Jamal Khashoggi Leads One Free Press Coalition’s Latest “10 Most Urgent” List Of Press Freedom Cases
NEW YORK – July 1, 2019 – Jamal Khashoggi, the murdered columnist for the Washington Post, tops July’s “10 Most Urgent” list from the One Free Press Coalition, which highlights journalists whose press freedoms are being suppressed or whose cases are seeking justice. His ranking at the top of the July “10 Most Urgent” list comes just weeks after a U.N. security expert in June called for an independent criminal investigation into the journalist’s death, which is believed to have been directed by the highest levels of the Saudi Arabian government.
Published this morning by all Coalition members and at https://www.onefreepresscoalition.com, the fifth “10 Most Urgent” list includes the following journalists, ranked in order of urgency:
Jamal Khashoggi (Saudi Arabia), the Washington Post columnist who was brutally murdered at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul. A new United Nations report blamed Saudi Arabia for Khashoggi’s murder. Calls for an independent investigation and for the White House to release intelligence reports continue to go unheeded.
Norma Sarabia (Mexico), the crime reporter for Diario Presente and Tabasco HOY, who was shot to death at her home in Tabasco state, Mexico. The Tabasco state attorney general’s office has opened an investigation into the murder, but the killer remains at large.
Marzieh Amiri (Iran), an economic reporter at the Shargh Daily newspaper, who was arrested by Iranian authorities while covering May Day demonstrations. The authorities have accused Amiri of committing crimes against national security but have not filed charges. She remains in detention.
Azory Gwanda (Tanzania), a freelance journalist, who has been missing since November 21, 2017 following his investigation into mysterious killings in his community. The Tanzanian government has yet to launch a credible investigation into his case.
Stanislav Aseyev (Ukraine), the freelance reporter who disappeared two years ago, was reportedly detained by Russia-backed separatists in east Ukraine. He confessed to espionage charges on a Russian state-run TV channel while under obvious duress, and there are concerns about his health and whether he may be alive.
Aasif Sultan (India), a reporter for the 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.
Daphne Caruana Galizia (Malta), an investigative reporter who helped unearth the Panama Papers, was murdered in a car-bomb blast in 2017 in Malta. There has been little movement on her case since then, and the perpetrators remain at large.
Jones Abiri (Nigeria), who is again behind bars on charges under Nigeria’s cybercrimes act, anti-sabotage act and terrorism prevention act for events that were allegedly carried out in 2016. The publisher and editor-in-chief of the Weekly Source was held without access to his family or lawyer from 2016 to 2018.
Seyoum Tsehaye (Eritrea), who has spent nearly 20 years behind bars for his journalism. As one of several Eritrean journalists arrested after the government summarily banned the privately owned press in 2001, Eritrean authorities have never accounted for the whereabouts, health or legal status of Seyoum and the others.
Wei Zhili (China), a journalist who was arrested in March on charges of disturbing public order, though his family believes 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.
The One Free Press Coalition now counts 36 prominent international members including: AméricaEconomía; The Associated Press; Barron’s; Bloomberg News; The Boston Globe; BuzzFeed; CNN Money Switzerland; Corriere Della Sera; De Standaard; Deutsche Welle; Estadão; EURACTIV; The Financial Times; Forbes; Fortune; HuffPost; India Today; Insider Inc.; Le Temps; Middle East Broadcasting Networks; NHK; Office of Cuba Broadcasting; Politico; Quartz; Radio Free Asia; Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty; Republik; Reuters; The Straits Times; Süddeutsche Zeitung; TIME; TV Azteca; Voice of America; The Washington Post; WIRED; and Yahoo News.
One Free Press Coalition partners with the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) to identify the most-urgent cases for the list, which is updated and published on the first day of every month.
The mission of the Coalition is to use the collective voices of its members – which reach more than 1 billion people worldwide – to “stand up for journalists under attack for pursuing the truth.” News organizations throughout the world can join the Coalition by emailing info@onefreepresscoalition.com. Members of the public are also encouraged to join the conversation using #OneFreePress and following developments on Twitter @OneFreePress.
One Free Press Coalition
The One Free Press Coalition every month spotlights the “10 Most Urgent” journalists who press freedoms are under threat worldwide. The Coalition uses the collective voices of participating news organizations to spotlight brave journalists whose voices are being silenced or have been silenced by “standing up for journalists under attack for pursing the truth.” To see the “10 Most Urgent” list every month and to view a complete list of participating news organizations and supporting partners, please visit https://www.onefreepresscoalition.com or @OneFreePress on Twitter.
Contacts:
OneFreePress: pr@onefreepresscoalition.com
Committee to Protect Journalists: Bebe Santa-Wood, press@cpj.com
International Women’s Media Foundation: Charlotte Fox, cfox@iwmf.org