The January “10 Most Urgent” List Spotlights Threats Faced by Press Over the Past Year

NEW YORK – Jan. 6, 2021 – Imprisoned Chinese journalist Zhang Zhan, who has been detained since May 2019 following the publishing of a video critical of the government’s countermeasures to contain the virus, tops the January ranking of the One Free Press Coalition’s “10 Most Urgent” list of press freedom cases. The “10 Most Urgent” list, issued by a united group of pre-eminent editors and publishers, spotlights journalists whose press freedoms are being suppressed or whose cases are seeking justice.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) confirms that there were at least 207 press freedom violations in 2020 relating to the pandemic. The January list, which focuses on “the year in press freedom”, highlights the wide range of threats faced by journalists throughout the past year. In 2020, Coalition members joined widespread calls for jailed journalists to be released due to heightened risk of contracting Covid-19 in detention conditions and today, at least three imprisoned journalists who were featured on the “10 Most Urgent” list in 2020 are now free.

Published at www.onefreepresscoalition.com and by all Coalition members, the 23rd “10 Most Urgent” list includes the following journalists, ranked in order of urgency:

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1. Zhang Zhan (China)

Impacts of the COVID-19 crackdown. Zhang Zhan, an independent journalist who had been posting reports from Wuhan on Twitter and YouTube since early February, went missing on May 14, one day after she published a video critical of the government’s countermeasures to contain the coronavirus. Shanghai issued a notice stating that Zhang had been arrested and detained for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.” She has reportedly been on a hunger strike for seven months, is being force-fed through a feeding tube and kept under physical restraint 24/7. China is the No. 1 jailer of journalists, according to CPJ, with 47 journalists behind bars. In two separate cases, journalists Chen Qiushi and Li Zehua went missing after reporting on Covid-19 from Wuhan and reappeared months later.

2. Solafa Magdy (Egypt)

Impact of “fake news” anti-press rhetoric. In 2020, Egypt led countries in imprisoning journalists on false news charges in 2020. That includes Solafa Magdy, a freelance reporter who has spent more than a year behind bars. Since her November 2019 arrest for covering immigration and human rights in Cairo, state prosecutors have filed additional charges for crimes allegedly committed while in pretrial detention. She has been charged with membership of a banned group and disseminating false news. Magdy’s health has suffered behind bars by deliberate medical neglect and inhumane prison conditions. Fellow Egyptian journalist Mohamed Monir died from Covid-19, after contracting it while held in pretrial detention.

3. Katsiaryna Barysevich (Belarus)

Covering protests an increasing danger. Belarus is a new addition to CPJ’s prison census, with 10 journalists behind bars as of December 1, compared to zero in 2019. Police in Belarus have been routinely arresting and charging journalists covering anti-government protests with “participating in unsanctioned rallies” and sentencing them to short stays in prison or fines. Katsiaryna Barysevich, who was arrested in November 2020 on suspicion of violating medical confidentiality with “grave consequences” in an article about the death of a man during a protest, is facing criminal charges punishable by up to three years in prison. Barysevich is a staff correspondent at the independent news website Tut.by and had been covering nationwide protests that erupted after the August 9 presidential election.

4. Dindar Karatas (Turkey)

Anti-state charges remain common across the globe. Kurdish journalist Dindar Karataş was detained and his equipment confiscated in November in the eastern city of Van. He was questioned in relation to his reporting and imprisoned pending trial on suspicion of being a member of a terrorist organization, the outlawed Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK). Karataş was working as a reporter for the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya News Agency, covering a range of sensitive topics such as allegations of torture by state officials, prisoners’ rights and the Kurdish issue. A lawyer for Karataş told the prosecutors that his client wrote more than a hundred stories on different subjects for Mezopotamya during the time he worked there, and choosing 10-15 stories and calling them terrorism propaganda is not sufficient for an accusation.

5. José Abelardo Liz (Colombia)

Persistent impunity. CPJ’s Impunity Index has shown that, in 8 out of 10 cases, the killers of journalists go free. On August 13, José Abelardo Liz was shot and killed during a two-day military campaign to remove members of the Nasa Indigenous group from land near the western Colombian town of Corinto. Liz, 34, was a member of the Nasa Indigenous group and hosted a daily news and culture program, “El Sabor de la Tarde.” A spokesperson for the Nasa community said that soldiers “fired indiscriminately” at Nasa civilians and shot Liz in the chest. To date, there has been no progress in the investigation.

6. Maria Elena Ferral (Mexico)

A dangerous year in Mexico. At least five journalists died in Mexico in 2020. Two unidentified men on a motorcycle shot Maria Elena Ferral at least three times on March 30 while she was leaving the office of a local notary in the city of Papantla, in Veracruz state. She was rushed to a hospital and died during surgery. Ferral was a correspondent for El Diario de Xalapa newspaper and also cofounded El Quinto Poder, a local news website. Veracruz state authorities have issued arrest warrants for at least 11 people allegedly involved in the murder and arrested six of the suspects in the weeks following. Ferral’s daughter said her mother’s life had been in danger because of her writing about the murders of several candidates for mayor of Gutiérrez Zamora.

7. Luis Alonzo Almendares (Honduras)

Local journalists bear the brunt of threats. About 96% of journalists killed in 2020 were local reporters. Freelancer Luis Alonzo Almendares was shot three times by two unidentified individuals on a motorcycle in September in Comayagua. While the shooters fled the scene, bystanders brought the journalist to a local hospital, and he died the next morning. Almendares had posted his local news reporting to his Facebook page, where he identified himself as “The Voice of the Comayaguans.” He had more than 40,000 followers and frequently reported on alleged corruption and mismanagement by local officials. In mid-October, a police spokesperson said that evidence was being analyzed, a hypothesis for the case was still being worked on, and there had been no arrests. There has been no progress in the investigation. 

8. Malalai Maiwand (Afghanistan)

Local journalists bear the brunt of threats. Malalai Maiwand, a reporter at Enikass Radio and TV in Nangarhar and a women’s rights and civil society activist, and her driver were killed in December when unidentified gunmen opened fire on her vehicle. She was on her way to work in Jalalabad, the provincial capital. Earlier in the year, Maiwand had mentioned she was receiving threats, and she had previously spoken about the challenges of being a female journalist in Afghanistan. Her killing came after representatives of the Afghan government and the Taliban militant group recently agreed to a framework to move forward with peace talks in Qatar. 

9. Raif Badawi (Saudi Arabia)

Threats for online reporters. Raif Badawi is a prominent blogger known for advocating secularism and a homegrown liberal system of governance in Saudi Arabia. In 2006, he founded an online discussion forum called “Saudi Liberals” that by 2008 had grown to more than 1,000 registered members who regularly discussed religion and politics. For his support of free discussion on liberal values, he was sentenced in 2012 to 10 years’ imprisonment, 1,000 lashes, a fine of 1 million Saudi riyals (approximately $267,000 USD) and a 10-year ban on travel and media activity to begin after his release. In January 2015, 50 of the 1,000 lashes were carried out in one public session. He has faced medical issues behind bars. He briefly went on hunger strike in August 2020, citing a lack of protection in prison, after another inmate attacked him.

10. Arzu Geybulla (Azerbaijan/Turkey)

Online harassment a relentless threat. Azerbaijani journalist Arzu Geybulla, currently living in Turkey, has been targeted in an online harassment campaign via Instagram, Twitter and Facebook following the publication of an opinion piece accusing her of disrespecting victims/martyrs of the Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict. Geybulla is a columnist and writer, with a special focus on digital authoritarianism and its implications on human rights and press freedom in Azerbaijan. Before this incident, she detailed in 2016 receiving several death threats and numerous messages threatening the safety of her and her family. Her home address has been published online, accompanied by threats of rape and physical violence.

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The One Free Press Coalition is comprised of 38 prominent international members including: Agencia Efe; Al Jazeera Media Network, AméricaEconomía; The Associated Press; 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; 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 business 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 the hashtag #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 onefreepresscoalition.com or @OneFreePress on Twitter.

Contacts:

One Free Press Coalition PR: pr@onefreepresscoalition.com
Committee to Protect Journalists: Bebe Santa-Wood, press@cpj.com

NEW YORK – Dec. 1, 2020 – Imprisoned Turkish journalist Ahmet Altan, who has been detained since September 2016 as part of Turkey’s sweeping purge after the failed attempted coup that year, tops the December ranking of the One Free Press Coalition’s “10 Most Urgent” list of press freedom cases. The “10 Most Urgent” list, issued today by a united group of pre-eminent editors and publishers, spotlights journalists whose press freedoms are being suppressed or whose cases are seeking justice.

The December list focuses on press freedom abuses relating to Covid-19. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has documented 207 pandemic-related press freedom violations globally, including imprisonment, physical attacks, legal threats and harassment. Thousands of individuals and groups have urged the UN to renew its calls to release jailed journalists amid the ongoing health crisis. According to CPJ, at least two journalists, David Romero of Honduras and Mohamed Monir of Egypt, died after being infected with the virus while in government custody. In addition, Azimjon Askarov died in prison in Kyrgyzstan from what his family suspects was Covid-19, though he was denied a test. Among the “10 Most Urgent” cases highlighted in this month’s list is Altan, 70, who is especially vulnerable to coronavirus in prison as he is surrounded by three neighbouring cells displaying Covid-19 positive signs, according to his lawyer.

Published this morning at www.onefreepresscoalition.com and by all Coalition members, the 22nd 10 Most Urgent list includes the following journalists, ranked in order of urgency:

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1. Ahmet Altan (Turkey)

Senior journalist especially vulnerable to coronavirus in prison. Ahmet Altan, 70, has spent more than 1,500 days behind bars and, according to his lawyer, is surrounded by three neighboring cells displaying Covid-19 positive signs. Former chief editor for the shuttered daily Taraf, Altan has been detained since September 2016. In 2018, a court sentenced Altan to life in prison, then in 2019 changed the term to 10.5 years. The retrial convicted him of “aiding a [terrorist] organization without being a member” during the failed attempted coup and sweeping purge in 2016.

2. Mahmoud Hussein Gomaa (Egypt)

Tactics preventing imprisoned Egyptian journalists from being released. This December, Mohamed Hussein Gomaa will have spent four years behind bars—the longest pre-trial detention of any Egyptian journalist currently awaiting a hearing. Gomaa worked with Al-Jazeera and contributed to a documentary about conscription in Egypt. Government officials arrested him in 2016 and called the material false with aims of “spreading chaos.” Gomaa was due to be released on probation in mid-2019, but his detention has been repeatedly extended. 

3. Mohammad Mosaed (Iran)

Tehran sentences journalist to prison to silence reporting on government. Freelance journalist Mohammad Mosaed was arrested in 2019 because of a post on Twitter, then released in early 2020, only to be re-arrested in February and sentenced to nearly five years in prison. Because of a tweet he released during Iran’s internet shutdown last year and government criticism this year, including its lacking preparedness in responding to Covid-19, Mosaed’s charges have included “colluding against national security” and “spreading propaganda against the system.” His sentence also carries a two-year ban on journalism activities and a two-year ban from using all communications devices.

4. Solafa Magdy (Egypt)

Journalist enduring medical neglect and inhumane prison conditions. Freelance reporter Solafa Magdy has suffered deliberate medical neglect and inhumane prison conditions, heightening risk of contracting Covid-19, like fellow Egyptian journalist Mohamed Monir who died from the coronavirus this summer while in pre-trial detention. Magdy was arrested in November 2019 for her coverage of immigration and human rights in Cairo. The state prosecutor’s office has filed additional charges against Magdy for actions she allegedly committed while in pre-trial detention.

 5. Zhang Zhan (China)

Independent journalist imprisoned for coronavirus reporting, now on hunger strike. Since early February, independent journalist Zhang Zhan had been posting reports from Wuhan, including some criticism of the government’s countermeasures to contain the coronavirus. She went missing on May 14, and the following day security officials issued a notice stating that Zhang had been arrested and detained for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.” Her former lawyer resigned from the case in October due to pressure and said Zhang has been on a hunger strike for six months, with her three cellmates taking turns to feed her. Two other Chinese journalists, Chen Qiushi and Li Zehua, had gone missing or been arrested in connection to their Covid-19 reporting.

6. Wan Noor Hayati Wan Alias (Malaysia)

Journalist struggling to find work while facing prosecution for Facebook comments. Journalist Wan Noor Hayati Wan Alias is facing legal prosecution for three comments she posted on Facebook regarding the Covid-19 outbreak in January. Citing “causing public fear or alarm,” the criminal charges which the Malaysian government is pursuing carry a maximum penalty of two years in prison for each individual post. Hayati, who previously reported for Malaysian daily Berita Harian and English newspaper New Straits Times, has lost work due to retrenchment and is struggling to maintain her livelihood as a freelancer. 

7. Hopewell Chin’ono (Zimbabwe)

Journalist in and out of detention for reporting on corruption, twice posting bail. Award-winning journalist Hopewell Chin’ono was arrested ahead of a national anti-corruption protest and charged with incitement, after reporting on alleged Covid-19 procurement fraud within Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Health that led to the arrest and sacking of its health minister. After 45 days in pre-trial detention in a maximum security prison, Chin’ono was released on bail in September, then re-arrested at his home in November originally for contempt of court, but later charged with obstruction of justice for a tweet about the National Prosecution Authority (NPA).

8. Bárbara Barbosa (Brazil)

Journalists obstructed from covering the pandemic in Brazil. On November 2, a group of about nine unidentified men and women harassed and threatened journalist Bárbara Barbosa, cameraman Renato Soder and NSC TV employees in the southern city of Florianópolis while they were preparing a report on noncompliance of the area’s Covid-19 lockdown. Barbosa said she received hostile messages on Instagram after the incident was reported by local media. Separately, a report found that the office of Rio de Janeiro’s mayor used public funds to pay groups of municipal employees to monitor and obstruct journalists at local hospitals and block news crews from covering Covid-19.

9. Aleksandr Pichugin (Russia)

Journalist found guilty for coronavirus post and ordered to pay a fine. On November 11, Aleksandr Pichugin was found guilty of “disseminating false information that poses a threat to citizens’ lives and health” and ordered to pay a fine of $3,920. The case stems from an April 12 article on his political commentary and satire Telegram channel “Sorokin Khvost.” Pichugin said the post criticized the Russian Orthodox Church for its failure to take safety measures to protect congregants from contracting Covid-19. He published the post after he and other local bloggers met with the governor of Nizhny Novgorod, who asked them to use their platforms to encourage the population to comply with Covid-19 restrictions, the journalist said.

10. Gautam Navlakha (India)

Charges against senior journalist threaten extended prison term. A human rights activist and columnist at Newsclick news website, Gautam Navlakha has been jailed since April and faces charges on alleged links to Maoist militants and being part of a conspiracy to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He has written frequently on issues related to Kashmir and Maoist separatism. Navlakha, who is in his 60s, has said he maintains his innocence and is worried about receiving a fair and speedy trial. Further, he has said he fears exposure to the Covid-19 virus while in prison and being held in prison for years, unlikely to receive bail due to the nature of the charges against him.

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The One Free Press Coalition is comprised of 38 prominent international members including: Agencia Efe; Al Jazeera Media Network, AméricaEconomía; The Associated Press; 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; 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 business 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 the hashtag #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 onefreepresscoalition.com or @OneFreePress on Twitter.

Contacts:

One Free Press Coalition PR: pr@onefreepresscoalition.com
Committee to Protect Journalists: Bebe Santa-Wood, press@cpj.com

NEW YORK – Oct. 28, 2020 – Slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered in October of 2017 shortly after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, tops the November ranking of the One Free Press Coalition’s “10 Most Urgent” list of press freedom cases. The “10 Most Urgent” list, issued today by a united group of pre-eminent editors and publishers, spotlights journalists whose press freedoms are being suppressed or whose cases are seeking justice.

The November “10 Most Urgent” list is centered on the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, observed on November 2, 2020. Since 1992, when the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) began collecting data, 883 journalists have been murdered. According to CPJ’s annual Global Impunity Index released this week, Somalia, Syria, Iraq and South Sudan are the four countries with the greatest number of unsolved murders targeting the press, calculated as a percentage of the country’s population.

Published this morning at www.onefreepresscoalition.com and by all Coalition members, the 21st 10 Most Urgent list includes the following journalists, ranked in order of urgency:

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1. Jamal Khashoggi (Saudi Arabia)

High-profile murder case seeking answers from U.S. intelligence officials. Jamal Khashoggi, former editor-in-chief of the Saudi newspaper Al-Watan and columnist for The Washington Post, was killed by a team of Saudi military and intelligence officials on October 2, 2018, shortly after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Turkish and Saudi courts have tried and sentenced several suspects in the case. It was revealed in September 2020 that, after Khashoggi’s murder, U.S. President Donald Trump admitted to helping shield Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who ordered the journalist’s murder according to a report released by the CIA. A current lawsuit against the U.S. intelligence community seeks the release of documents that may provide information on its awareness of threats to Khashoggi’s life.

2. Ahmed Hussein-Suale Divela (Ghana) 

No movement to date in bringing 2019 murder to justice. In 2018, a member of parliament during a TV appearance threatened and encouraged violence against Ahmed Hussein-Suale Divela, and Divela had said he feared for his life. A member of the investigative journalism outlet Tiger Eye Private Investigations, 33-year-old Divela was shot and killed by two men on a motorbike in January 2019. He was driving in the Madina neighborhood of Ghana’s capital, Accra, and had been assisting government prosecutors with an investigation into corruption within the country’s soccer leagues. A Tiger Eye lawyer has called for charges to be brought upon the member of parliament, in addition to the two suspects.

3. Dalia Marko (South Sudan)

Suspects’ identities remain unclear in deadly convoy attack. Dalia Marko, a reporter for the local radio station Raja FM, was among five journalists killed when unidentified gunmen ambushed an official convoy in South Sudan in 2015. There were 11 victims in total. According to reports, the convoy was returning from Sepo to Raja, having visited families of individuals killed in another attack by unidentified gunmen, when it was attacked with gunfire and machetes and set on fire. The motive for the attack remains unclear, and government spokesmen pointed blame at the time at different rebel groups. This is the deadliest attack on journalists in South Sudan since CPJ began collecting data in 1992.

4. Natalia Estemirova (Russia)

No justice in the decade since journalist’s kidnapping and murder. Since 2000, at least five journalists from independent Moscow newspaper Novaya Gazeta have been killed, including Natalia Estemirova. She also contributed to Caucasus news website Kavkazsky Uzel, served as a consultant for Human Rights Watch and was one of few people reporting on human rights abuses in Chechnya. In 2009, four men forced the 50-year-old into a car in Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, as she was leaving her apartment for work. According to press reports, the journalist shouted that she was being kidnapped as the car sped away, and later that day her body was found in the neighboring region of Ingushetia with gunshot wounds in her head and chest. A colleague believes Chechen authorities were behind the murder, condemned by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

5. Larry Que (Philippines) 

Journalist’s wife continues seeking justice and answers for his murder. Publisher of weekly community newspaper Catanduanes News Now and owner of a local insurance company, Larry Que was entering an office building in December 2016 when a gunman fatally shot him in the head at close range and escaped on a motorcycle driven by an accomplice. The newspaper had recently published a column by Que alleging “official negligence” over an illegal methamphetamine laboratory and naming Catanduanes Governor Joseph Cua as responsible. Que’s wife believes Cua hired a hitman to “silence” Que. She filed a murder complaint, which police said is still under investigation as of August 2020. She also pursued charges of graft and misconduct against Cua; they were dismissed for lack of evidence.

6. Nabil Hasan al-Quaety (Yemen)

Secessionist conflict threatens justice in journalist’s murder. Journalist Nabil Hasan al-Quaety, 34, whose wife was expecting their fourth child, was killed in the southern port city of Aden on June 2, 2020. A group of men in military uniforms attempted to hit al-Quaety with their car as he exited his home and opened fire when he ran, shooting him in the head, chest and hand. The assailants then fled. A freelance reporter, videographer and photographer, al-Quaety had worked with the news outlet Agence France-Presse since 2015. The Yemeni government claims sole authority in Aden, but the city is effectively run by the Southern Transitional Council fighting for separation from the country. Both have condemned the killing, but an official investigation could prove difficult due to this makeup. A spokesman for the secessionist group said it recently embedded al-Quaety as a photographer and speculated that forces within the government may be responsible for his death. 

7. Danilo López (Guatemala)

Justice stalled in trial of alleged mastermind behind journalist’s murder. Two gunmen shot Danilo López in March 2015, while the reporter for Guatemala City daily Prensa Libre was walking in a park with a fellow journalist. In more than a decade with the newspaper, López had often written about corruption and misuse of public funds and had received threats in connection to his reporting. The case awaits a murder trial against Julio Juárez Ramírez, a former lawmaker who has been charged with orchestrating the attack and sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department under the Global Magnitsky Act. Courts sentenced the getaway driver to 30 years in prison, charged but have not arrested the alleged gunman and acquitted two other suspects. Authorities believe the case may be linked to an organized crime network working with a drug cartel and transferred the case in 2015 to a special court in the capital after local prosecutors investigating the crime received threats.

8. Shujaat Bukhari (India) 

Four suspects, no charges in case of murdered journalist. Four suspects are yet to be charged in the June 2018 killing of Shujaat Bukhari, founding editor of Rising Kashmir newspaper. Several unidentified gunmen fired at him as he was leaving his office for an iftar party. He suffered injuries to the head and abdomen and died, as did two police officers who had been assigned to protect him after an attack in 2000. In the days preceding the incident, Bukhari had requested additional security amid the conflict-ridden situation in Kashmir.  Police claimed that Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based militant group was responsible, but the group has denied involvement. In November 2018, police and the army killed one of the prime suspects in a shootout. There have been no updates in the case since.

9. Norma Sarabia Garduza (Mexico)

Case idling 1.5 years after journalist killed outside her home. In June last year, unknown attackers shot and killed reporter Norma Sarabia, 46, at the front door of her residence in Huimanguillo, in the southern state of Tabasco. She had received frequent death threats as a correspondent for newspapers Diario Presente and Tabasco HOY and had recently reported on a series of violent crimes, including murders and a kidnapping. Soon after her death, the Tabasco state attorney general’s office said in a statement released on Twitter that it had opened an investigation. To date, however, there has still been little movement in the investigation. Sarabia is one of 56 journalists killed in Mexico since 1992.

10. Daphne Caruana Galizia (Malta)

Independent investigation needed into investigative journalist’s death. Daphne Caruana Galizia, a prominent journalist who reported on corruption and helped cover the Panama Papers, was killed in Malta in October 2017 by a car bomb near her house. Her widely read blog, Running Commentary, included investigative reports and commentary on politicians. Former Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat considered Galizia a harsh critic of his but condemned the “barbaric” attack and stepped down in January 2020 over the political crisis sparked after the case. Four men have been in detention—some since December 2017—but no trial date has been set. CPJ and 18 other organizations have called on authorities to prevent political interference in the investigation.

The One Free Press Coalition is comprised of 38 prominent international members including: Agencia Efe; Al Jazeera Media Network, AméricaEconomía; The Associated Press; 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; 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 business 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 the hashtag #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 onefreepresscoalition.com or @OneFreePress on Twitter.

Contacts:

One Free Press Coalition PR: pr@onefreepresscoalition.com
Committee to Protect Journalists: Bebe Santa-Wood, press@cpj.com