he alleged had filed biased reports in numerous politically motivated lawsuits against opposition-controlled municipalities. The witness told Pehlivan that the mayor’s allegations were false.

The interview was aired on a program hosted by Seda Selek, with Serhan Asker as director and Kürşad Oğuz as program coordinator.

All five journalists were charged with violating the privacy of communication through the press and influencing those performing judicial duties, a crime for which the prosecution has requested up to nine years in prison. Pehlivan and Oğuz face an additional charge of recording non-public conversations between individuals and could be jailed for up to 14 years, according to the indictment, reviewed by CPJ.

CPJ’s email to Istanbul’s chief prosecutor requesting comment did not receive a response.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“Corruption and human trafficking are crimes in Malaysia; reporting on these offences is not,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi. “Malaysian authorities must ensure B. Nantha Kumar can continue to report safely and that the law is not misused to curtail investigative reporting or to intimidate the media. Journalists must be free to uncover wrongdoing.”

Nantha who has worked for the leading independent news site Malaysiakini since 2018, was detained by anti-corruption authorities on February 28 on allegations that he took a bribe from an agent who dealt with migrant workers.

Nantha reports regularly on migrant trafficking in Malaysia, where the mistreatment of migrant workers has been widely criticized. His latest investigation, which alleged that a retired senior official and a foreign national run a criminal operation out of Kuala Lumpur International Airport, was published on February 22.

Malaysiakini managing editor Ng Ling Fong told CPJ that the outlet stood by Nantha’s reporting, and that he was due to be released on bail on March 4 after a four-day remand. Malaysiakini said in a statement that it would not condone any staff wrongdoing, if proven.

Nantha was among three Malaysiakini journalists questioned by police last year over their source for a report about a police leadership reshuffle.

Malaysiakini has faced intimidation and lawsuits since it was founded in 1999. In November, authorities ordered the outlet to remove its reports about an alleged corruption scandal. In January, police seized its executive editor’s laptop after reporting an ex-minister’s remarks.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission did not immediately respond to CPJ’s request for comment via email.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Content warning: This story discusses rape and violence.

Police in Papua New Guinea have arrested nine more men in connection with the rape and murder of a Port Moresby woman.

The arrests, announced by Police Commissioner David Manning, follow a two-week investigation supported by forensic experts from the Australian Federal Police (AFP).

Margaret Gabriel, 32, was abducted from her home at Port Moresby’s Watermark Estate by more than 20 armed men. She was was later raped and murdered.

• READ MORE: Papua New Guinea: A Jiwaka woman’s journey to ending violence in her community
• Prime Minister Marape discusses women’s issues with UN Women
• Advocate calls for stronger laws to prevent sorcery related violence in PNG
• Other PNG gender-based violence reports

The attack sparked nationwide outrage, with calls for stronger protections for women and faster justice in gender-based violence cases.

Commissioner Manning confirmed the suspects were apprehended on February 27 and subjected to DNA and fingerprint testing.

“DNA evidence and fingerprints are conclusive forensic evidence and afford irrefutable evidence to ensure convictions in a court of law,” he said.

The nine men join three others already in custody, though police have not clarified their specific roles in the crime.

Forensic analysis
AFP forensic specialists from Canberra assisted PNG’s Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary (RPNGC) in analysing evidence.

Manning praised the collaboration, saying it underscored the integration of these advanced investigative techniques into PNG’s investigations is strengthening the cases put before the court.

Gender-based violence remains pervasive in PNG, with a 2023 UN report noting that more than two-thirds of women experience physical or sexual abuse in their lifetimes.

Limited forensic resources and slow judicial processes have historically hampered prosecutions.

Police increasingly rely on international partnerships, including a longstanding forensics programme with Australia, to address these gaps.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

Content warning: This story discusses rape and violence.

Police in Papua New Guinea have arrested nine more men in connection with the rape and murder of a Port Moresby woman.

The arrests, announced by Police Commissioner David Manning, follow a two-week investigation supported by forensic experts from the Australian Federal Police (AFP).

Margaret Gabriel, 32, was abducted from her home at Port Moresby’s Watermark Estate by more than 20 armed men. She was was later raped and murdered.

• READ MORE: Papua New Guinea: A Jiwaka woman’s journey to ending violence in her community
• Prime Minister Marape discusses women’s issues with UN Women
• Advocate calls for stronger laws to prevent sorcery related violence in PNG
• Other PNG gender-based violence reports

The attack sparked nationwide outrage, with calls for stronger protections for women and faster justice in gender-based violence cases.

Commissioner Manning confirmed the suspects were apprehended on February 27 and subjected to DNA and fingerprint testing.

“DNA evidence and fingerprints are conclusive forensic evidence and afford irrefutable evidence to ensure convictions in a court of law,” he said.

The nine men join three others already in custody, though police have not clarified their specific roles in the crime.

Forensic analysis
AFP forensic specialists from Canberra assisted PNG’s Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary (RPNGC) in analysing evidence.

Manning praised the collaboration, saying it underscored the integration of these advanced investigative techniques into PNG’s investigations is strengthening the cases put before the court.

Gender-based violence remains pervasive in PNG, with a 2023 UN report noting that more than two-thirds of women experience physical or sexual abuse in their lifetimes.

Limited forensic resources and slow judicial processes have historically hampered prosecutions.

Police increasingly rely on international partnerships, including a longstanding forensics programme with Australia, to address these gaps.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

Surrounded by supporters, Engler reaffirmed his commitment to freedom of expression and criticized the Montreal police’s collaboration with anti-Palestinian figures. He highlighted the absurdity of the new charges, which claim he harassed the police simply by writing about the accusations already brought against him.

This arrest follows a campaign led by anti-Palestinian media personality Dahlia Kurtz, who lobbied for Engler to be charged after he called out her pro-Israel rhetoric. Over 2,500 people have emailed the Montreal police, demanding they drop the charges.

Watch Engler’s final words before entering police custody.

This content originally appeared on Dissident Voice and was authored by Alex Tyrell.

Surrounded by supporters, Engler reaffirmed his commitment to freedom of expression and criticized the Montreal police’s collaboration with anti-Palestinian figures. He highlighted the absurdity of the new charges, which claim he harassed the police simply by writing about the accusations already brought against him.

This arrest follows a campaign led by anti-Palestinian media personality Dahlia Kurtz, who lobbied for Engler to be charged after he called out her pro-Israel rhetoric. Over 2,500 people have emailed the Montreal police, demanding they drop the charges.

Watch Engler’s final words before entering police custody.

This content originally appeared on Dissident Voice and was authored by Alex Tyrell.

Surrounded by supporters, Engler reaffirmed his commitment to freedom of expression and criticized the Montreal police’s collaboration with anti-Palestinian figures. He highlighted the absurdity of the new charges, which claim he harassed the police simply by writing about the accusations already brought against him.

This arrest follows a campaign led by anti-Palestinian media personality Dahlia Kurtz, who lobbied for Engler to be charged after he called out her pro-Israel rhetoric. Over 2,500 people have emailed the Montreal police, demanding they drop the charges.

Watch Engler’s final words before entering police custody.

This content originally appeared on Dissident Voice and was authored by Alex Tyrell.

On January 30, a judge charged Cello with spreading false news and undermining national security and placed him in pretrial detention in Madagascar’s capital Antananarivo’s Antanimora prison, one of Cello’s relatives told CPJ, on condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisals.

“Fernand Cello should never have been arrested based on a warrant issued in October 2023 for a social media post that he apologized for soon after publication,” said Moussa Ngom, CPJ’s Francophone Africa representative. “Rather than criminalizing journalists, Malagasy authorities should free Fernand Cello and drop all charges against him.”

Cello’s September 15, 2023, Facebook post inaccurately said that Rajoelina had left the country on a flight that included the High Constitutional Court president Florent Rakotoarisoa.

Days earlier, the court had dismissed opposition appeals to void Rajoelina’s candidacy on the grounds of his dual French-Malagasy nationality. Rajoelina won a third term in November 2023.

On September 16, 2023, Cello published a video “explaining and apologizing” for his mistake. In March 2024, he published another video apology and asked Rakotoarisoa to “end his persecution.”

Cello, who was arrested at home, had been in hiding since the warrant, the family member told CPJ. The journalist continued to work for the privately owned newspaper Basy Vava, a second relative said. He also posted daily news and comments on Facebook.

In 2017, Cello was detained for four months, before receiving a two-year suspended sentence for cheque theft, in a case that he said was in retribution for his work at the local station Radio Jupiter, which broadcast allegations of an electricity firm’s financial irregularities and illegal sapphire mining. He was acquitted on appeal in 2019.

CPJ’s calls to the communication and justice ministries to request comment were not answered.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

Ten members of a rebel group have been arrested in the stabbing death of a Catholic priest last week in the Myanmar’s northwestern Sagaing region, the country’s government-in-exile said.

Father Donald Martin Ye Naing Win, 44, is believed to be the first Catholic priest killed in the conflict that erupted four years ago when the military ousted the elected government in a February 2021 coup.

He was attacked on Feb. 14 in the compound of the Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Kan Gyi Taw village in Shwebo township, which is about 65 km (40 miles) north of Mandalay, the National Unity Government, or NUG, said in a statement Monday.

The 10 suspects were captured by the Shwebo branch of its armed People’s Defense Force and members of other local rebel groups on the day of the killing.

NUG was established by pro-democracy politicians after the 2021 coup and is Myanmar’s main opposition organization.

Because the suspects are members of local defense forces, the NUG’s shadow Defense Ministry is conducting a court-martial, it said Monday.

Christians make up about 6 percent of Myanmar’s population, while some 90 percent are Buddhists.

Suspected informer

NUG said it “strongly condemns any acts of targeting civilians, including religious leaders.”

The statement didn’t include a reason for the attack, but Myanmar Now reported that Ye Naing Win was suspected of being an informer for the military junta.

Sagaing, a heartland region populated largely by members of the majority Burman community, has been torn by violence since democracy activists set up the defense forces to battle the military after the 2021 coup.

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Cardinal Charles Bo, the head of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Myanmar, said he hoped Ye Naing Win’s death and “the blood and sacrifices” of other innocent people could serve as “an offering to ending the violence that is occurring throughout the nation.”

“Learning from these heartbreaking experiences that we have encountered, may the fraternal spirit be awakened, and we earnestly appeal for an end to the violence,” he said in a statement on Sunday.

“The wrongdoing committed against Father Donald Martin Ye Naing Win is not something that can be easily forgotten.”

Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Burmese.

“The aggressive treatment meted out to journalists by Erbil security forces while covering a peaceful protest is deeply concerning,” said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna, in New York. “We urge Iraqi Kurdistan authorities not to target journalists during protests, which has been a recurring issue.”

Kurdistan has been in a financial crisis since the federal government began cutting funding to the region after it started exporting oil independently in 2014. In 2024, the Federal Supreme Court ordered Baghdad to pay Kurdistan’s civil servants directly but ongoing disagreements between the two governments mean their salaries continue to be delayed and unpaid.

Since the end of Kurdistan’s civil war in 1998, the semi-autonomous region has been divided between the dominant Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in Erbil and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in Sulaymaniyah. While the KDP has discouraged the teachers’ protests, the PUK has sometimes supported them, including through affiliated media outlets.

At the February 9 protest, a crowd of teachers from Sulaymaniyah tried to reach Erbil, the capital, and were stopped at Degala checkpoint, where CPJ recorded the following attacks:

• Pro-opposition New Generation Movement NRT TV camera operator Ali Abdulhadi and reporter Shiraz Abdullah were stopped from filming by about seven armed security officers, known in Kurdish as Asayish, according to a video posted by the outlet.

“One of them chambered a round [into his gun]. I tried to leave but one of them attempted to strike me with the butt of a rifle, hitting only my finger. Another grabbed my camera and took it,” Abdulhadi told CPJ.

• Diplomatic’s reporter Zhilya Ali collapsed from teargas, a video posted by the privately owned digital outlet showed.

“There are still wounds on my face from when I fell,” she told CPJ, adding that she was taken to hospital and given oxygen.

• An ambulance took pro-PUK digital outlet Zhyan Media’s reporter Mardin Mohammed and camera operator Mohammed Mariwan to a hospital in Koya after they were teargassed.

“I couldn’t see anything and was struggling to breathe. My cameraman and I lost consciousness for three hours,” Mariwan told CPJ.

• Pro-PUK satellite channel Kurdsat News reporters Gaylan Sabir and Amir Mohammed and camera operators Sirwan Sadiq and Hemn Mohammed were teargassed and their equipment was confiscated, the outlet said.

• Privately owned Westga News said five staff — reporters Omer Ahmed, Shahin Fuad, and Amir Hassan, and camera operators Zanyar Mariwan and Ahmed Shakhawan — were attacked and teargassed. Ahmed told CPJ that a security officer grabbed a camera while they were broadcasting, while Fuad said another camera, microphone, and a livestreaming encoder were also taken and not returned.

• Pro-PUK Slemani News Network reporter Kochar Hamza was carried to safety by protesters after she collapsed due to tear gas, a video by the digital outlet showed. She told CPJ that she and her camera operator Sivar Baban were treated at hospitals twice.

“My face is still swollen, and I feel dizzy,” she told CPJ.

• A team from Payam TV, a pro-opposition Kurdistan Justice Group satellite channel, required treatment for teargas exposure.

“We were placed on oxygen and prescribed medication,” reporter Ramyar Osman told CPJ, adding that camera operator Sayed Yasser was hit in the knee by a rubber bullet.

• Madah Jamal, a reporter with the pro-opposition Kurdistan Islamic Union Speda TV satellite channel, told CPJ that he was also teargassed.

• Pro-PUK digital outlet Xendan’s reporter Shahen Wahab told CPJ that she and camera operator Garmian Omar suffered asthma attacks due to the teargas.

• Pro-PUK satellite channel Gali Kurdistan’s reporter Karwan Nazim told CPJ that he had to stop reporting because he couldn’t breathe and asked his office to send additional staff.

“I had an allergic reaction and my face turned red. I had to go to the hospital,” he said.

Raided and arrested

Abdulwahab Ahmed, head of the Erbil office of the pro-opposition Gorran Movement KNN TV, told CPJ that two unplated vehicles carrying Asayish officers followed KNN TV’s vehicle to the office at around 1:30 p.m., after reporters Pasha Sangar and Mohammed KakaAhmed and camera operator Halmat Ismail made a live broadcast showing the deployment of additional security forces by the United Nations compound, which was the protesters’ intended destination.

“They identified themselves as Asayish forces, forcibly took our mobile phones, and accused us of recording videos. They checked our social media accounts,” Sangar told CPJ.

KakaAhmed told CPJ, “They found a video I had taken near the U.N. compound on my phone, deleted it, and then returned our devices.”

In another incident that evening, Asayish forces arrested pro-PUK digital outlet Politic Press’s reporter Taman Rawandzi and camera operator Nabi Malik Faisal while they were live broadcasting about the protest and took them to Zerin station for several hours of questioning.

“They asked us to unlock our phones but we refused. Then they took our phones and connected them to a computer,” Rawandzi told CPJ, adding that his phone was now operating slowly and he intended to replace it.

“They told us not to cover such protests,” he said.

CPJ phoned Erbil’s Asayish spokesperson Ardalan Fatih but he declined to comment.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

“The incitement charges against Temirlan Yensebek raise concerns that he’s being targeted for his biting political satire,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Kazakh authorities should release Yensebek, drop the charges against him, and free journalists Ruslan Biketov and Asem Zhapisheva, who were detained for protesting Yensebek’s arrest.”

Police in the southern city of Almaty arrested Yensebek on January 17. He was charged over a January 2024 Qaznews24 post, which has since been taken down, featuring a two-decade-old song with offensive lyrics about Russians, Kazakhstan’s largest ethnic minority. Authorities have since ordered the song be removed from social media.  

Yensebek’s lawyer, Zhanara Balgabayeva, told CPJ that the charges were inappropriate and “merely a pretext” to jail Yensebek. She said the post was clearly marked as satirical and Yensebek did not author or perform the song, which was not banned.

Balgabayeva’s view was echoed by journalists and activists who described it as a retaliatory response to a January 3 Qaznews24 post mocking Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.  

In a country with few independent media outlets, Yensebek has succeeded in using satire to comment on current affairs. With social media, he regularly publishes spoof news stories that criticize authorities.

Qaznews24’s political commentary has attracted more than 67,000 followers since its launch in 2021 — and the ire of authorities who swiftly arrested Yensebek on false information charges. The case was later dropped on the grounds that satire should not be prosecuted as false information.

On January 19 and 20, police detained independent journalists Biketov, of the online outlet Kursiv, and Zhapisheva, for separately protesting Yensebek’s arrest. They were sentenced to 15 days’ administrative detention for alleged violation of Kazakhstan’s strict public protest laws.

Almaty police did not respond to CPJ’s request for comment via email but were quoted as saying Yensebek was detained for publishing material “containing clear signs of incitement of ethnic hatred.”

(Editor’s note: The fourth paragraph of this alert has been updated to correct a typo.)

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Arlene Getz/CPJ Editorial Director.

“The incitement charges against Temirlan Yensebek raise concerns that he’s being targeted for his biting political satire,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Kazakh authorities should release Yensebek, drop the charges against him, and free journalists Ruslan Biketov and Asem Zhapisheva, who were detained for protesting Yensebek’s arrest.”

Police in the southern city of Almaty arrested Yensebek on January 17. He was charged over a January 2024 Qaznews24 post, which has since been taken down, featuring a two-decade-old song with offensive lyrics about Russians, Kazakhstan’s largest ethnic minority. Authorities have since ordered the song be removed from social media.  

Yensebek’s lawyer, Zhanara Balgabayeva, told CPJ that the charges were inappropriate and “merely a pretext” to jail Yensebek. She said the post was clearly marked as satirical and Yensebek did not author or perform the song, which was not banned.

Balgabayeva’s view was echoed by journalists and activists who described it as a retaliatory response to a January 3 Qaznews24 post mocking Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.  

In a country with few independent media outlets, Yensebek has succeeded in using satire to comment on current affairs. With social media, he regularly publishes spoof news stories that criticize authorities.

Qaznews24’s political commentary has attracted more than 67,000 followers since its launch in 2021 — and the ire of authorities who swiftly arrested Yensebek on false information charges. The case was later dropped on the grounds that satire should not be prosecuted as false information.

On January 19 and 20, police detained independent journalists Biketov, of the online outlet Kursiv, and Zhapisheva, for separately protesting Yensebek’s arrest. They were sentenced to 15 days’ administrative detention for alleged violation of Kazakhstan’s strict public protest laws.

Almaty police did not respond to CPJ’s request for comment via email but were quoted as saying Yensebek was detained for publishing material “containing clear signs of incitement of ethnic hatred.”

(Editor’s note: The fourth paragraph of this alert has been updated to correct a typo.)

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Arlene Getz/CPJ Editorial Director.

“Suat Toktaş’ arrest and the detaining of the other Halk TV personnel is a political move by Turkish authorities to silence critical voices,” said Özgür Öğret, CPJ’s Turkey representative. “The authorities should immediately release Toktaş, lift the measures of judicial control imposed on other Halk TV staff, and stop using the legal system to harass the media.”

Istanbul prosecutors opened an investigation against Halk TV following a Monday broadcast interview with an expert witness used in municipal investigations, alleging that the interview was secretly recorded without permission and attempted “to manipulate a trial by exposing the name of the court expert in a way that would make [him] a target.”

In a Monday press conference, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu alleged that the expert witness, who has been involved in multiple investigations against the opposition-controlled municipality, frequently did not offer opinions in their favor. Istanbul prosecutors also opened an investigation against İmamoğlu following the press conference for “making a target” of the expert.

An Istanbul court arrested Toktaş pending trial on Wednesday, and released under judicial control Halk TV hosts Barış Pehlivan and Seda Selek, along with program coordinator Kürşad Oğuz and director Serhan Asker under judicial control, banning them from foreign travel. 

Pehlivan and Selek were detained by the police in Ankara on Tuesday. Halk TV released a statement on Wednesday saying that Oğuz had recorded the conversation and Toktaş authorized it to be aired, which led to their detention in Istanbul.

CPJ’s email to Istanbul’s chief prosecutor did not receive a response.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Dau Thanh Tam, a Vietnamese campaigner against corruption in hospitals, has been arrested for criticizing strict new traffic rules, state media reported.

Tam was charged Thursday with “abusing democratic freedoms to post false information” under Article 331 of the criminal code for her social media posts, the first arrest since the rules were introduced at the start of the year, the Tuoi Tre news site said.

The Hanoi Police Internal Political Security Department said Tam frequently posted video clips on TikTok and Facebook criticizing treatment at Hanoi hospitals but had recently started posting clips about the new traffic rules under Decree 168.

(Hanoi City Police)

The police accused Tam of inciting people to protest against Decree 168 which faces widespread public criticism because fines have risen sharply and stricter rules are making life tougher for taxi, delivery and long distance freight drivers, while traffic conditions have not improved.

“Dau Thanh Tam is one of the people who really trusts [Communist Party General Secretary] To Lam and is hoping to work with the party and the state to change shortcomings so that people can have a better life,” former prisoner of conscience Dang Thi Hue told Radio Free Asia. “She is not completely a dissident, or fighting for social change like other dissidents.”

The Facebook page Thanh Tam Dau has 43,000 followers. Posts include video clips in which Tam talks about topics such as environmental pollution caused by garbage incineration, or criticizes Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha’s failure to deliver justice to those who suffered from the effects of pollution caused by a 2016 spill at a steel plant operated by the Formosa Plastics Group.

In a video clip posted on Jan. 12, Tam said thousands of people who visited her Facebook and TikTok pages opposed Decree 168 because the high fines were not appropriate given people’s income and living standards, and the poor state of transport infrastructure. State-controlled Vietnam Television reported that “99% of people agreed” when the decree was issued.

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The government has said Decree 168 would restore traffic safety. The deputy director of the Traffic Police Department at the Ministry of Public Security, Col. Pham Quang Huy, told state media that three weeks after the new rules were introduced the number of accidents, injuries and deaths had fallen.

Although Tam is the first person to be arrested for criticizing the rules at least two people have been questioned by police, forced to delete social media posts, fined and ordered to sign pledges not to reoffend.

“All voices that criticize Decree 168 are considered hostile and they use national security laws to punish them,” said lawyer Nguyen Van Dai who lives in exile in Germany. “The arrest of Dau Thanh Tam is also part of the program to suppress all critical voices.”

New restrictions

On Thursday, Project88 – which monitors human rights in Vietnam – released a report titled New restrictions on freedom of expression in Vietnam.

The group said that after taking control of the Communist Party in 2016, hardliners issued numerous resolutions to maintain the party’s political monopoly, establishing a nationwide network of opinion-shapers to control online discourse.

The government has been quick to act, passing laws such as the Cybersecurity Law, the Press Law, the Information Technology Law, and the Telecommunications Law, and many decrees to control online speech and traditional media.

These laws built on an existing framework of criminal penalties under Articles 117, 155, 156, 200 and 331 of the criminal code.

Project88 argues that many of the new policies violate human rights law, are too broad, and contain vague language that allows government officials to decide which topics are off-limits.

Although Vietnam is a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council and publicly commits to protecting freedom of expression in its constitution and in numerous human rights agreements, “Vietnam has stepped up efforts to suppress freedom of expression,” Project88 said.

Translated by RFA Vietnamese. Edited by Mike Firn.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Vietnamese.

Freelance photojournalist Matthew Kaplan was arrested in Gary, Indiana, on Jan. 18, 2025, while reporting on a pre-inauguration protest against large-scale deportations planned by Donald Trump’s incoming administration.

In a post on social media, Kaplan wrote that protesters had gathered at the Gary/Chicago International Airport to demonstrate against Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Regular protests have been held there since 2017 to object to its long-standing use by ICE for deportation flights, The Times of Northwest Indiana reported.

The demonstrators marched toward the airport from a nearby train station while chanting and carrying signs, including “Abolish ICE” and “No Human is Illegal,” Kaplan wrote. After spending around 10 minutes protesting near the airport, they began the walk back to the train.

“Soon some 10-15 police cars were tailing the group and ordered them to get off the active highway,” Kaplan wrote. “This order was eventually obeyed, but almost immediately after the marchers were on the grassy shoulder, police began to push people down and make arrests.”

Lisa Kiselevich, another freelance photojournalist covering the demonstration, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that both she and Kaplan were photographing as police carried one of the arrested protesters to a police vehicle. She said she remembered thinking Kaplan was standing in the better position.

“I’m like, ‘Oh, he got the best spot there for his shots, because then he can see the person and the police car door open and everything. He’s in the perfect spot there,” Kiselevich said. “It turned out that the spot was not so lucky, because the (my) next shot shows the policeman grabbing him from the back.”

Kiselevich said she didn’t hear the Gary Police Department officer issue a warning before arresting Kaplan, adding that while the scene was chaotic it was clear that both she and Kaplan were only photographing the event.

She said Kaplan gave her his two cameras, along with his tripod and camera bag, because he was concerned the officers might wipe his memory cards. The officer allowed the handoff but repeatedly threatened Kiselevich with arrest if she didn’t leave.

“I said, ‘Well yeah, I’ll be out of here. Just let me grab his camera,’” Kiselevich said. “I did it and was walking, and then he walked behind me, the policeman, and he kept saying, ‘I will arrest you’ or ‘I’m going to arrest you’ or something like that. And not very loudly either.”

The Gary Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.

Kaplan wrote in his account that he was taken to the Gary Police Station and held for around two hours before he was released on charges of disorderly conduct, criminal trespass and resisting law enforcement.

“I don’t really like myself being the story, because there were two protesters who were arrested too,” Kaplan told the Tracker. “That’s what I thought I was covering. I thought I was just covering a march. I didn’t think I was going to be covering police action or my own arrest.”

Kaplan declined to comment further, following legal advice, before his initial appearance hearing Jan. 22.

This content originally appeared on U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: Incident Database and was authored by U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: Incident Database.

Mougheeth and Serag appeared before Egypt’s Supreme State Security Prosecution (SSSP) on Thursday. While Mougheeth was released on a 5,000 Egyptian pound bail pending investigation after being accused of joining a terrorist organization and spreading false news, the SSSP has yet to make a decision regarding Serag, according to independent media outlets Mada Masr and Al-Manassa.

“The arrest of Mougheeth and Serag marks a dangerous escalation by Egyptian authorities to silence anyone daring to expose their repression,” said Yeganeh Rezaian, CPJ’s interim MENA program coordinator. “Targeting the relatives of detained journalists and retaliating against those who report abuses follows a troubling pattern. These oppressive tactics must end immediately, and Serag, Mougheeth, and Ashraf Omar must be released without delay.”

Mougheeth, an Egyptian professor and translator, has been an outspoken advocate for her husband’s release, relentlessly calling for justice amid his ongoing detention. In her interview with Serag, a reporter with Cairo-based independent outlet ZatMasr, she revealed that the security forces who detained Omar seized 350,000 Egyptian pounds, yet only reported a fraction of that amount in the official interrogation records.

Nada and Serag’s arrest followed a statement by Egypt’s Ministry of Interior, which denied claims made by a woman alleging that her husband was detained, and money and personal items were seized from his home without being documented in the arrest report. The ministry announced that legal action was being taken against those spreading these false allegations.

 Egyptian authorities have previously targeted the wives of detained journalists for speaking out. In April 2024, journalist Yasser Abu Al-Ela’s wife, Naglaa Fathi, and her sister were forcibly disappeared for 13 days after filing multiple complaints about Abu Al-Ela’s disappearance. Both women were later charged with joining a terrorist organization and spreading false information on Facebook.

Omar, A cartoonist for Al-Manassa was arrested on July 22, 2024, and charged with joining a terrorist group, spreading false news, and misusing social media. The SSSP also interrogated him about cartoons criticizing Egypt’s economic crisis and electricity shortages.

In 2024, Egypt ranked as the world’s sixth-worst country for press freedom, with 17 journalists imprisoned. Seven of these journalists were detained in 2024, as the country’s economic crisis triggered a new wave of arrests.

CPJ’s email to the Egyptian Ministry of Interior requesting comment on Serag and Mougheeth ’s arrests did not receive an immediate response.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

The Senate confirmation hearing for Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s pick to be defense secretary, was repeatedly disrupted Tuesday by protesters who denounced the nominee’s history of hateful remarks against women, LGBTQ people and others, as well as to demand an end to U.S. support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza. We speak with two of those protesters, military veterans Josephine Guilbeau and Greg Stoker, who say they were motivated to speak out against the “war machine” that hurts people who serve in the military as well as people around the world who are victims of U.S. militarism. “They use us as pawns to go to these wars and ultimately go kill innocent people,” says Guilbeau.

This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.

The immediate reason for the arrest was unknown, but Fresh News, a government-aligned paper, published a statement Tuesday from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs saying the tycoon’s passport had been revoked.

In December, according to the statement, the Phnom Penh Court issued an arrest warrant for Heng Sithy on a charge of blackmail with aggravating circumstances.

A friend of Heng Sithy, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for safety reasons, confirmed his arrest.

The friend shared voice messages in which the tycoon made grandiose claims about his reasons for traveling to Russia, none of which could be independently verified.

“Tomorrow, I am going to Moscow and on Monday I will see Putin’s cabinet regarding drones and will inspect the drones and special forces,” he said on one voice message.

In another, he spoke of the need to continue unspecified plans.

“We must split the work,” he told his friend. “We must convince our working groups to continue the work to establish diplomatic groups and the fighting groups, I will be in charge.”

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Defamation allegations

At 39 years old, Heng Sithy appeared to have achieved the Cambodian dream. In a country where the average income is around $1,500 a year, he was a millionaire and paid all the dues expected of millionaires in a nation defined by its patronage politics.

But last month, following a reversal in his fortunes following what appears to be a business deal gone bad, it seemed something in Heng Sithy cracked.

A disagreement between Heng Sithy and a Singaporean entrepreneur spilled into the courts and then onto social media. As the dispute escalated, Heng Sithy began accusing senior police officials of taking multimillion dollar bribes from the entrepreneur, who he described as running “largest online casino network in Cambodia.”

All denied the allegations. The Singaporean filed a defamation suit and on Dec. 3 the Phnom Penh Court issued an arrest warrant for Heng Sithy on a charge of blackmail with aggravating circumstances.

The same month, he was stripped of his oknha title — an honorific bestowed upon wealthy, charitable and well-connected tycoons. Last week, Hun To, the nephew of the former prime minister, threatened to sue Heng Sithy for alleging that he stole US$9 million from a Chinese investor who sought government approval for a mine.

Prior to his trip to Russia, Heng Sithy worked with his friend to prepare an open letter to Cambodian Prime Hun Manet.

“I have never done anything wrong in business instead I was set up and got robbed [of] my wealth,” he wrote, according to the text shared with RFA.

Cambodia, he added in the unpublished letter, had fallen “into the trap of criminal money when we have such officers in government doing such corruption.”

The open letter closed with a direct appeal to Prime Minister Hun Manet: “Cambodia needs to be in good hands, a country needs a real leader, as a leader if your heart [is]... at the right place all will be good.”

Neither Heng Sithy nor National Police Spokesman Chhay Kim Khoeun could be reached for comment.

Translated by Yun Samean. Edited by Abby Seiff.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Jack Adamović Davies and RFA Khmer.

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for Dispatches, a newsletter that spotlights wrongdoing around the country, to receive our stories in your inbox every week.

Two families have sued an East Tennessee school district in federal court, arguing that school officials violated students’ rights when they called the police under a Tennessee law that seeks to severely punish threats of mass violence.

One 11-year-old was arrested at a restaurant even though he denied making a threat. A 13-year-old with disabilities was handcuffed for saying his backpack would blow up, even though only a stuffed animal was inside.

ProPublica and WPLN News wrote about both cases last year as part of a larger investigation into how new state laws result in children being kicked out of school and arrested on felony charges, sometimes because of rumors and misunderstandings. Our reporting in Hamilton County found that police were arresting, handcuffing and detaining kids, even though school officials labeled most of the incidents as “low level” with “no evidence of motive.” The students arrested were disproportionately Black and had disabilities, compared to those groups’ overall share of the district’s population.

The lawsuits against Hamilton County’s school district, filed this month in federal court in Chattanooga, are two of several brought against school officials in Tennessee in response to the threats of mass violence law. Advocates hope to push for changes to the law in the legislative session that begins this month. But the law’s Republican sponsor, Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton, told ProPublica and WPLN News that he is “not looking to make any changes to the law.”

“The zero-tolerance policy for even uttering the words ‘shoot’ or ‘gun’ is an unconstitutional kneejerk reaction by the legislature, and has led school administrators to make rash decisions concerning student discipline,” states one of the lawsuits, filed Thursday on behalf of the 11-year-old autistic student arrested at the restaurant.

When asked by another student last September if he was going to shoot up the school, the 11-year-old said, “Yeah,” according to the lawsuit. The school reported the comment to the police, who tracked him down and arrested him.

The other federal lawsuit, filed Jan. 3, involves the 13-year-old student with “serious intellectual impairments,” who told his teacher last fall that the school would “blow up” if she looked inside his backpack. The teacher found just a stuffed animal in the backpack, but school officials reported the incident to police anyway.

“Despite the clear absence of any true threat, and in the context of a student with Doe’s intellectual and emotional impairments, Doe was isolated, handcuffed by the [student resource officer], and transported to juvenile detention,” the lawsuit reads. (Both suits refer to the children involved as John Doe to keep them anonymous.) The school later determined that the student’s behavior was a manifestation of his autism, according to documentation included in the lawsuit.

Both lawsuits allege that district officials violated state law by allowing students receiving special education services to be physically restrained and by failing to follow proper procedure before facilitating the students’ arrests. The school district “infringed on Doe’s First Amendment rights and did so with deliberate indifference,” both lawsuits read.

The juvenile court cases against both students have been dismissed.

The Hamilton County Schools superintendent referred a request for comment to the school board’s attorney, citing pending litigation. The attorney did not immediately respond to a subsequent request for comment. The district has not yet filed a response to either lawsuit.

Disability rights advocates fought for a broader exception in the law that would have prevented police from charging kids who might, as a result of their disability, say or do something that could be construed as a threat.

“What we’re seeing coming out with all of these lawsuits, it’s sort of exactly what we were trying to educate about last year,” said Zoe Jamail, the policy coordinator for Disability Rights Tennessee.

Instead, lawmakers only excluded people with “intellectual disabilities,” failing to address students with other disabilities that affect their communication or behavior. The law does not state how police should determine whether a child has an intellectual disability before charging them. In fact, our reporting found that police arrested the 13-year-old in the lawsuit although school records showed he did have an intellectual disability.

Disability Rights Tennessee and other organizations plan to push for an amendment to the law this legislative session to protect more students with disabilities, especially when the threat is not credible. “The question should really be how can we better support those young people in the school environment, and how can we handle these cases with compassion and reason, rather than reacting and interpreting the law in a way that is not really reasonable,” Jamail said.

A federal judge allowed a lawsuit against a suburban Nashville school board to move forward in November. Two parents had sued Williamson County’s school board on behalf of their children, claiming they were wrongfully suspended and arrested after being accused of making threats of mass violence at school.

The families, Judge Aleta Trauger ruled, had a “plausible claim” that the school board violated the students’ due process rights by suspending them.

Part of the lawsuit involved a middle school student referred to as “H.M.” Teased by friends in a group chat about “looking Mexican,” she jokingly texted her friends, “On Thursday we kill all the Mexicos.” The school board argued in a legal filing that state law required officials to suspend the student and call the police, regardless of whether the threat was serious. In response to a request from ProPublica and WPLN, a school board official declined to comment further.

Trauger questioned Williamson County school board’s analysis of the law, which she said “leads to absurdity.”

“The implausibility of an action — here, a middle school student killing all Mexicans — ought to affect the threat analysis,” she wrote. “What if, for example, H.M. had threatened to cast a magical killing spell on a large group of people? What if H.M. had threatened to fly to the moon and shoot at people using a space laser?”

She denied the Williamson County school board’s motion to completely dismiss the lawsuit. The suit is pending.

This content originally appeared on ProPublica and was authored by by Aliyya Swaby, ProPublica, and Paige Pfleger, WPLN/Nashville Public Radio.

Mukesh Chandrakar, a freelance reporter, was last seen in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh on January 1. His brother reported him missing the following day. On January 3, the journalist’s mutilated body was discovered on a property owned by his cousin, contractor Suresh Chandrakar.

The contractor and three other suspects were arrested on January 4 and 5 and remanded in custody for 14 days on January 6.

In late December, the news channel NDTV had aired Mukesh Chandrakar’s investigation into alleged corruption in a 1.2 billion rupee (US$12 million) road project, which implicated Suresh Chandrakar and prompted a state government inquiry.

“The murder of Mukesh Chandrakar, whose reporting exposed alleged corruption in public infrastructure projects, is a tragic reminder of the dangers faced by Indian journalists in small towns and rural areas,” said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna. “Protecting vulnerable journalists is vital for preserving press freedom and democracy.”  

Mukesh Chandrakar reported on local issues such as the local Naxalite-Maoist insurgency on his YouTube channel Bastar Junction, in addition to freelancing for other outlets.

Mayank Gurjar, head of a police Special Investigation Team set up by the state government to investigate the murder, told CPJ that the four suspects were charged with murder, conspiracy, destruction of evidence, and other offenses under India’s criminal code.

“At this stage we cannot pinpoint a single motive. While the victim’s journalistic work is a possible consideration, we cannot confirm this as the definitive reason until our investigation is complete,” said Gurjar.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

“Abdelwakil Blamm’s detention is a troubling escalation of the ongoing crackdown on press freedom in Algeria,” said CPJ Interim MENA Program Coordinator Yeganeh Rezaian, in Washington, D.C. “Algerian authorities must immediately release Blamm, ensure his safety, and cease targeting journalists and activists for their work.”

On Sunday, the state prosecutor at the Chéraga court ordered Blamm’s detention pending trial, after accusing him of spreading false news, harming national unity, and belonging to a terrorist group.

Local journalists believe that Blamm’s arrest stems from his Facebook page, which has over 15 thousand followers, where he reports on local political and social issues. Blamm’s arrest is part of a new government wave of arrests against the opposition following the widespread social media campaign “#manich_radi,” which expresses discontent with the regime, according to a local journalist who spoke with CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal.

Blamm is also a founder of the 2014 civilian-led Barakat movement that emerged in opposition of former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s authoritarian regime.

In a separate incident, authorities in northeast Algeria arrested journalist Mustapha Bendjama on December 30, 2024, at a coffee shop in the city of Annaba. Bendjama was released without charge January 2 after authorities questioned him about his Facebook posts, placed him under judicial control, then banned him from leaving the country.

CPJ’s email to the Algerian Ministry of Interior requesting comment on Blamm’s and Bendjama’s arrests did not receive any response.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Italy’s foreign ministry said Sala was arrested on December 19 and was being held in Iran’s notorious Evin prison, although news of her arrest was only made public on December 27.

“Iran has a long and ignominious history of detaining journalists — both local and foreign — for reporting the realities of life in the country. We urge authorities to release Cecilia Sala immediately,” said CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg.

Iran — the world’s sixth-worst jailer of journalists in CPJ’s last annual prison census, with 17 imprisoned journalists as of December 1, 2023 — has not yet commented publicly on the arrest. 

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has told a media conference Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be arrested if he entered New Zealand

“We support the ICC [the International Criminal Court],” Luxon said yesterday.

“We believe in the international rules-based system, we support the ICC, and we would be obligated to do so.”

• READ MORE: Israel and the ICC: A legal scholar’s response to The Washington Post
• Many of Israel’s Western supporters indicate they would arrest Netanyahu. Will Australia and NZ follow suit?
• Other Israel’s war on Gaza reports

The NZ prime minister’s comments followed the ICC announcing arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Israel’s former defence minister Yoav Gallant on allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the 13-month war on the besieged Gaza Strip that has killed more than 44,000 people — mostly women and children.

Netanyahu and Gallant are now fugitives from global justice after the ICC issued the arrest warrants against them.

Although Israel — and the US — does not recognise the authority of the ICC, the highest international criminal court, and Netanyahu and Gallant will not turn themselves in, the pair’s world has got a lot smaller.

The Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC, includes 124 state parties across six continents.

Legally bound
Under the statute, countries that are part of the ICC are legally bound to enforce its arrest warrants, according to international human rights lawyer Jonathan Kuttab.

“The law operates on the basis of a presumption that people will obey it. That’s how all laws are created,” Kuttab told Al Jazeera.

“You expect everybody to respect the law. Those who don’t respect the law are themselves violating the law.”

He added that there were early signs that countries would not ignore the court’s decision.

Many of Israel’s allies — including several European Union countries — have committed to enforcing the arrest warrants.

The ICC was set up in 2002 to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression when member states are unwilling or unable to do so themselves. It is based in The Hague in the Netherlands.

The case at the ICC is separate from another legal battle Israel is waging at the top UN court, the International Court of Justice, in which South Africa accuses Israel of genocide, an allegation Israeli leaders deny.

Here is a list of the countries where Netanyahu and Gallant could be detained after the ICC’s decision.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

The father, retired senior military officer Sok Sunnareth, was arrested on Wednesday by military forces in southern Kampong Speu province, according to Sorn Dara.

A family member who asked for anonymity for security purposes, confirmed the arrest in a brief interview with Radio Free Asia on Thursday.

The 70-year-old is being held in Kampong Speu Provincial Prison, the relative said. RFA was unable to reach provincial authorities on Thursday.

Thousands of viewers watch Sorn Dara’s talk shows on Facebook during which he has routinely attacked Hun Sen. Sorn Dara lives in exile in France and has sought asylum there.

His political commentary prompted then-Prime Minister Hun Sen in May 2023 to threaten to fire Sorn Dara’s relatives from their government jobs

“You want to try me if your parents don’t teach you lessons. I will fire your parents – including your relatives – from their jobs,” he said at a graduation ceremony in Phnom Penh.

“You are so rude. I will invite your father and your sister-in-law to learn some lessons and don’t complain that I am taking your relatives as hostages,” an apparent reference to firing them.

At the time of Hun Sen’s comments, Sok Sunnareth was an army colonel and the deputy chief of staff of the Kampong Speu Provincial Operations Area. He’s also a longtime supporter of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, or CPP.

Sorn Dara’s sister-in-law works at the Ministry of Interior.

‘I have no intention or hate’

Sorn Dara’s parents appeared in a short video in February 2023 that was posted by the pro-government Fresh News, saying they had severed ties with their son. Sok Sunnareth publicly implored his son on Feb. 22 to stop criticizing Hun Sen and his government.

Sorn Dara is a former official of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, which was dissolved by the country’s Supreme Court in November 2017. He said his father disowned him that same year because he had refused to join the CPP.

Sorn Dara has continued to criticize Hun Sen and the government on his Facebook live show. He said on Thursday that he cut contact with his parents long ago, and urged authorities not to punish his father for his comments.

“I would like to reiterate that I have nothing to do with my parents,” he said. “I have no intention or hate for Samdech and the ruling party, CPP.”

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Samdech is an honorific often used to refer to Hun Sen. Sorn Dara added that his father had served loyally in the military.

“I think Hun Sen can consider and have sympathy for him and Samdech should target me instead,” he said.

Hun Sen continues to use hardball political tactics to target critics and opposition activists, said Seng Sary, a Cambodian political analyst who was granted asylum in Australia.

The arrest of Sok Sunnareth is reminiscent of Hay Vanna, a Japan-based overseas activist whose brother was arrested in August while trying to flee the country following similar public threats against Hay Vanna’s family from Hun Sen.

Last month, Hay Vanna apologized to Hun Sen and Prime Minister Hun Manet for his role in organizing protests among overseas Cambodian workers in August in Japan, South Korea, Canada and Australia. He also announced that he was joining the CPP.

On the same day, Phnom Penh Municipal Court Judge Yi Sokvouch signed a warrant ordering the release of Hay Vanna’s brother from Phnom Penh’s Prey Sar prison, pending his upcoming trial.

The strategy of targeting a family member was effective for Hun Sen and could also work for him in his effort to quell Sorn Dara, Seng Sary told RFA.

Translated by Yun Samean. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Khmer.

Karabay, a reporter with the independent news site 10Haber, was detained on November 8 during a police raid in Istanbul and jailed by a court November 9 pending trial. A court document seen by Reuters said that the allegations against Karabay related to his social media posts on X, where he named the prosecutors investigating an opposition mayor. 

“Karabay’s arrest is the latest example of the increasing criminalization of reporting on the judiciary,” the statement said. “These actions against journalists who are simply fulfilling their duty to inform the public are not only a violation of the public’s right to access information but also a breach of freedom of expression and press freedom, which are protected under the constitution and international agreements, particularly the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), to which Turkey is a signatory.”

You can read the full statement here. 

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

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On the second day of school this year in Hamilton County, Tennessee, Ty picked out a purple bunny from hundreds of other plushies in his room. While his mom wasn’t looking, the 13-year-old snuck it into his backpack to show to his friends.

It was the 10th anniversary of his favorite video game franchise, Five Nights at Freddy’s, and Bonnie the bunny is one of the stars. Ty has autism and Bonnie is his biggest comfort when he gets agitated or discouraged. No one other than Ty, not even his mom, is allowed to touch Bonnie.

Ty was new to Ooltewah Middle School, located just east of Chattanooga. In class that morning, he told his teacher he didn’t want anyone to look in his backpack, worried they would confiscate his toy, according to Ty and his mom. When the teacher asked why, Ty responded, “Because the whole school will blow up,” he and his mom recalled.

School officials acted quickly, Ty’s mom said: The teacher, who had only known Ty for one day, called a school administrator, who got the police involved. They brought Ty to the counselor’s office and found Bonnie in the backpack. As Ty stood there, he said, confused about what he had done wrong, the police handcuffed him and patted him down before placing him in the back of a police car.

“I think they thought an actual bomb was in my backpack,” Ty told ProPublica and WPLN. But he didn’t have a bomb. “It was just this, right here,” he said, holding Bonnie. “And they still took me to jail.”

The sheriff’s department issued a press release about the incident stating that police checked the backpack and it was “found to not contain any explosive device.” ProPublica and WPLN are using a nickname for Ty at his mother’s request, to protect his identity because he’s a minor. The sheriff’s department didn’t respond to questions about Ty’s case. The Hamilton County School district, which includes Ty’s school, declined to respond, even though his mother signed a form giving officials permission to do so.

Ty’s arrest was the result of a new state law requiring that anyone who makes a threat of mass violence at school be charged with a felony. The law does not require that the threat be credible. ProPublica and WPLN previously reported on an 11-year-old with autism who denied making a threat in class and was later arrested at a birthday party by a Hamilton County sheriff’s deputy.

Advocates had warned Tennessee lawmakers during this year’s legislative session that the law would be particularly harmful for students prone to frequent outbursts or disruptive behavior as a result of a disability.

Lawmakers did include an exception for people with intellectual disabilities. And according to Ty’s mom and a school district psychological report, Ty has an intellectual disability as defined by Tennessee statute, in addition to autism. But the family’s lawyer said there is no evidence that law enforcement took that into consideration — or even checked to see if Ty had a disability — before handcuffing and arresting him.

The law doesn’t state how police should determine whether kids have intellectual disabilities before charging them. Rep. Cameron Sexton, the Tennessee House speaker and Republican co-sponsor of the law, said Ty’s case shows that “there may need to be more training and resources” for school officials and law enforcement.

Rep. Bo Mitchell, a Nashville Democrat who co-sponsored the law, said he hoped the exception for kids with intellectual disabilities would be enough to keep students like Ty from being arrested. “No one passed that law in order for a child with any type of disability to be charged,” he said.

But he said the law was still necessary to help prevent hoax threats that disrupt learning and terrify students. “I don’t know whose level of trauma is going to be the greatest: the kids in the classroom wondering if there’s an active shooter roaming their halls or a kid that didn’t know better and says something like that and gets arrested,” Mitchell said. “It’s a no-win situation.”

The state does not collect information about how the felony law, which went into effect in July, has applied to kids with disabilities like Ty. Data from Hamilton County provides a limited glimpse. In the first six weeks of the school year, 18 kids were arrested for making threats of mass violence. A third of them have disabilities, more than double the proportion of students with disabilities across the district.

Before the academic year began, Ty’s mom sent an email to school officials asking for their help to make her son’s transition to eighth grade as smooth as possible.

Ty’s specialized education plan states that he is social and friendly with other students but regularly has outbursts and meltdowns in class due to his disability. He struggles to regulate his feelings when asked to follow classroom guidelines and to understand social situations and boundaries.

Federal law prohibits his school from punishing him harshly for those behaviors, since they are caused by or related to his disability. But Ty’s principal later told his mom in an email that Tennessee’s threats of mass violence law requires school officials to report the incident to police.

When Ty’s mom got the phone call that her son was going to be arrested, she said it was her worst fear come true: Her son’s autism was mistaken for a threat. “Once you looked at his backpack, if there was nothing in there to hurt anyone, then why did you handcuff my 13-year-old autistic son who didn’t understand what was going on and take him down to juvenile?” she said.

Disability rights advocates said kids like Ty should not be getting arrested under the current law. And they tried to push for a broader exception for kids with other kinds of disabilities.

In a meeting with Mitchell before the law passed, Zoe Jamail, the policy coordinator for Disability Rights Tennessee, explained that the legislation could harm kids with disabilities who struggle with communication and behavior — such as those with some developmental disabilities — but aren’t diagnosed with an intellectual disability. She proposed language that Mitchell and other sponsors could include in the law, to ensure children with disabilities were not improperly arrested.

“No student who makes a threat that is determined to be a manifestation of the student’s disability shall be charged under this section,” one version of the amendment read.

The amendment was never taken up for a vote in the state legislature. Lawmakers passed the narrower version instead.

“I think it demonstrates a lack of understanding of disability,” Jamail said.

Sexton, the Republican House speaker, said kids with disabilities were capable of carrying out acts of mass violence and should be punished under the law. “I think you can make a lot of excuses for a lot of people,” he said.

Ty still doesn’t fully grasp what happened to him, and why.

On a recent morning in October, Ty turned the stuffed bunny toward his mom and asked, “Is he the reason why I can’t bring plushies anymore?”

Ty’s mom told him the reason is because he didn’t ask first. “You can’t just sneak stuff out of the house,” she said.

“Will I get in trouble for that?” he asked her.

“Yeah, absolutely,” she said. “You want them to possibly think it’s another bomb and take you back down to kiddie jail?”

“No,” he said, emphatically.

After the incident, Ty’s middle school suspended him for a few days. His case was dismissed in juvenile court soon after.

The principal told Ty’s mom in an email that if Ty said something similar again, the school would follow the same protocol. She decided to transfer him out of Ooltewah Middle School as soon as she could.

“Whenever we go past that school, Ty’s like: ‘Am I going back to jail, mom? Are you taking me back over there?’ He’s for real traumatized,” she said. “I felt like nobody at that school was really fighting for him. They were too busy trying to justify what they did.”

Mitchell, the Democratic representative, said he was “heartbroken” to hear that Ty was handcuffed and traumatized. But, he added, “we’re trying to stop the people who should know better from doing this, and if they do it, they should have more than a slap on the wrist.” He said he would be open to considering a carve-out in the law in the upcoming legislative session for kids with a broader range of disabilities.

But, he said, he believes that the law as it stands is making all children in Tennessee, with or without disabilities, safer.

Help ProPublica Report on Education

This content originally appeared on ProPublica and was authored by by Aliyya Swaby, ProPublica, and Paige Pfleger, WPLN/Nashville Public Radio.

Three senior government officials and a businessman have been arrested in a corruption and fraud crackdown that follows the recent arrests of two former advisers to Senate President Hun Sen, according to a Phnom Penh Municipal Court order issued on Tuesday.

The government’s Anti-Corruption Unit has arrested gemstone and construction businessman Uth Thy, former high-ranking police official Muong Khim, Pursat Province deputy Gov. Lay Viseth, and Kan Sok Kay, the former governor of Kandal province’s Lvea Em district, the order said.

Kan Sok Kay’s arrest is linked to allegations against Ly Sameth, a former adviser to Senate President Hun Sen.

In a six-minute video posted on Hun Sen’s Facebook page last week, Ly Sameth confessed to defrauding millions of dollars from people who sought favors and government positions. Authorities arrested him in Sihanoukville on Nov. 4.

Hun Sen wrote on Facebook last month that Ly Sameth had defrauded several Cambodians over the last two years, including one incident in which US$10 million was paid.

That post was apparently prompted by a video message he received from Kan Sok Kay who said he gave US$300,000 to Ly Sameth to obtain a different appointment in Kandal province, according to Hun Sen.

“I never accepted intervention from anyone, no matter what request or bribe,” Hun Sen wrote.

Corruption’s deep roots

Another former adviser to Hun Sen, Duong Dara, was arrested on Oct. 14 and charged with fraud after returning from a business trip to China.

That arrest was related to a complaint filed by villagers in southern Svay Rieng province that accused the Phnom Penh-based Phum Khmer Group of scamming them out of investments that ranged between US$40,000 and US$120,000.

Duong Dara, who was removed from his position as secretary of state at the Office of the Council of Ministers last week, is believed to be a close friend of Phum Khmer’s chief executive, Som Sothea.

The court has charged Ly Sameth, Duong Dara and Muong Khim with trafficking in passive influence, a form of bribery that could result in five to 10 years in prison.

Uth Thy, who holds the title of Oknha – bestowed on Cambodians involved in business who are committed to charity or generous with donations to the government – has been charged with two counts of five years in prison for active influence.

Phnom Penh Municipal Court spokesman Y Rin told RFA on Wednesday that Lay Viseth and Kan Sok Kay will face attempted bribery charges. They were arrested on Tuesday, he said.

RFA was unable to reach Anti-Corruption Unit spokesman Soy Chanvichet to ask about the arrests.

Corruption is deeply rooted in Cambodian society – including political corruption and bribery – so the arrests could be a good sign, Meng Heang Tak, a Cambodian-Australian lawmaker in the Victorian Legislative Assembly, said in an interview with RFA.

But efforts to eliminate corruption need “a high commitment to be effective,” he said.

Translated by Yun Samean. Edited by Matt Reed.

This story has been updated with the charges for Lay Viseth and Kan Sok Kay.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Khmer.

The Department of Justice announced charges on Nov. 8, 2024, against three men it accused of surveilling and plotting to murder New York-based Iranian American journalist Masih Alinejad. Thirteen others have been indicted in connection with murder-for-hire plots against Alinejad.

Alinejad, referred to as “Victim-1” in the DOJ’s news release, confirmed in a social media post that she was the target of the plot. Iranian citizen Farhad Shakeri and U.S. citizens Carlisle Rivera and Jonathon Loadholt have been charged with murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and money laundering conspiracy. Rivera and Loadholt were arrested on Nov. 7.

Shakeri, who the DOJ said is still at large, was also allegedly tasked with “providing a plan to kill President-elect Donald J. Trump.”

“I just learned from the @FBI that two men were arrested yesterday in a new plot to kill me at Fairfield University, where I was scheduled to give a talk,” Alinejad wrote in the social media post. “I came to America to practice my First Amendment right to freedom of speech—I don’t want to die. I want to fight against tyranny, and I deserve to be safe.”

This content originally appeared on U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: Incident Database and was authored by U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: Incident Database.

A member of Vietnamese President Luong Cuong’s security team has been arrested in Chile on sexual assault charges, according to Chile’s foreign ministry, prompting an official apology for a scandal that has overshadowed Cuong’s first presidential visit abroad.

Police detained “a member of the security forces of the Vietnamese delegation” on Sunday after he was accused of sexual abuse by a Chilean citizen, the ministry said.

The man, who arrived as part of the president’s official delegation on Saturday, was arrested following accusations by a worker at the hotel where he was staying in the capital Santiago, La Tercera reported.

On Monday, a court ordered the man to leave the country immediately, without contacting the victim, barring him from returning to Chile for two years, the news site said. The prosecutor decided not to impose a tougher sentence because the man did not have a criminal record, it added.

TVN Chile’s 24 Horas channel, carried on YouTube, showed photographers and reporters chasing a man as he left the court wearing a mask, before cornering him in an elevator. One journalist asked the bodyguard if he spoke English, to which he replied “no, no,” before lowering his head and declining to answer further questions.

Vietnamese Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son made a formal apology for the incident, according to Chile’s Foreign Minister Alberto van Klaveren.

Radio Free Asia emailed the Vietnamese Embassy in Chile to ask about the incident, but did not receive a response by time of publication.

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Cuong was in Chile to strengthen political, economic and cultural relations, on trip to the country by a Vietnamese head of state since 2009, when then-President Nguyen Minh Triet paid an official visit.

On Monday, Cuong was received by his Chilean counterpart, Gabriel Boric, at La Moneda Palace, where the two sides signed agreements on agriculture, defense, culture and export promotion.

The meeting “reaffirms Chile’s strategic priorities to draw closer and deepen relations with Asia,” Boric said.

Vietnam is Chile’s leading trading partner in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN. Bilateral trade was valued at more than $US800 billion in the first half of this year.

Vietnamese media made no mention of the scandal involving Cuong’s bodyguard in reporting on the president’s meeting with his Chilean counterpart.

The Vietnamese president arrived in Peru on Tuesday to attend an Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation, or APEC, summit.

Translated by RFA Vietnamese. Edited by Mike Firn.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Vietnamese.

“Journalist Furkan Karabay is the latest in a long line of journalists who have ended up behind bars in Turkey simply for publishing critical reporting and commentary,” said Özgür Öğret, CPJ’s Turkey representative. “Karabay must not waste months of his life in prison, waiting to be indicted and tried. Turkey’s constant oppression of the free press is an obstacle to citizens’ rights to access information”.

Karabay, a reporter with the independent news site 10Haber, was detained on November 8 during a police raid in Turkey’s largest city, Istanbul.

The following evening, an Istanbul court transferred Karabay to prison pending trial on suspicion of “insulting a public servant,” “making targets of those who were tasked to combat terrorism,” and “knowingly distributing misleading information to the public,” according to news reports. 

A court document seen by Reuters said that the allegations against Karabay related to his social media posts on X, where he named the prosecutors investigating an opposition mayor — facts that Karabay told the court had been reported by a number of media outlets.

On October 31, Karabay reported on the arrest of mayor Ahmet Özer, of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), who prosecutors accused of having links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is banned as a terrorist organization in Turkey.

Journalists in Turkey who report on the judiciary are frequently charged with “making targets of those who were tasked to combat terrorism.”

On December 28, 2023, Karabay was arrested on the suspicion of “making targets of those who were tasked to combat terrorism” after reporting on a bribery trial. He was released pending trial on January 8, 2024.

CPJ’s emails requesting comment from the ministry of justice and the chief prosecutor’s office in Istanbul did not receive any replies.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

Israel has stepped up systematic attack on journalists and media infrastructure since the start of its northern Gaza campaign. Israeli strikes killed at least five journalists in October and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began a smear campaign against six Al Jazeera journalists reporting on the north. There are now almost no professional journalists left in the north to document what several international institutions have described as an ethnic cleansing campaign. Israel has not allowed international media independent access to Gaza in the 13 months since the war began.

Getting information about the impact of the war on journalists – and therefore a clear picture of the impact of the war itself – was already challenging when CPJ issued a report in May on the challenges of verification. Journalists interviewed by CPJ in late October and early November told CPJ that the continued attacks on the media – along with the food shortages, continual displacement, and communications blackouts experienced by all Gazans – placed severe constraints on coverage of the impact of Israel’s northern Gaza military offensive. The offensive began on October 5 by targeting the town of Jabalia and its refugee camp before spreading to all of northern Gaza in what the Israeli military said was a bid to stop militant Hamas fighters from regrouping.

 “Israel is accused of adopting a ‘starve or leave’ policy to force Palestinians out of northern Gaza. It seems clear that the systematic attacks on the media and campaign to discredit those few journalists who remain is a deliberate tactic to prevent the world from seeing what Israel is doing there,” said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna, in New York. “Reporters are crucial in bearing witness during a war, without them, the world won’t be able to write history.”

Reports from the area say that the IDF burned schools, attacked hospitals and medical staff, and detained and abused men. Scores of people have been killed, tens of thousands of people have been forced to flee, and families separated as the attack continues.

The U.N. secretary general, António Guterres; Jordan’s foreign secretary; and the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem are among those describing the assault as an “ethnic cleansing,” with the U.N. Human Rights Office fearing it could lead to the potential destruction of the Palestinian population. 

A news void is one of the direct impacts of this campaign, potentially leaving possible war crimes with no evidence or documentation.

CPJ documented the following threats to journalists and press freedom in northern Gaza during the recent weeks:

Journalists killed in strikes

CPJ confirmed at least five killings of journalists in Jabalia and Gaza City since October 6: 

• An Israeli drone missile killed AlHassan Hamad, an 18-year-old Palestinian freelance photographer who worked with several media outlets during the war, shortly after he finished a video report in Jabalia on October 6. 

• An Israeli drone strike killed Mohammed Al-Tanani, a 26-year-old Palestinian camera operator for the Hamas-owned Al-Aqsa TV, while his TV crew was reporting on Israeli forces operations in the Jabalia refugee camp on October 9. The strike also injured TV correspondent Tamer Lubbad. Both were wearing “Press” vests and helmets at the time.

• Three Palestinian journalists — Nadia Emad Al Sayed, Saed Radwan, and Haneen Baroud — were killed alongside eight others in an Israeli airstrike on a school sheltering displaced families in Gaza City on October 27. The bombs hit one of the classrooms they had turned into a makeshift newsroom. 

“The situation is catastrophic and beyond description,” a camera operator for the privately owned Al-Ghad TV, Abed AlKarim Al-Zwaidi, told CPJ. “We do not know what our fate will be in light of these circumstances.” 

The IDF responded on October 31 to CPJ’s email requesting comment on these killings, repeating previous statements it could not fully address questions if sufficient details about individuals were not provided. The statement reiterated previous comments that it “directs its strikes only towards military targets and military operatives, and does not target civilian objects and civilians, including media organizations and journalists.”

CPJ is also investigating reports that two other journalists were killed during this time in northern Gaza. 

Starvation and aid blocks

Israel, accused of blocking humanitarian aid into Gaza since the start of the war, has throttled food and humanitarian aid from entering northern Gaza since October 1 and ordered all residents to evacuate, making it all but impossible for journalists to keep working, several members of the media told CPJ.       

Al-Zwaidi – one of the journalists who described Israel’s actions as ethnic cleansing – told CPJ that journalists, like most civilians in northern Gaza, “have not had food or anything clean to drink for more than 20 days.” He said most journalists are “trying to eat the minimum amount of food that keeps them alive,” and they drink what is “semi-wastewater, full of germs.” 

The IDF’s October 31 response to CPJ’s request for comment said that more than 392 aid trucks, mainly carrying food, had entered northern Gaza in recent weeks, and supplies were available in warehouses scattered throughout the northern region.

The IDF also cited October 28 and 30 announcements by COGAT (Coordinator of the Government Activities in the Territories), the Israeli unit responsible for the coordination and facilitation of humanitarian initiatives, that it had facilitated patient and staff evacuations and delivered supplies at the Kamal Adwan hospital. One of the area’s last functioning medical facilities, Kamal Adwan, has been repeatedly attacked by Israel, which claims it has been used by Hamas.

Tor Wennesland, the U.N. special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, told the U.N. Security Council on October 29 that northern Gaza had received virtually no humanitarian assistance since the start of October. The U.S. envoy to the U.N. warned that Israel must improve its flow of aid or face cuts to American military assistance.

Journalists arrested, detained

• Israeli military forces arrested Nidal Elian, editor-in-chief at the satellite channel Al-Quds Today, on October 22 in Beit Lahia. 

His wife told CPJ that Israeli military forces issued an order through a drone’s loudspeaker for residents to evacuate the area because the IDF was going to destroy it and to go to a school near the Kamal Adwan hospital. When they arrived, Israeli soldiers separated the men from the women and detained Elian. Elian’s whereabouts remain unknown.

• The IDF also detained Al-Ghad TV’s Al-Zwaidi for several hours on October 25. 

After around four hours of bombing and firing on the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia,  Al-Zwaidi told CPJ that Israeli forces ordered everyone in the hospital to go into the yard and remove their clothes down to their underwear. The journalist said their hands were tied tightly and they were forced to march to a nearby Israeli army barrack, with soldiers and tanks following them. 

Al-Zwaidi told CPJ that the soldiers pressed the muzzles of their guns to the detainees’ heads and ordered them to kneel with their heads on the ground for more than five hours in the sun. He said the soldiers beat him twice before releasing him.  

The IDF responded on October 31 to CPJ’s email requesting comment on these detentions, saying that the IDF detains individuals suspected of terrorist activity and releases anyone found not to be involved. The IDF added that detained individuals are “treated in accordance with international law.” 

Coverage constraints

Journalists who spoke to CPJ said there are very few reporters left to document atrocities in northern Gaza. Those who remain have to struggle with communication and internet shutdowns that limit their ability to report the news.

“There is a frightening difficulty in [obtaining] media coverage inside Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip,” Al-Zwaidi told CPJ. Journalists are trying to continue to circumvent the shutdowns by using e-sims, but the need to find areas of higher elevation to get a signal increases their risk of targeting by Israeli forces.

“I face death at every moment in my attempts to provide media coverage and keep the northern Gaza Strip in the spotlight,” Al-Zwaidi said. 

The IDF has also prevented reporters from approaching sites that have been bombed or attacked, further suppressing documentation of alleged crimes, Osama Al Ashi, a camera operator with China’s state-run CCTV television and freelance documentary producer, told CPJ. 

Equipment shortages, low morale

In addition to shortages of vital equipment such as cameras and protective helmets and vests, the morale of journalists still in northern Gaza is dropping as “they feel ignored by the rest of the world,” Al Jazeera correspondent Mohammed Quraiqi told CPJ. 

“The lack of interest and assistance directed to journalists locally and internationally allows their continuous targeting and killing,” Quraiqi told CPJ. “Unfortunately, no one stands with journalists, neither in the northern nor the southern Gaza Strip, from official, regional, or international bodies, to provide them with the necessary support.”

Northern Gaza “has become one of the most difficult and dangerous environments for journalistic work in the world,” Al Ashi told CPJ. 

“The feeling of fear and anxiety [occurs] all the time. I fear for my family, and I fear being among them; it is a very difficult feeling,” Al Ashi told CPJ. “But I am convinced that my presence as a journalist in the northern Gaza Strip to convey the image is very important. Otherwise, Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip would be isolated from the entire outside world.”

The difficulties for journalists in northern Gaza “is greater than any description,” Basel Khaireddine, a northern Gaza correspondent for the Iranian state-run broadcaster Al-Alam TV, told CPJ. 

“There is a constant deliberate targeting of journalists, not only because they are journalists and transmit the news, but also because the occupation targets all residents,” Khaireddine told CPJ. “Everyone is within its range of fire, and it does not differentiate between a woman, a man, or a child. It also does not differentiate between a journalist and others, even though journalists are civilians.

Restricting medical care

Amid the destruction of Northern Gaza’s medical facilities and detention of medical staff, as of November 8. Israel had not approved the emergency medical evacuation of Al Jazeera camera operators Fadi Al Wahidi and Ali Al Attar for treatment outside the Gaza Strip. Al Wahidi was severely wounded by a gunshot wound in Jabalia on October 9; Al-Attar sustained serious injuries from shrapnel from an October 7 Israeli airstrike.  

 CPJ has joined other rights organizations in urging Israel to authorize their evacuation and treatment. 

The IDF responded on October 31 to CPJ’s email requesting comment on these injured journalists on October 31 by referring CPJ to COGAT. CPJ’s November 1 email to COGAT asking whether the journalists would be allowed to receive medical care outside the Strip did not receive a response by CPJ’s requested November 4 deadline.

Terror allegations against journalists

On October 23, the IDF accused six Palestinian journalists working with Al Jazeera in Gaza of being members of the militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, raising fears that they could be targeted for killing by Israeli forces.  

The journalists are Anas al-Sharif, Talal Aruki, Ismail Farid, Alaa Salama, Ashraf Saraj, and Hossam Shabat.

Salama, Al Jazeera Mubasher’s correspondent in southern Gaza and a journalist for 18 years, told CPJ he denied these “false allegations” against him, adding that he worries that “the Israeli army is creating justifications to…target journalists, especially [as] the Palestinian media has played a major role in refuting the Israeli narrative.”

Saraj, Al Jazeera Mubasher’s correspondent in central and southern Gaza and a journalist for six years, told CPJ he has felt increasingly in danger since the accusations were made. 

“Since the first day of the war, I have continued my journalistic work, and I have proof of that because the screen belies any allegations,” Saraj told CPJ. “Today, I feel like I am waiting for death and the moment when my martyrdom is announced.”

Shabat, Al Jazeera Mubasher’s correspondent in northern Gaza, told CPJ that anxiety and fear would not deter them from continuing their coverage.

“We convey the truth on Al Jazeera Mubasher, and we move within the areas classified by Israel as safe,” Shabat said. “We are citizens, and we convey their voices. Our only crime is that we convey the image and the truth and do not belong to the Hamas movement.” 

Al Jazeera has rejected the allegations against the journalists and CPJ has condemned Israel’s claims that they are members of militant groups, noting that Israel has repeatedly made similar unproven statements without producing credible evidence.  

The IDF said in its October 31 response to CPJ that it had no further comment on the six journalists beyond what was published on October 23.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

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In late September, Torri was driving down the highway with her 11-year-old son Junior in the back seat when her phone started ringing.

It was the Hamilton County Sheriff’s deputy who worked at Junior’s middle school in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Deputy Arthur Richardson asked Torri where she was. She told him she was on the way to a family birthday dinner at LongHorn Steakhouse.

“He said, ‘Is Junior with you?’” Torri recalled.

Earlier that day, Junior had been accused by other students of making a threat against the school. When Torri had come to pick him up, she’d spoken with Richardson and with administrators, who’d told her he was allowed to return to class the next day. The principal had said she would carry out an investigation then. ProPublica and WPLN are using a nickname for Junior and not including Torri’s last name at the family’s request, to prevent him from being identifiable.

When Richardson called her in the car, Torri immediately felt uneasy. He didn’t say much before hanging up, and she thought about turning around to go home. But she kept driving. When they walked into the restaurant, Torri watched as Junior happily greeted his family.

Soon her phone rang again. It was the deputy. He said he was outside in the strip mall’s parking lot and needed to talk to Junior. Torri called Junior’s stepdad, Kevin Boyer, for extra support, putting him on speaker as she went outside to talk to Richardson. She left Junior with the family, wanting to protect her son for as long as she could.

Richardson quickly made his intentions clear. “We’re coming to arrest him,” he told the parents.

In Torri’s memory, everything that happened next is a blur. Both parents began pleading with the officer: They told him Junior is autistic and would feel claustrophobic in the back of a police car in handcuffs. They said he wasn’t a danger to anyone. Could they drive him to the juvenile detention center themselves? “‘There’s no reason for you to put bracelets on an 11-year-old. He doesn’t understand,’” Boyer recalls saying.

It didn’t work. Torri went inside to get Junior, holding back tears as she tried to explain what was happening. Boyer heard Junior crying on the other end of the phone and began to give him a pep talk. “‘Hey, listen, they got it wrong. I’m on my way down to the jail, and I will not leave until you come home with us. But you have to go with them,’” he recalls telling Junior. “‘Just let them take you.’” Family members followed Torri and Junior into the parking lot to see what was happening, and strangers watched from their cars. Junior’s 5-year-old brother was sobbing.

Richardson put handcuffs on the 11-year-old and locked him in the back of the patrol car. In a police report written later that day, Richardson cited a new state law as the basis for the arrest. He did not respond to multiple requests for comment or to a detailed list of questions.

After a shooter killed six people at Nashville’s Covenant School in 2023, Tennessee’s Republican-controlled legislature ignored calls to pass gun control measures. Instead, they passed a series of increasingly punitive laws aimed not only at preventing future violence but dissuading kids from making threats that disrupt school and terrify other students.

Two contradictory laws went into effect before this school year began. One requires school officials to expel a student only if their investigation finds the threat is “valid,” a term that the law does not define. The other mandates that police charge people, including kids, with felonies for making threats of any kind, credible or not. As a result, students across the state can be arrested for statements that wouldn’t even get them expelled.

Police in Tennessee say that even when kids make threats that are not credible, they need to be held accountable for their actions — including with arrests and felony charges. The Tennessee Sheriffs’ Association announced in September that law enforcement would “not tolerate anyone making threats and inciting fear within our schools and our community. Those responsible will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

Rep. Cameron Sexton, Tennessee House speaker and the Republican sponsor of the felony law, said his legislation is working as intended and will lead to safer schools. “Unfortunately sometimes you have to make examples of the first few who are doing it so that others know that it’s going to be taken seriously,” he said.

Tennessee has not yet released statewide data on how many arrests for threats of mass violence have been made since school started in August. But Hamilton County arrested 18 students in the first six weeks of the school year, more than twice as many as Nashville’s Davidson County — despite Hamilton having far fewer students. Data that ProPublica and WPLN obtained through a records request shows that at least 519 students were charged with threats of mass violence last school year, when it was a misdemeanor, an increase from 442 the prior year. Many of them were middle schoolers and most were boys. The youngest child charged last school year was 7 years old.

Juvenile defense lawyers, judges, school officials and parents criticized the felony law for casting too wide a net — unnecessarily traumatizing kids by arresting and handcuffing them over jokes, rumors and misunderstandings. Ben Connor, a school board member in Junior’s district, said the new law has muddied the waters, making it more difficult to spot real threats when so much time is spent punishing kids who don’t have the intent or the means to carry out violence.

“We may not even be keeping the kids safer by choosing to just send everyone to jail,” Connor said. “At some point you’re going to get desensitized to so many children going to jail for silly things that a credible threat could easily pass through the cracks of that system.”

The incident that got Junior in trouble happened in science class, during the last hour of the school day. As he would later describe it to his parents, he overheard two other students talking. One was asking if the other was going to shoot up the school tomorrow. Junior looked at the other student, who seemed like he was going to say yes. So Junior answered for him. “Yes,” Junior recalls saying.

According to the police report, other students went to the teacher and told her that Junior said he was going to shoot up the school. Junior denies ever having said that. He lives with his mom, who doesn’t own guns.

It was the type of misunderstanding that, in past years, might have been sorted out by the teacher or a school counselor. But Tennessee law now requires school staff to report threats, credible or not, to law enforcement. If they don’t, they could be charged with a misdemeanor.

Junior was called to the principal’s office to give his version of events. Since it was the end of the day, Torri joined him there when she came to pick him up. The principal, the dean and Richardson questioned Junior about what happened.

After he retold the story, Torri asked what to expect the next day. Torri said the principal responded: “‘Oh, he can attend school,’ as if he was not a threat. No hesitation.”

Relieved by what the principal said, Torri took Junior home to get ready for the birthday party.

Hamilton County Schools did not respond to questions from ProPublica and WPLN about their general approach to threats of mass violence or Junior’s case, even though Torri signed a form giving school officials permission to speak about what happened to her son. Instead, Superintendent Justin Robertson emailed his communications team asking them to send the news organizations a “generic quote” on the district’s position.

“We recognize the critical importance of identifying and assessing any threat of mass violence made within our schools and advocating for a system of assessment that prioritizes our value of care,” a spokesperson wrote in a subsequent email. “It is critical that we work in partnership with our local law enforcement agencies to conduct threat assessments to determine their severity level and hold individuals accountable for valid threats.”

Junior’s parents felt it was overzealous of Richardson to track down Junior and arrest him at the party, especially since the officer knew he would be at school the next day. They later filed a citizen’s complaint against Richardson, stating that he “arrested their son on hearsay” and “wanted glory for making that arrest.” The complaint is still under investigation by the sheriff’s department.

Under the law, Richardson did not need to consider the context or intent before making an arrest.

“We don’t pick and choose,” Hamilton County Sheriff Austin Garrett told a panel of county commissioners at a public hearing in mid-September. His officers “know to make an arrest and charge the person making that threat, child or adult.” When Garrett was elected in 2022, one of his biggest priorities was installing more police in public schools, in part through state grants. Within a year, he succeeded. Garrett turned down requests to be interviewed for this story.

Boyer, Junior’s stepfather, spoke on the phone twice in late October with Richardson’s boss, Hamilton County Sheriff’s Lt. Jeremy Durham. During the calls, which Boyer recorded, Durham said he had reviewed camera footage of the arrest and thought Richardson “did not violate policy.”

“He was not out to get anybody,” Durham said. “None of us like doing this. There’s no high-five or big honor in putting a child in jail.”

Durham said that ultimately internal affairs would review whether the case was handled properly. “We do have discretion, but it puts a little bit more burden on the deputy when it is a felony, especially one like threats of mass violence on school,” Durham said on one of the calls. He did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

ProPublica and WPLN requested data from Hamilton County Schools on their response to threats in the first six weeks of school. The district investigated 38 threats from students in nearly all grade levels, including finger guns pointed at other classmates and remarks about burning down the classroom. One fourth grader was hit with a soccer ball at recess and angrily told students he would blow up the school.

Police arrested 18 students, even though school officials labeled most of the threats as “low level” with “no evidence of motive.” Of the students arrested, 39% were Black, compared to 30% of students in the district overall. And 33% had disabilities, more than double the share of disabled students in the district’s population.

Junior is Black. But his stepdad thought they had more time before they’d have to have the talk about how the police are not always looking out for his best interests. It was a lesson Boyer learned himself when he was a few years older than Junior. At age 13, Boyer was walking his dog when police officers stopped him and slammed him against a fence, saying he “fit the description” of a boy who had escaped from the nearby juvenile detention center.

When he stumbled home, nose bleeding, he sought reassurance from his dad, who greeted him from the porch. His dad’s response has echoed in his head for years: “Yeah, boy, you’re going to deal with that your whole life.” Boyer is determined to avoid making the same mistake with his son. “I’m going to go to the end of the earth for my kids,” he said.

Hundreds of children across the country are facing charges this year similar to Junior’s, especially after a deadly school shooting in Georgia this September fueled a frenzied response. School officials and law enforcement reported immediate increases in the number of school threats on social media and vowed to crack down on anyone making them.

As soon as Boyer got to Hamilton County’s juvenile detention center the night of the arrest, he started making his case. Junior has autism, he told the man at the front desk. He’s probably scared out of his mind right now. He’s only 11 years old. Is there any way the man could tell Junior his parents were there, so that he knows he’s not alone?

The man offered to bring Junior into a room with a window that was visible from the waiting room so that he could see Boyer. Hours passed like that, father and son trading half-hearted waves and thumbs ups while they waited.

Boyer started to worry that the detention center might try to keep Junior overnight.

But when he asked an employee, he found out that the detention center wouldn’t hold Junior overnight at all — he was too young. According to state records, the detention center holds children ages 12 through 18. Once Richardson finished writing his report, Junior was free to go.

“So all of this is unnecessary. Putting the handcuffs on the kid, this whole show that you guys are trying to have,” Boyer said. “You’re not even gonna accept the 11-year-old.”

Junior was only detained for a few hours before he got to go home, but other kids have been locked in juvenile detention for days. A recent lawsuit against the school board and district attorney in Williamson County, outside of Nashville, alleges that last September a high school junior was handcuffed, taken to juvenile detention and strip searched before being placed in solitary confinement. His requests to speak with his parents or a lawyer were denied, the lawsuit claims. He was held in juvenile detention for three nights, until he was released on house arrest.

The arrest stemmed from an incident in his chemistry class. The principal asserted the student had raised his hand in a “Hilter salute” and made a threat against the school. According to the lawsuit, this claim was baseless and the teacher present denied that the student had done anything inappropriate.

Williamson County’s school board disputed some of the facts of the lawsuit in a court filing in early October, including that a Hitler salute was the reason for the student’s discipline and that the teacher said he’d done nothing wrong. The school board did not describe what happened but said in the filing that the student’s “comments and actions warranted” discipline. A school district spokesperson declined to answer further questions about pending litigation, and the district attorney did not respond to a request for comment.

It’s unclear what will happen with Junior’s case in juvenile court. He was charged with a felony, which could mean imprisonment in a state facility, though it wouldn’t follow him into adulthood because juvenile records are sealed. His case will be heard in juvenile court in December.

“Because the charge has been enhanced to a felony level, some law enforcement officers started the school year thinking they had no choice but to make an arrest,” said Robert Philyaw, Hamilton County’s juvenile court judge and the president of the Tennessee Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges.

Many of the threats of mass violence cases he’s seen should never have made it to his court, he said. One child held up a battery and called it a bomb. He was arrested. Another said he was going to nuke the place. That child was arrested too, even though he realistically “didn’t have any plutonium in his backpack,” Philyaw said.

“If some child says, ‘I’m going to run an elephant through here and it’s going to tear the school up,’ are they going to be arrested?” Philyaw asked. “Even though there’s no elephant in sight or within that child’s control? I don’t know.” Most of these cases in his court this school year have been dismissed after a thorough review, he said.

According to a ProPublica and WPLN analysis of state data, juvenile court judges are rarely finding students “delinquent,” a term equivalent to “guilty” in adult court. In fact, about 80% of young people charged with threats in the past three school years have either had their charges completely dismissed or were sent through diversion programs, which could require them to complete community service hours, therapy or other interventions.

Judges are, in effect, acting as safety nets at the end of a harsh process. In some cases, they’ve overruled district attorneys seeking harsher treatment of children. In Knox County, located in East Tennessee, judges largely rejected the local district attorney’s request to detain all children charged with making threats until trial — which could be up to 30 days.

Rep. Bo Mitchell, a Nashville Democrat who co-sponsored the felony law, acknowledged that children who do not pose any danger are being arrested. But he said that district attorneys and judges should use good judgment when determining how to handle the charge.

But Matt Moore, a defense lawyer in West Tennessee, said the stakes for children are too high to rely on the discretion of individual prosecutors and judges as protection from an overly punitive law.

“The whole point is, these are juveniles. They’re supposed to make mistakes. They’re supposed to be young and dumb,” he said. “And if you don’t have a judge or a district attorney who take that into account, these kids’ lives are basically over.”

The only thing Junior loves more than talking about football is playing it. When the weather is too harsh to get outside, he plays his favorite football video game.

His parents sat high up in the bleachers one day in early October as he ran drills alongside his teammates. They picked him out from the other students easily, his height and stocky build adding to his talent as a lineman. He often encourages the younger players on the team, an unofficial mentor.

“This field is his place,” Torri said, smiling. “He’s the gentle giant of the field.”

That night, Hamilton County Schools had been planning to host a town hall about the threats and arrests. Junior’s parents were hoping to attend and share their story as a way to advocate for their son while the charge against him remains pending in court. But the board canceled the meeting at the last minute without giving a clear explanation.

By the time the two parents found out about the regularly scheduled school board meeting later that week, it was too late to sign up to make a public comment. They felt like they were constantly bumping up against roadblocks in a system that wasn’t designed to let them be heard.

The school district has been grappling with the state laws since the start of the school year. Connor, a school board member, is the father of four daughters in the public school system. He drafted a resolution in an attempt to convince legislators to align the way schools and police handle threats of mass violence. Most importantly, he said, police should have to consider whether a threat is valid before making an arrest, just like schools are required to do before expulsions.

“As a result of this unfortunate disparity,” the resolution reads, “students who have not made valid, credible threats against the security of the school or the safety of their classmates are nevertheless being arrested by law enforcement and detained when these same students might not face discipline at school.”

The school board was supposed to vote on the resolution twice in the last two months, but it canceled both votes. Connor said the board will instead try to speak directly with the authors of the law. A group of parents, many organized by a chapter of the far-right group Moms for Liberty, showed up to speak out against the resolution at a board meeting in September. One school employee and parent begged the board not to ask for a change in the law and asked them to treat all threats the same: “How can you be sure it’s a valid threat?”

Junior was suspended for two days, according to his parents, but the consequences of the arrest have lasted much longer. Junior can barely talk about what happened, even with his parents. He gets scared when he spots a police officer on the street. Little by little, Junior said, it’s gotten easier for him to sit in the classroom of the teacher who reported him to the police and to walk past the officer who handcuffed him and put him in the back of a cop car.

In past years, Junior had struggled with reading and math due to his disability and required extra support in school. And it seemed to be working. Before the arrest, Junior was “rocking this school year,” his mom said. “I’m a proud mama.” He would check his own grades daily, excited to see how well he was doing and track his progress. His parents worry his improvements might be derailed.

“So do you fault the officer? Do you fault the new law? Who takes responsibility of this massive problem?” Boyer said. “We’re traumatizing our children.”

This content originally appeared on ProPublica and was authored by by Aliyya Swaby, ProPublica, and Paige Pfleger, WPLN/Nashville Public Radio.

“With a new president, Sri Lanka has an opportunity to improve press freedom,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi. “Police should drop their complaints against journalists Selvakumar Nilanthan and Tharindu Jayawardhana and allow them to work freely.”

On October 20, police in eastern Batticaloa district arrested Nilanthan after he did not attend a court hearing related to a 2019 investigation on multiple allegations, including obstruction of a public officer and defamation over his reporting on alleged government corruption.

Nilanthan told CPJ that neither he nor his lawyer received notice of the September hearing before he was detained in an overcrowded cell in Eravur town with an open defecation area. 

Nilathan was detained together with journalist Kuharasu Subajan, his surety in the case responsible for guaranteeing that the defendant appears for court hearings.

The two were released the next day, when Nilanthan was granted bail after a court denied the police’s request for a 14-day remand. His next hearing is on January 20. 

Separately, on October 9, Induka Silva — head of the police Criminal Investigation Department’s homicide unit — sought an order from the capital’s Colombo Fort Magistrate Court against Jayawardhana, editor-in-chief of the news website MediaLK, over a video in which he commented on allegations of misconduct against Silva and the appointment of Ravi Seneviratne to the Ministry of Public Security.

At the time the video was published, Silva was investigating Seneviratne over the government’s failure to prevent the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings that killed 269 people. Seneviratne was the senior deputy inspector-general of the CID at the time.

On October 12, Silva was transferred to the police headquarters, according to Jayawardhana and a copy of the order reviewed by CPJ.

Silva’s report, reviewed by CPJ, accused Jayawardhana — who has reported extensively on the attacks — of publishing false informationand obstructing the investigation into Seneviratne. The next hearing is scheduled for January 15, Jayawardhana told CPJ, adding that he feared he would be arrested.

Seneviratne told CPJ that Silva’s report against Jayawardhana violated the journalist’s freedom of expression. 

CID Director Mangala Dehideniya and Eravur police officer-in-charge N. Harsha de Silva told CPJ that they were unable to immediately comment and did not respond to CPJ’s subsequent text messages.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

The son-in-law of former Myanmar dictator Than Shwe has been arrested on charges including threatening national security and disturbing the peace with his posts on social media, junta authorities announced.

Nay Soe Maung was detained on Wednesday in the city of Mandalay for “propaganda,” and “provocations” on his social media page, junta authorities said in a statement. Charges included involvement with a terrorist group, sedition, inciting fear and threatening national security.

“These people have destroyed national peace and stability by spreading fear among the public,” the junta’s Ministry of Information said in a statement late on Thursday on the arrest, referring to pro-democracy groups set after the military overthrew an elected government in February 2021.

The ministry did not say Nay Soe Maung was a member of those “terrorist groups” but implied that he sympathized with them.

“They have decided to break government mechanisms, inciting, spreading propaganda and threatening through social media in various ways,” the ministry said.

Nay Soe Maung is a medical doctor and a former military officer. His father in law, Than Shwe, headed the military junta from 1992 to 2011, before handing over leadership of the armed forces to the current junta chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.

The junta did not give details of the social media posts it objected to but Nay Soe Maung had made comments on his Facebook page objecting to the 2021 coup. He also provided medical treatment to people hurt in anti-military protests, witnesses said at the time.

Recently, he posted a note of sympathy upon the death of Zaw Myint Maung, a jailed senior member of Aung San Suu Kyi’s political party, saying he was a respected leader who inspired people. Activists said Zaw Mynit Maung did not receive proper treatment for cancer in prison.

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Since the coup, thousands of protesters, students and workers have been charged with incitement for speaking out against the military.

Nay Soe Maung’s father, Tin Sein, served as deputy minister of defense under another old dictator, Ne Win, who seized power in a 1962 coup, ushering in the military’s unrelenting domination of politics.

The arrest of such a well-connected figure is rare and it illustrated Min Aung Hlaing’s undisputed position of power, said a political commentator, who declined to be identified for security reasons.

“He’s the new dictator … Now, anyone who wants to take Min Aung Hlaing’s place must fall in line,” he said, referring to possible contenders.

Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by RFA Staff.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Burmese.

“The arrest of Abdel Khaleq Farouk shows once again how far the Egyptian government is willing to go to stifle reporting and commentary it disagrees with,” said Yeganeh Rezaian, CPJ’s interim Middle East and North Africa program coordinator. “Egypt must let Farouk go without charges, release journalist Ahmed Bayoumi, arrested last month, and stop its newly intensified campaign of locking up the press.”

Farouk appeared before the Supreme State Security Prosecution (SSSP) on October 21. an unnamed legal source told The New Arab that his arrest was likely prompted by a series of articles that he published on his Facebook account. These articles were critical of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s economic policies, particularly regarding the construction of Egypt’s New Administrative Capital and Sisi’s stance on the Israel-Gaza war. Farouk was previously arrested in October 2018 after publishing a book which questioned the government’s economic policies.

In a separate incident, journalist Ahmed Bayoumi of the independent media outlet Erem News was arrested September 16 and the circumstances of his arrest and whereabouts have not been disclosed. Bayoumi was previously arrested in December 2017 and charged with joining a terrorist organization and spreading false news. He was held in detention for two years before being released in December 2019.     

On September 9, CPJ, alongside 34 other human rights and press freedom organizations, issued a joint statement condemning the recent arrests and enforced disappearances of four other Egyptian journalists—Ashraf Omar, Khaled Mamdouh, Ramadan Gouida, and Yasser Abu Al-Ela—and called for their unconditional release. The four journalists remain in detention.     

CPJ’s email to the Egyptian Ministry of Interior requesting comment on Farouk and Bayoumi’s arrests did not receive an immediate response.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Myanmar’s junta is increasingly targeting aid workers under the pretext that they are supporting the country’s armed opposition, arresting more than 20 in Mon state since June, according to members of civil society groups.

Since the military seized power in a February 2021 coup d’etat, aid groups have filled significant gaps in social services under junta rule – stepping in to deliver much needed food and supplies to the displaced, assist with recovery efforts following natural disasters, and provide critical medical care and burial services for civilians caught in the crossfire of Myanmar’s years-long civil war.

But volunteers told RFA Burmese that as rebel groups have enjoyed more success on the battlefield in recent months, the junta has increasingly accused their organizations of “aiding terrorists,” putting them at risk and creating a chilling effect on the crucial work they do.

Sources with ties to volunteer organizations said that since June the military has arrested more than 20 aid workers in Mon state alone, eight of whom have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms under Myanmar’s Counter-Terrorism Law.

At least four aid workers were murdered over the same period of time in the Mandalay region, and none of the cases have been solved by authorities, said the sources, who spoke to RFA on condition of anonymity due to security concerns.

Arrests in Mon state

On Oct. 9, three members of the Ownerless Social Aid Association in Mon state’s Thanbyuzayat township, including the group’s chairman, were arrested and charged with anti-terrorism laws for allegedly supporting the anti-junta People’s Defense Force, or PDF, said a source close to the organization.

"The chairman, the driver, and the chief financial officer were prosecuted for supplying the PDFs with one sack of rice and 50,000 kyats (US$25), three viss (1 viss = 3.6 pounds) of dried fish and rice, and 200,000 kyat (US$95), respectively,” the source said.

Local PDF units were formed by civilians to protect their communities from the military and many have pledged allegiance to the country’s shadow National Unity Government, or NUG, made up of officials deposed in the coup.

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In June, the military arrested four volunteers with the Kawt San Nai Social Aid Organization Association in Mon’s Kyaikhto township and five from the Lamaing Youth’s Social Aid and Rescue Organization, including the group’s chairman, and charged them under the Counter-Terrorism Law, sources said.

The military also arrested aid workers in Mon’s Mawlamyine, Ramanya, Bilin, Thahton and Mudon townships and sentenced them to long prison terms, they said, adding that civilians in need of medical care died because of the resulting suspension of humanitarian aid.

Beyond Mon state, junta authorities arrested six members of the Thukha Kari Social Aid Association in Sagaing region’s Sagaing township during the first week of May for allegedly supporting the PDF.

Four killed in Mandalay

The crackdown on aid workers may have contributed to a sense of impunity for the unidentified gunmen who on Sept. 25 arrested and killed Soe Win, the chairman of the Moe Metta Social Volunteers Organization, in Mandalay region’s Ngazun township and three other volunteers from the same group the following day, a resident told RFA.

"The chairman was arrested first and then killed,” said the resident. “The next day, a senior member [of the group] and his nephew were also arrested at the same time [as well as a third aid worker]. Later, they were killed and their bodies were thrown into a garbage dump. We still don't know which group killed them.”

The killings took place in Ngazun’s Moe Taung village, where the military and pro-junta militias are known to operate, as well as the PDF, the resident said.

RFA has been unable to independently confirm who was responsible for the killings.

Chilling effect on aid groups

An aid worker, who also declined to be named, said that volunteer groups now feel under threat and unable to operate because of the crackdown.

"At present, most of the relief groups in Mon state have suspended their ambulance services [because of the risk],” said the aid worker. “Earlier, we were able to take rural patients who needed intensive treatment to major hospitals in Yangon and Mawlamyine cities. But these days, the junta won’t even allow us to transport patients in critical condition.”

When asked about the crackdown, Saw Kyi Naing, the junta’s spokesperson and social affairs minister for Mon state, said that he hadn’t heard of the arrests.

“People who abide by the rules and directives can travel freely because all of the groups have been registered,” he added.

Attempts by RFA to contact junta spokesperson Major Gen. Zaw Min Tun about the arrest and jailing of aid workers went unanswered Tuesday.

Translated by Aung Naing. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Burmese.

“Zambian authorities should drop all criminal cases against investigative journalist Thomas Zgambo and allow him to work freely,” said CPJ Africa Program coordinator Muthoki Mumo, in Nairobi. “The judicial harassment of Zgambo exposes the emptiness of President Hakainde Hichilema’s repeated commitments to press freedom.”  

When CPJ visited Zgambo in a police cell on October 17, he said that the police noted his alleged offense as criminal libel while recording his arrest at the station. Zgambo’s lawyer, Jonas Zimba, confirmed to CPJ that his client had not been charged. 

This is Zgambo’s third arrest within a year.

In November 2023, Zgambo was detained for four days on a charge of seditious practices — which carries a sentence of up to seven years — over an article he wrote for the online news outlet Zambian Whistleblower criticizing the government over food imports. 

In August, he was arrested for a second time on a sedition charge for his commentary calling on the government to reveal any links between a property it leased and Hichilema. Both cases are still pending in court.

Zgambo’s latest arrest came hours after Hichilema promised to uphold press freedom in a speech read on his behalf by information minister Cornelius Mweetwa.

“These persistent arrests over my reporting are meant to silence me so that I begin to report positively about the government,” Zgambo told CPJ from his police cell. 

CPJ’s requests for comment via phone and messaging app on October 18 to Hichilema, presidential spokesperson Clayson Hamasaka, and police spokesperson Rae Hamoonga did not immediately any replies.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“There is nothing antisemitic about fighting for people’s right to live,” says Jewish Voice for Peace organizer Elena Stein, who on Monday joined hundreds of protesters arrested to block entrances to the New York Stock Exchange. We discuss the historic mass protest, which called for an Israeli arms embargo and an end to war profiteering by companies like Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. “We are filled with horror beyond words and are attempting to embody just an ounce of that refusal,” Stein says of the moral urgency of protesting Israel’s actions in the Middle East, which she describes as a “war of extermination … done with U.S. cover.” She says JVP chose the stock exchange in order to draw attention to the role of U.S. financial and corporate interests in arming the Israeli military.

This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.

It was unclear what charges Duong Dara could be facing. Earlier this year, he was named in a complaint filed by villagers in southern Svay Rieng province that accused a Phnom Penh company of scamming them out of investments that ranged between US$40,000 and US$120,000.

The Fresh News online news site and the Koh Santepheap newspaper reported that Duong Dara was arrested in connection with a citizen’s complaint. No further details were given.

Duong Dara was appointed secretary of state for the Council of Ministers – the government’s Cabinet – last year and has also worked as a personal assistant to Hun Sen. 

Duong Dara is credited with creating and overseeing Hun Sen’s popular Facebook account, where the former prime minister continues to post statements and personal observations, as well as video clips from public appearances.

The arrest comes several days after Hun Sen wrote on Facebook that another adviser, Ly Sameth, had defrauded several Cambodians over the last two years by soliciting bribes in exchange for favors and government positions.

Hun Sen wrote on Facebook on Monday that Ly Sameth’s assets should be frozen and Phnom Penh court officials should issue an order to return money he accepted from people. 

Police officers went to Ly Sameth’s house on Tuesday morning, but he wasn’t at home and authorities were unable to locate him on Wednesday, Phnom Penh Municipal Police spokesperson Sam Vichheka said. Authorities haven’t charged Ly Sameth, he said.

Business interests

The complaint submitted at Svay Rieng Provincial Court in June stated that the Phum Khmer Group promised that its duck farms, animal feed factories, restaurants and real estate holdings would generate a monthly 4% payment for investors.

One investor told Radio Free Asia that he never received any interest or dividend payments, as promised in the signed contract.

Phum Khmer’s chief executive, Som Sothea, stopped responding to messages, another investor told RFA in June. Som Sothea is believed to be a close friend of Duong Dara.

Several investors told RFA that Duong Dara and his younger brother, Duong Virath, all have shares in the Phum Khmer Group.

Duong Dara said on his Facebook page in June that – other than joining company workers in distributing food to the poor on one occasion – he has no involvement with the Phum Khmer Group’s business interests.

RFA was unable to reach Duong Dara for comment on Friday.

Sam Vichheka, Phnom Penh Municipal Court spokesman I Rin, Phnom Penh Municipal Police Commissioner Chuon Narin also didn’t respond to requests for comment on the arrest.

Translated by Yun Samean. Edited by Matt Reed.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Khmer.

On October 8, 2024, Loffredo, an independent journalist who works with the privately owned outlet The Grayzone, was arrested “on suspicion of serious security offenses for publicly publishing… the locations of missile drops near or inside sensitive security facilities, with the aim of bringing this to the notice of the enemy and thereby assisting them in their future attacks,” according to a statement by his outlet, YNet, and The Intercept.

On October 11, Grayzone Editor Max Blumenthal and the7theye reported that “the district court in Israel has ordered US journalist Jeremy Loffredo to be released from custody but has forbidden him from leaving the country for a period of time.” The Intercept said that Loffredo was ordered to stay in the country till October 20.

“We are deeply concerned by the arrest of journalist Jeremy Loffredo in Israel, which highlights the high level of censorship in the country since the war started, and the ban on him leaving the country,” said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna. “All journalists should be allowed to do their jobs freely and unconditionally to provide the public with important information on an escalating war.”

The charges stem from Loffredo’s report showing the aftermath of Iranian attacks on military and intelligence targets inside Israel. The outlet added it “unequivocally rejects these outrageous accusations from Israeli police.”

YNet said that “charges against him include aiding the enemy during wartime and providing information to the enemy.” Loffredo’s attorney, Leah Tsemel, told YNet that “he published the information openly and fully, without attempting to hide anything. If this information constitutes aiding the enemy, many other journalists in Israel, including Israeli reporters, should also be arrested. A spy would not have acted so publicly and transparently.”

CPJ emailed the IDF’s North America Media Desk and the Israeli police inquiring about the charges, whereabouts and location of Loffredo, but didn’t immediately receive any response.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

“Authorities in the DRC should swiftly and unconditionally release Patrick Lokala and stop harassing him and Érasme Kasongo Kalenga, who was similarly detained on October 7, but provisionally released the next day,” said Angela Quintal, head of CPJ’s Africa program, in New York. “People in power should not be permitted to intimidate the press simply because they don’t want to be scrutinized.”

Lokala, a reporter at the privately owned news site Télé News RDC, was arrested on Monday, October 7, after four judicial police officers using teargas broke into his home in Kinshasa, Lokala’s lawyer Nico Fail told CPJ.

Fail said Lokala was questioned about alleged contempt of court, forgery, and propagation of false rumors in connection with his criticism of the DRC’s judiciary. On Wednesday, he was also questioned about a separate July criminal defamation complaint filed by the head of privately owned Top Congo FM, Christian Lusakueno. 

Justice Minister Constant Mutamba ordered the arrest of the officers involved after video showed the police officer’s harsh treatment of Lokala. Human Rights Minister Chantal Chambu Mwavita said she was monitoring the situation to ensure Lokala’s rights were respected.

Separately, three police officers arrested Mitwaba Community Radio reporter Kasongo on Monday, October 7, and took him to prison in Kipushi, a town in Haut-Katanga province, local journalists Paul Sampwe and Augustin Lumbu told CPJ. Kasongo was detained for alleged defamation for reading a press release on air about alleged misappropriation of mining royalties by traditional leaders.

On Tuesday, October 8, Kasongo was provisionally released, but returned to the prosecutor’s office Wednesday for questioning over allegations of defamation, Junior Ndala, the vice-president of the National Press Union of Congo (UNPC) in Haut-Katanga province, told CPJ.

CPJ’s calls to Haut-Katanga’s governor Jacques Kyabula Katwe went unanswered.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.