standing up for journalists under attack for pursuing the truth

List

cases of injustice against journalists

10 Most Urgent, August 2019

On August 1, 2019 the Coalition launched the sixth monthly "10 Most Urgent" list (ranked in order of urgency), calling attention to the most pressing cases of journalists under attack for pursuing the truth.


1. Jamal Khashoggi (Saudi Arabia): Stonewalling continues after new UN report implicates Saudi prince for journalist’s murder. Months after his brazen killing, and despite findings from the UN and the CIA that point to the Saudi crown prince’s involvement, there has been no independent criminal investigation. Calls for the White House to release intelligence reports have gone unheeded, along with a deadline to reply to Congress as required under the U.S. Global Magnitsky Act.

2. Azory Gwanda (Tanzania): Tanzanian official claims missing journalist is dead—then backtracks. Azory Gwanda, a freelance journalist investigating mysterious killings in rural Tanzania, has been missing since November 21, 2017, and the government has failed to conduct an investigation or disclose what it knows. On July 10, Tanzanian Foreign Minister Palamagamba Kabudi said in an interview that Gwanda had “disappeared and died,” but backtracked amid requests for clarification.  

3. Juan Pardinas (Mexico): Mexican newspaper editor targeted with death threats for criticizing new president. Mexican media organizations and journalists have recently reported a sharp increase in threats and online harassment over critical reporting of the López Obrador administration. Juan Pardinas, the editor-in-chief of Mexican newspaper Reforma, received a barrage of online harassment and threats after President Andrés Manuel López Obrador criticized the newspaper in April. López Obrador acknowledged the threats against Pardinas and said that his government had offered protective measures to the journalist.

4. Paul Chouta (Cameroon): Journalist in maximum security prison blocked from seeing family. Cameroon Web reporter Paul Chouta was arrested in May, denied bail, and charged with defamation and spreading false news. Chouta’s editor said he suspects the case was in retaliation for critical reporting. His case has been delayed until August 13 and he remains in a maximum-security prison.

5. Azimjon Askarov (Kyrgyzstan): Kyrgyz court upholds life sentence for documenting human rights abuses. Award-winning journalist Azimjon Askarov, who is an ethnic Uzbek, has spent nine years in prison on trumped-up charges for his reporting on human rights violations. Despite persistent international condemnation and calls for his release, a Kyrgyz court that had reviewed his case in light of new legislation ruled to uphold his life sentence on July 30.

6. Ayşe Nazlı Ilıcak (Turkey): Turkish journalist faces 30 years in solitary confinement. Ayşe Nazlı Ilıcak, a commentator for opposition newspaper Özgür Düşünce and Can Erzincan TV, was arrested in 2016 and sentenced in February 2018 to life without parole for trying to overturn the constitution through her journalism. In a separate trial in January, she was sentenced to an additional five years for revealing state secrets. In Turkey, which has been the top jailer of journalists three years in a row, life sentences without parole equate to 30 years in solitary confinement, with limited visits.

7. Marzieh Amiri (Iran): Imprisoned journalist denied healthcare after covering May Day demonstrations. Iranian authorities arrested Marzieh Amiri, an economics reporter at Tehran-based newspaper Shargh Daily, as she covered May Day demonstrations, and her family has had limited contact with her since. Authorities have accused Amiri of committing crimes against national security without giving further details.

8. Jones Abiri (Nigeria): Journalist re-arrested on terrorism and cybercrime charges. Jones Abiri, the publisher and editor-in-chief of the Weekly Source, is behind bars on charges under Nigeria’s cybercrimes act, anti-sabotage act, and terrorism prevention act for crimes allegedly carried out in 2016. The charges are the same ones that a court threw out after he was held without access to his family or a lawyer from 2016 to 2018.     

Jones Abiri (Credit Jonathan Rozen)

9. Aasif Sultan (India): Journalist imprisoned one year without due process for covering conflict. Aasif Sultan, a reporter for Kashmir Narrator, will have been imprisoned one year on August 27, arrested in 2018 and months later charged with “complicity” in “harboring known terrorists.” He has been repeatedly interrogated and asked to reveal his sources by police. Sultan continues to be denied due process, with ongoing delays in his hearings.

10. Truong Duy Nhat (Vietnam): Blogger who disappeared in Thailand imprisoned in Vietnam. Truong Duy Nhat, a Vietnamese reporter with Radio Free Asia, went missing in January in Bangkok, Thailand, where he had applied for refugee status. In March, his daughter learned he was jailed without charge in a Hanoi detention center. Nhat was previously sentenced to two years in prison in 2013 in connection to his critical reporting on the government.

Katherine Love
10 Most Urgent, July 2019

On July 1, 2019 the Coalition launched the fifth monthly "10 Most Urgent" list (ranked in order of urgency), calling attention to the most pressing cases of journalists under attack for pursuing the truth.

1. Jamal Khashoggi (Saudi Arabia): New UN report squarely blames Saudi Arabia and implicates prince for journalist’s murder. Despite the scathing report and earlier findings from the CIA that point to the Saudi crown prince’s involvement, there’s still no independent investigation into the Virginia resident’s brutal murder at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul. Calls for the White House to release intelligence reports have gone unheeded, along with a deadline to reply to Congress as required under the U.S. Global Magnitsky Act.

2. Norma Sarabia (Mexico): Crime reporter shot to death at her home in Mexico. The correspondent for Diario Presente and Tabasco HOY was shot and killed at her home in Tabasco state, Mexico, on June 11. Sarabia had been covering crime and violence and received threats in 2014 for her reporting. The Tabasco state attorney general’s office said it had opened an investigation into the murder, but the killer remains at large.

3. Marzieh Amiri (Iran): Journalist arrested covering May Day demonstrations. The economics reporter at Tehran-based newspaper Shargh Daily was arrested by Iranian authorities while covering May Day demonstrations, and since then her family has had limited contact with her. Authorities have accused Amiri of committing crimes against national security without giving any further details. As of June 2019, no date for release has been given.

4. Azory Gwanda (Tanzania): Independent Tanzanian journalist still missing. A freelance journalist working in rural Tanzania, Gwanda has been missing since November 21, 2017. Before his disappearance, Gwanda had been investigating mysterious killings in his community. The Tanzanian government has so far failed to launch a credible investigation into his case.

5. Stanislav Aseyev (Ukraine): Disappeared reporter turns up in prison, held with limited communication. Ukrainian freelance reporter Stanislav Aseyev disappeared two years ago in Donetsk, Ukraine. He was reportedly detained by Russia-backed separatists in east Ukraine and confessed to espionage charges on a Russian state-run TV channel while under obvious duress. Family members have had intermittent communication with him over the past two years, and there are serious concerns over Aseyev’s health in prison. 

Stanislav Aseyev (Courtesy Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty)

6. Aasif Sultan (India): Journalist imprisoned for covering Kashmir conflict faces health concerns. Aasif Sultan, a reporter for Kashmir Narrator, was arrested and charged with “complicity” in “harboring known terrorists” in August 2018. Sultan, who has health issues, has been repeatedly interrogated and asked to reveal his sources by police

Aasif Sultan (Credit Free Aasif Sultan/Facebook)

7. Daphne Caruana Galizia (Malta): No progress in murder of investigative journalist.  Panama Papers investigative reporter Daphne Caruana Galizia was murdered in a car-bomb blast in 2017 in Malta. There has been little movement on her case since then, and the perpetrators still remain at large. 

8. Jones Abiri (Nigeria): Journalist rearrested on dubious charges. Since May 2019 the publisher and editor-in-chief of the Weekly Source, Jones Abiri, is again behind bars on charges under Nigeria’s cybercrimes act, anti-sabotage act and terrorism prevention act for crimes allegedly carried out in 2016. The charges match those authorities put forth when he was held without access to his family or a lawyer from 2016 to 2018.   

9. Seyoum Tsehaye (Eritrea): Nearly 20 years behind bars for his journalism. Seyoum Tsehaye is one of several Eritrean journalists arrested after the government summarily banned the privately owned press in 2001 in response to criticism of President Isaias Afwerki. Eritrean authorities have never accounted for the whereabouts, health or legal status of Seyoum and the others. 

10. Wei Zhili (China): Chinese journalist arrested for reporting on labor rights. Editor Wei Zhili was arrested by Chinese authorities in March 2019 on charges of disturbing public order, though his family believe it was in connection to his reporting on labor rights issues in their community. According to CPJ’s 2018 prison census, China is the second-largest jailer of journalists in the world. 

Katherine Love
10 Most Urgent, June 2019

On June 3, 2019 the Coalition launched the fourth monthly "10 Most Urgent" list (ranked in order of urgency), calling attention to the most pressing cases of journalists under attack for pursuing the truth.

1. Azory Gwanda (Tanzania): Independent Tanzanian journalist remains missing. Azory Gwanda, a freelance journalist working in rural Tanzania, has been missing since November 21, 2017. Before his disappearance, Gwanda had been investigating mysterious killings in his community. The Tanzanian government has so far failed to launch a credible investigation into his case. 

2. Jamal Khashoggi (Saudi Arabia): Justice denied for murdered Saudi journalist. Months after his brutal murder at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul, and despite findings from the CIA that point to the Saudi crown prince’s involvement, there has been no independent UN criminal investigation. Calls for the White House to release intelligence reports have gone unheeded, along with a deadline to reply to Congress as required under the U.S. Global Magnitsky Act.

Map - 10 Most Urgent - June 2019.png

3. Aasif Sultan (India): Imprisoned for covering conflict. Aasif Sultan, a reporter for Kashmir Narrator, was arrested on “anti-state” charges in August 2018. Sultan, who has health issues, has been repeatedly interrogated by police, demanding that he reveal his sources.

4. Claudia Duque (Colombia): Officials who tortured investigative reporter remain free; harassment continues. Lack of security and safety in Colombia for journalists has forced some to flee the country; two journalists fled after being harassed online by officials. Others, like local journalist Claudia Duque, have endured kidnapping, illegal surveillance, and psychological torture for decades. Courts convicted three high-ranking security service officers for torturing Duque and put another eight on trial. As of June 2019, none has served a day in prison.

5. Miguel Mora and Lucía Pineda (Nicaragua): Nicaraguan journalists detained amid media crackdown. In December 2018, Nicaraguan police raided TV station 100% Noticias and arrested station director Miguel Mora and Lucía Pineda, its news director. Both journalists have been held for over five months on charges of “inciting hate and violence.” While behind bars both have experienced health issues and been denied access to their lawyers.

6. Truong Duy Nhat (Vietnam): Blogger who disappeared in Thailand is imprisoned in Vietnam. Truong Duy Nhat, a blogger with the U.S. Congress-funded Radio Free Asia (RFA), went missing in January in Bangkok, where he had applied for refugee status. The Vietnamese blogger is currently held without charge in a detention center in Hanoi. Nhat was previously sentenced to two years in prison in 2013 in connection to his critical reporting on the government.

7. Sevinc Osmanqizi (Azerbaijan): Extortion threats in retaliation for reporting. The pro-government Azerbaijani news channel Real TV harassed and attempted to extort Sevinc Osmanqizi in retaliation for her political reporting. Osmanqizi, who lives in exile in the U.S., hosts a TV program covering Azerbaijani politics on YouTube. Real TV published audio from one of the journalist’s private phone conversations and, in a separate segment, an anchor threatened to release intimate photos of Osmanqizi unless she ceased broadcasting.

Seyoum Tsehaye (Credit Seyoum Family)

8. Abderrahmane Weddady and Cheikh Ould Jiddou (Mauritania): Imprisoned after reporting on corruption. Bloggers Abderrahmane Weddady and Cheikh Ould Jiddou have been behind bars since March after being accused of spreading false news. Both report on corruption in Mauritania. Authorities questioned the bloggers and confiscated their passports and identification cards. Both are being detained in Dar Naim prison.

9. Seyoum Tsehaye (Eritrea): Nearly 20 years behind bars for doing journalism. Seyoum Tsehaye is one of several Eritrean journalists arrested after the government summarily banned the privately owned press in 2001, in response to criticism of President Isaias Afwerki. Eritrean authorities have never accounted for the whereabouts, health, or legal status of Seyoum and the others.

10. Mina Karamitrou (Greece): No arrests after car bomb attack. A makeshift explosive device was detonated under the car of Mina Karamitrou, a police reporter for CNN’s Greek edition, in May 2019. No one was injured in the explosion, which went off outside the journalist’s home. Karamitrou said she believes the attack was related to her coverage of a man who is serving multiple life sentences for murders. As of late May, no arrests had been made.

Katherine Love