“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.

“Pakistani authorities must bring the perpetrators of journalist Malik Zafar Iqbal Naich’s killing to justice and implement urgent measures to curb the violence claiming the lives of journalists across the country,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi. “The press in Pakistan is under attack. Without a cohesive strategy and strong political will from both security and political leadership, there is little hope for the protection of journalists and press freedom in the country.”

Naich’s brother, Mohammad Aqil, told police that the journalist had no known personal animosities, leaving the motive behind his killing unclear, according to CPJ’s review of a copy of the First Information Report, a document that opens a police investigation.

CPJ’s text message to Pakistan Minister of Information Attaullah Tarar did not receive a reply.

This has been a deadly year for the press in Pakistan. CPJ confirmed three journalists were murdered in retaliation for their journalism and continues to investigate the circumstances surrounding five other killings, including Naich.

Journalist and police sources told CPJ that three additional Pakistani journalist killings in 2024 were preliminarily indicated to be related to personal disputes.

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

“Pakistani authorities must bring the perpetrators of journalist Malik Zafar Iqbal Naich’s killing to justice and implement urgent measures to curb the violence claiming the lives of journalists across the country,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi. “The press in Pakistan is under attack. Without a cohesive strategy and strong political will from both security and political leadership, there is little hope for the protection of journalists and press freedom in the country.”

Naich’s brother, Mohammad Aqil, told police that the journalist had no known personal animosities, leaving the motive behind his killing unclear, according to CPJ’s review of a copy of the First Information Report, a document that opens a police investigation.

CPJ’s text message to Pakistan Minister of Information Attaullah Tarar did not receive a reply.

This has been a deadly year for the press in Pakistan. CPJ confirmed three journalists were murdered in retaliation for their journalism and continues to investigate the circumstances surrounding five other killings, including Naich.

Journalist and police sources told CPJ that three additional Pakistani journalist killings in 2024 were preliminarily indicated to be related to personal disputes.

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

On Sunday afternoon, Hassan Zaib, a reporter for the privately owned Urdu-language newspaper Daily Aaj, was in a car with his brother in the northwestern city of Peshawar when two unidentified assailants on a motorbike stopped the vehicle and shot the journalist dead on the spot, according to news reports.

“Authorities in Pakistan must immediately end this horrifying wave of violence and hold the perpetrators of the killing of journalist Malik Hassan Zaib to account,” said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martínez de la Serna. “The continued impunity for those who attack journalists is creating an atmosphere of fear and intimidation in Pakistan, which prevents the practice of free and independent journalism.”

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar did not respond to CPJ’s request for comment sent via text message.

At least six other journalists have been killed in Pakistan so far in 2024. Hassan Zaib is the third to die in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, in addition to Khalil Jibran and Kamran Dawar. CPJ is investigating the motives behind the attacks.

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

On Saturday, June 8, acting Punjab governor and speaker of the provincial assembly Malik Ahmad Khan, a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party member, approved a defamation law passed on May 20 despite concerns from journalists, human rights organizations, and opposition lawmakers, according to news reports.

The law, which is being challenged by journalists and press bodies in the Lahore High Court, replaces Punjab’s Defamation Ordinance, 2002 and loosely defines “defamation” and “broadcasting” to include social media platforms. 

Separately, on June 5, Pakistan’s Supreme Court issued show-cause notices to 34 news channels, asking them to explain, within two weeks, why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against them for airing press conferences by two parliamentarians who criticized the judiciary, according to multiple news reports.

The court issued the order while hearing a contempt case against the two parliamentarians, who questioned senior judges alleging the ISI– Pakistan’s premier intelligence agency– was interfering in judicial matters.

“Pakistan’s Punjab government must swiftly repeal the recently enacted defamation law and ensure that any such legislation does not impinge on press freedom,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi. “The media must also be allowed to broadcast key political speeches and developments without interference or fear of reprisal.”

Under Punjab’s new defamation law, claimants may initiate legal action “without proof of actual damage or loss.” Penalties range from three million rupees (US $10,792) to punitive damages 10 times that amount. Tribunals may also order defendants to tender an unconditional apology or issue a directive to suspend or block the social media account or website where the alleged defamatory content was disseminated. 

Pakistan has intermittently blocked access to X, formerly Twitter, since February.

The law also mandates special tribunals, whose members will be appointed by the Punjab government in consultation with the chief justice of the Lahore High Court to adjudicate offenses within 180 days. 

According to Farieha Aziz, a freelance journalist and co-founder of the digital rights organization Bolo Bhi, the appointment procedure represented a conflict of interest because those who select tribunal members can also be complainants.

The law further authorizes the tribunal to pass a preliminary decree against a defendant if they do not obtain a leave to defend, or permission to defend themselves against the accusations, at the outset of trial. Moreover, the law bars commenting on pending proceedings, which Aziz called a “gag order.”

“If a public official has brought a case under the law, it is in public interest to know,” Aziz said.

Defamation claims filed by a “constitutional office” holder such as the prime minister, Supreme Court and Lahore High Court judges, and army chiefs, will be tried through a separate procedure, raising concerns surrounding violations of constitutional rights.

Pakistan’s political environment remains volatile after February elections– widely described as flawed– led to the formation of a coalition government of the PML-N and the Pakistan People’s Party, with the former taking power in Punjab.

Punjab governor Sardar Saleem Haider, a PPP member who was abroad when the defamation law was enacted, earlier stated on June 5 that the provincial government would address the concerns of journalists and other stakeholders, suggesting the legislation would be sent back to the assembly for further consultation.

Punjab information minister Azma Zahid Bokhari did not immediately respond to CPJ’s request for comment.

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

On May 28, 2023, even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the new Parliament building in Delhi, the protesting wrestlers, including Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, were about to hold a Mahila Maha Panchayat. As they tried to march towards the new Parliament building from their site of protest at Jantar Mantar, they were stopped by the police and detained at various police stations across Delhi.

An image, apparently of Sakshi Malik, clicked during the protest, showing her to be pinned to the ground with the boot of a police official on her face, is circulating on social media. The image was shared by AAP MLA from Sultanpur Mukesh Ahlawat, who compared India with the Taliban and questioned the state of affairs in the country. (Archive)

क्या ये देश के लिए महिला रेसलिंग में पहला ओलंपिक मेडल दिलाने वाली @SakshiMalik है?
अगर यह तस्वीर आज की है तो समझ नहीं आ रहा कि यह हिंदुस्तान है या तालिबान?
देश का जमींर जिंदा है या मर गया या फिर बिक गया??#WrestlerProtest pic.twitter.com/Nh7WRR5tq3

— MLA Mukesh Ahlawat (@mukeshahlawatap) May 28, 2023

Another verified user named Kirti Pathak AAP (@kirtispathak), who is described as the state vice-president of AAP in Rajasthan in her Twitter bio, shared the same image asking if it was of Sakshi Malik.

क्या ये देश के लिए महिला रेसलिंग में पहला ओलंपिक मेडल दिलाने वाली @SakshiMalik है?
अगर यह तस्वीर आज की है तो समझ नहीं आ रहा कि देश का जमींर जिंदा है या मर गया ??#WrestlerProtest pic.twitter.com/zcEbu8srZU

— Kirti Pathak AAP (@kirtispathak) May 29, 2023

Ziya Us Salam (@ziyaussalam), whose Twitter bio describes him as a ‘journalist-author’ shared the same image with the caption: “If this image of a woman wrestler who has won medals for India does not stir you, nothing will of this fascist regime.” He later deleted the tweet.

Fact Check

First, we noticed that wrestler Sakshi Malik was wearing a light blue t-shirt during the protest and the subsequent scuffle on May 28. This can be seen in a video that she posted on Twitter. (Archive)

We did a reverse image search of the viral image and found an article in The Asian Age dated January 30, 2021, where the same picture was used in a report on the farmers’ protest. The image is captioned ‘Police pin down a farmer, who allegedly attacked Police SHO (Alipur) Pradeep Paliwal, during clashes between people claiming to be local villagers and farmers at the Singhu border in New Delhi on Friday. (Photo: PTI)’.

A Newslaundry article dated January 29, 2021, too, used the same picture and identified the person seen in the image as a 22-year-old Ranjit Singh, farmer from Kajampur village of Nawanshahr district in Punjab.

A further keyword search led us to an article in The Times of India dated February 1, 2021, which also used the same photograph and wrote how Ranjit Singh was accused by the Delhi Police of attacking a station house officer (SHO) with his sword and injuring him. He was arrested by Delhi Police under various sections, including attempt to murder. According to his brother Jaspreet Singh, Ranjit had gone with members of Kirti Kisan Union to the Singhu border protest.

When we looked for further information, we found an IANS article published by News18 dated January 30, 2021, which contained a zoomed out photograph of the same moment. It was attributed to PTI. The image is captioned: “New Delhi: Police pin down a farmer, who allegedly attacked Police SHO (Alipur) Pradeep Paliwal, during clashes between people claiming to be local villagers and farmers at the Singhu Border in New Delhi, Friday, Jan. 29, 2021. (PTI Photo)”.

Times Now published an article on January 30, 2021, where we found the following photograph captioned ‘Singhu border violence | Photo Credit: ANI’ The article also said: “The man who attacked SHO (Alipur) Pradeep Paliwal has been identified as Ranjeet Singh, 22, a resident of Punjab’s Kazampur village.”

The Newslaundry report also explained the tussle between the protesting farmer Ranjit Singh and the police personnel. It stated: “All of this was shot on camera by journalists and bystanders. It is in one such video that Ranjit was present. Before he entered the frame, members of the mob could be seen pelting stones and shouting at farmers across the barricades. A policeman in riot gear walked among them but not really stopping them. At one point, one of them attempted to yank his lathi but he gently pulled it back. This individual then managed to yank another lathi from a farmer and started to aim it at a farmer across the barricade. It was at this point, Ranjit, with a sword tucked in his belt, emerged from the barricaded area. He did not attack or point his sword at anyone. He then walked back into the barricaded area. In response, Delhi police personnel pushed Ranjit and he responded by pushing them back. In a flash, multiple policemen started raining blows on him with lathis. Ranjit pulled out his sword and raised it but was overpowered by the police who pinned him down and beat him.”

We also came across an interview of Ranjit Singh taken by BBC News Punjabi published on March 18, 2021, after his release on March 17. This video contains footage from the incident. These can be seen at the 0:19-minute, 0:32-minute and 1:01-minute mark.

To sum up, we can conclude that the person pinned to the ground under a boot in the viral image is not Olympic medalist Sakshi Malik, but Ranjit Singh, a farmer from Punjab. The photo was shot by the PTI on January 29, 2021 near Singhu border.

Shreyatama Datta is an intern at Alt News.

The post Photo from 2021 farmers’ stir falsely viral as Sakshi Malik pinned to the ground appeared first on Alt News.

This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Shreyatama Datta.

On May 28, 2023, even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the new Parliament building in Delhi, the protesting wrestlers, including Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, were about to hold a Mahila Maha Panchayat. As they tried to march towards the new Parliament building from their site of protest at Jantar Mantar, they were stopped by the police and detained at various police stations across Delhi.

An image, apparently of Sakshi Malik, clicked during the protest, showing her to be pinned to the ground with the boot of a police official on her face, is circulating on social media. The image was shared by AAP MLA from Sultanpur Mukesh Ahlawat, who compared India with the Taliban and questioned the state of affairs in the country. (Archive)

क्या ये देश के लिए महिला रेसलिंग में पहला ओलंपिक मेडल दिलाने वाली @SakshiMalik है?
अगर यह तस्वीर आज की है तो समझ नहीं आ रहा कि यह हिंदुस्तान है या तालिबान?
देश का जमींर जिंदा है या मर गया या फिर बिक गया??#WrestlerProtest pic.twitter.com/Nh7WRR5tq3

— MLA Mukesh Ahlawat (@mukeshahlawatap) May 28, 2023

Another verified user named Kirti Pathak AAP (@kirtispathak), who is described as the state vice-president of AAP in Rajasthan in her Twitter bio, shared the same image asking if it was of Sakshi Malik.

क्या ये देश के लिए महिला रेसलिंग में पहला ओलंपिक मेडल दिलाने वाली @SakshiMalik है?
अगर यह तस्वीर आज की है तो समझ नहीं आ रहा कि देश का जमींर जिंदा है या मर गया ??#WrestlerProtest pic.twitter.com/zcEbu8srZU

— Kirti Pathak AAP (@kirtispathak) May 29, 2023

Ziya Us Salam (@ziyaussalam), whose Twitter bio describes him as a ‘journalist-author’ shared the same image with the caption: “If this image of a woman wrestler who has won medals for India does not stir you, nothing will of this fascist regime.” He later deleted the tweet.

Fact Check

First, we noticed that wrestler Sakshi Malik was wearing a light blue t-shirt during the protest and the subsequent scuffle on May 28. This can be seen in a video that she posted on Twitter. (Archive)

We did a reverse image search of the viral image and found an article in The Asian Age dated January 30, 2021, where the same picture was used in a report on the farmers’ protest. The image is captioned ‘Police pin down a farmer, who allegedly attacked Police SHO (Alipur) Pradeep Paliwal, during clashes between people claiming to be local villagers and farmers at the Singhu border in New Delhi on Friday. (Photo: PTI)’.

A Newslaundry article dated January 29, 2021, too, used the same picture and identified the person seen in the image as a 22-year-old Ranjit Singh, farmer from Kajampur village of Nawanshahr district in Punjab.

A further keyword search led us to an article in The Times of India dated February 1, 2021, which also used the same photograph and wrote how Ranjit Singh was accused by the Delhi Police of attacking a station house officer (SHO) with his sword and injuring him. He was arrested by Delhi Police under various sections, including attempt to murder. According to his brother Jaspreet Singh, Ranjit had gone with members of Kirti Kisan Union to the Singhu border protest.

When we looked for further information, we found an IANS article published by News18 dated January 30, 2021, which contained a zoomed out photograph of the same moment. It was attributed to PTI. The image is captioned: “New Delhi: Police pin down a farmer, who allegedly attacked Police SHO (Alipur) Pradeep Paliwal, during clashes between people claiming to be local villagers and farmers at the Singhu Border in New Delhi, Friday, Jan. 29, 2021. (PTI Photo)”.

Times Now published an article on January 30, 2021, where we found the following photograph captioned ‘Singhu border violence | Photo Credit: ANI’ The article also said: “The man who attacked SHO (Alipur) Pradeep Paliwal has been identified as Ranjeet Singh, 22, a resident of Punjab’s Kazampur village.”

The Newslaundry report also explained the tussle between the protesting farmer Ranjit Singh and the police personnel. It stated: “All of this was shot on camera by journalists and bystanders. It is in one such video that Ranjit was present. Before he entered the frame, members of the mob could be seen pelting stones and shouting at farmers across the barricades. A policeman in riot gear walked among them but not really stopping them. At one point, one of them attempted to yank his lathi but he gently pulled it back. This individual then managed to yank another lathi from a farmer and started to aim it at a farmer across the barricade. It was at this point, Ranjit, with a sword tucked in his belt, emerged from the barricaded area. He did not attack or point his sword at anyone. He then walked back into the barricaded area. In response, Delhi police personnel pushed Ranjit and he responded by pushing them back. In a flash, multiple policemen started raining blows on him with lathis. Ranjit pulled out his sword and raised it but was overpowered by the police who pinned him down and beat him.”

We also came across an interview of Ranjit Singh taken by BBC News Punjabi published on March 18, 2021, after his release on March 17. This video contains footage from the incident. These can be seen at the 0:19-minute, 0:32-minute and 1:01-minute mark.

To sum up, we can conclude that the person pinned to the ground under a boot in the viral image is not Olympic medalist Sakshi Malik, but Ranjit Singh, a farmer from Punjab. The photo was shot by the PTI on January 29, 2021 near Singhu border.

Shreyatama Datta is an intern at Alt News.

The post Photo from 2021 farmers’ stir falsely viral as Sakshi Malik pinned to the ground appeared first on Alt News.

This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Shreyatama Datta.

But four years later – despite police assurances of progress and two arrests – nobody has been tried or convicted in the journalist’s murder. Meanwhile, crimes against journalists continue. Since Divela’s death, at least 30 other Ghanaian journalists and media workers have faced abuses in connection with their work, including attacks, threats, and arrests.

Ahead of the fourth anniversary of Divela’s murder, CPJ followed up on each of these cases to learn whether anybody had been held responsible. While there were a few patchy attempts at accountability, CPJ found a broad pattern of impunity that flies in the face of Ghana’s reputation as a stable democracy where freedom of the press is enshrined in the country’s constitution.    

Since 2019, CPJ’s research shows that 14 journalists and media workers have been physically attacked in relation to their work – nine of them by members of Ghana’s police or military. The attacks have continued in spite of Ghana’s police and media groups adopting a 2019 framework for improved relations and the safety of journalists. Officials involved were rarely disciplined, and when action was taken journalists said it was insufficient.

In one incident, police officers kicked and punched journalist Malik Sullemana when they arrested him in March 2019, leaving him with blood clots in his left eye and bruises on his limbs. Police temporarily suspended three officers while they conducted an investigation, but Sullemana said that he received no further update about the inquiry. He said that he has since seen several officers involved back on the street in uniform. 

“When something happens people talk about it and then it fizzles out,” said Sullemana, one of the 17 Ghanaian journalists and media workers detained since 2019, most of them briefly.

CPJ found that at least 10 journalists have received written or verbal threats in connection with their work over the past four years. That includes Erastus Asare Donkor, who went into hiding after he was threatened on television by parliament member Kennedy Ohene Agyapong in July 2021. Agyapong, who had also threatened Divela before his murder, said Donkor should be “beaten seriously” over his reporting about Ghanaian officers’ alleged shooting of protesters. Police and parliament both opened investigations into Agyapong’s statement, but the journalist said he was never informed of the findings.

In addition, since 2019, CPJ has documented attacks on the offices of at least three private broadcasters – Benya FM, Zylofon FM, and Radio Ada FM – during which the assailants assaulted journalists, vandalized the premises, or stole equipment. In separate interviews, staff from each of the outlets said the authorities’ responses were insufficient.

In the January 2021 attack on Zylofon FM, for instance, the broadcaster’s security guard shot the attacker and police apprehended the injured man, but after he recovered he escaped from the hospital and has not been rearrested, according to Zylofon presenter Ahmed Abubakar.

The broad lack of accountability has resulted in a tendency toward self-censorship among members of the media, say those interviewed by CPJ. 

“Journalists will always balance a likely attack against the benefits of the story they are pursuing,” said Muheeb Saeed, senior Africa program officer with the Media Foundation for West Africa, a Ghana-based organization that monitors press freedom across the region. He questions whether Ghana’s authorities have the will to protect the press. “The state is too powerful to fail if it actually meant to stamp out impunity. At the highest level there is no commitment.”

Sullemana, for his part, said the attacks amounted to a stain on the country’s reputation. “We are one of the countries in Africa that the rest of the world looks up to. The world considers Ghana as a country of good governance and rule of law,” he told CPJ. But, he said, “it is not safe to practice journalism in Ghana.”

CPJ emailed Ghana’s police press office and its parliament but received no response. Phone calls to police spokesperson Grace Ansah Akrofi went unanswered. CPJ also emailed Ghana’s military but received no response.

Here are details of the cases involving the 30 journalists who have faced abuses for their work since Divela’s murder and what, if anything, authorities have done to respond.

• Malik Sullemana and Raissa Sambou Ebu, reporters for the state-owned Ghanaian Times, were attacked by police in March 2019, and Sullemana was also arrested. Police temporarily suspended three officers involved and opened investigations into others, but Sullemana told CPJ the journalists received no follow up from authorities and that he subsequently saw the officers who attacked him on the street in uniform. 

• Emmanuel Ajarfor Abugri and Emmanuel Yeboah Britwum, an editor and a reporter with privately owned news website Modern Ghana, were arrested by officers from Ghana’s Ministry of National Security in June 2019. Officers confiscated their phones and laptops, and allegedly tortured Abugri. He sued the National Security Coordinator, Inspector General of Police, and Attorney General over the incident and in June 2022 those authorities settled the case, agreeing to publish an apology to Abugri, to recover his confiscated devices, and to compensate the journalist 50,000 Ghanaian cedis (US$ 4,946), according to court documents reviewed by CPJ. As of early 2023, Abugri had received no apology nor the money he is owed, according to his lawyer, Samson Lardy Anyenini. In addition, authorities named in the lawsuit appear to want to revisit the settlement. In a letter, which CPJ reviewed, they asked the journalist’s lawyer to “discuss a proposed revision” of the requirement for an apology.

• Bestway Zottor, director of privately owned broadcaster Radio Tongu, was arrested and detained for two days in January 2020 after authorities accused him of using his radio station to promote separatist agitation. The next month, authorities closed down the broadcaster, which remained closed as of early this year, Zottor told CPJ. 

• Samuel Adobah, a journalist with the privately owned TV Africa broadcaster was attacked by security officers in April 2020. Adobah told CPJ that the military sent him a letter of apology saying the officer who attacked him would be penalized and the military would compensate medical bills for injuries incurred during the attack. Adobah said that he never learned what happened to the officer nor did he receive any money from the military, which did replace a phone that an officer smashed. 

• Yussif Abdul Ganiyu, a reporter for the German government-funded Deutsche Welle, was attacked and briefly detained by security officers in April 2020. Ganiyu told CPJ that Deutsche Welle reported the incident to the Ministry of Information and that he gave a statement to the military police about the attack but that nobody followed up with him. 

• Emmanuel Ohene-Gyan, an editor with the privately owned radio broadcaster Empire FM, was threatened by a family member of a politician in June 2020 over Ohene-Gyan’s reporting that the politician died of COVID-19. The individual said that he must remove his reporting or face the family’s anger. Ohene-Gyan told CPJ that he didn’t report the threats to police because he believed they wouldn’t be taken seriously.  

• Rebecca Asheley Amarh, a reporter with the privately owned Kingdom FM radio broadcaster, was briefly arrested in June 2020. In the same incident, police threatened Philip Akutey Azu, a reporter for the privately owned Atinka TV broadcaster. The two were forced to delete their footage of police slapping a delegate of a local political party. Amah told CPJ that they provided a statement to the Ghana Journalists Association about the incident, but did not learn if anyone had been held to account. 

• Stanley Nii Blewu was beaten by soldiers when both he and Joseph Armstrong Gold-Alorgbey were briefly detained in August 2020. The two reporters for the privately owned TV3 broadcaster had been reporting on a sanitation project. At the time, a military spokesperson told CPJ it was a “misunderstanding” that had been resolved. Blewu said that he didn’t hear further from the military. 

• David Tamakloe, editor in chief of the privately owned Whatsup News, was arrested and criminally charged for “false news” reporting in October 2020. Tamakloe was again arrested and detained by authorities on separate “false news” allegations in April 2021, but has not been formally charged. Tamakloe told CPJ that his 2020 case was ongoing, but his last hearing was in December of that year and he has not been notified of the status of the case. 

• Oheneba Boamah Bennie, a host with the privately owned Power FM broadcaster, was arrested and detained by authorities in December 2020. Authorities sentenced the journalist in February 2022 to two weeks in prison and fined him 3,000 Ghana cedis ($US468) on a contempt of court charge over posts about politics he made on Facebook.

• In December 2020, Afia Pokuaa, an anchor with privately owned Despite Media, was threatened with death for her reporting on that year’s general election by a Ghanaian YouTube personality. She left the country for several weeks as a result. She said she reported the threats to police but received no follow up. 

• In late December 2020, freelance investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni was threatened with death in emails over his election reporting. He said he reported the threats to police, but they closed the case after failing to find the perpetrators. 

• In January 2021, Phillip John Quartey, an anchor with the privately owned broadcaster Metro TV, and a colleague he declined to name for security reasons were verbally threatened by two unidentified men who exited a car and told him they wanted to kill him over his reporting. Philip said he reported the matter to police, who told him they were investigating and would get back to him. As of early 2023 he had not heard from them. 

• In early January 2021, an unidentified man broke into the office of privately owned radio broadcaster Zylofon FM and began shouting the name of anchor Ahmed Abubakar before pepper spraying a technician and vandalizing equipment. Abubakar was unharmed and a security guard shot the man. Police took him to the hospital but he escaped and remains at large. 

• Erastus Asare Donkor, Kofi Asare, and Michael Sakyi, respectively a reporter, a camera operator, and a driver for YouTube-based news outlet Joy News, were arrested and detained, and their car attacked by soldiers in January 2021. Donkor told CPJ that the military conducted an investigation but he was never apprised of any findings. 

• In a separate incident, politician Kennedy Ohene Agyapong said Donkor should be “beaten seriously” for his reporting in July 2021. Donkor told CPJ that Agyapong had not been held accountable for his actions as police and parliament did not release the findings of their investigations into the incident. 

• Caleb Kudah and Zoe Abu-Baidoo Addo, reporters with the privately owned Citi FM broadcaster, were arrested and detained by Ghanaian police in May 2021, and officers beat Kudah in custody. Ghanaian authorities announced the suspension of four officers involved, but within days local media reported that one of the suspended officers was reinstated and promoted. 

• Korle Adjaotor Sorngortse, Ruby Ate, and Gideon Amanor Dzeagu, staff of privately owned broadcaster Radio Ada FM, were attacked in January 2022 at their office by 10 masked and armed men, who threatened to come back and shoot them if they didn’t stop reporting on a specific story. Authorities opened an investigation into the incident, but Dzeagu told CPJ in early 2023 that “we have not received any feedback from the police.” 

• Eric Nana Gyetuah, a producer with privately owned broadcaster Connect FM, was arrested and attacked by police officers in February 2022. Gyetuah told CPJ that police officers had assured him months after the attack that they would inform him if they had any update on their investigation. He has not heard anything since.   

• Michael Aidoo, a member of an investigative journalism fellowship program organized by the local press freedom group Media Foundation for West Africa, was attacked by soldiers who apprehended him and took him to a military base in March 2022. Muheeb Saeed, a senior program officer at the foundation, told CPJ in early 2023 that the defense ministry had not responded to a letter it sent requesting an investigation into the incident. 

• Eric Blessing Eshun and Emmanuel Egyirfah, a host and a producer with privately owned broadcaster Benya FM, were attacked in May 2022. Ghanaian police charged three men for the attack but local media reported that the men pleaded not guilty and were granted bail within days. The journalists’ colleague, Usman Kwaku Dawood, told CPJ that a ruling in the case was expected on January 25.

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