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Category: Legal

  • Turkey investigates Kurdish journalist for ‘spreading disinformation’ over crime reporting

    Istanbul, September 23, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists urged the Turkish authorities on Monday to drop the disinformation investigation into Rabia Önver, a reporter for the pro-Kurdish news website JİNNEWS, and stop using house raids to harass journalists.

    “The police raid of JİNNEWS reporter Rabia Önver’s house was completely unjustified for an alleged disinformation investigation and is yet another example of the tactics frequently used in Turkey to intimidate journalists,” said Özgür Öğret, CPJ’s Turkey representative. “Turkish authorities should drop the investigation into Önver’s work, stop harassing journalists with house raids, and allow the media to report without worrying about retaliation.”

    On September 20, police in the southeastern city of Hakkari raided Önver’s house.

    The police had a prosecutor’s order to take the journalist into custody, but the warrant was discontinued after they did not find her at home, Önver’s lawyer Azad Özer told CPJ on Monday. The lawyer also confirmed that Önver was being investigated for “publicly spreading disinformation” due to her reporting on alleged corruption by some authorities involved in a possible narcotics trafficking and prostitution crime ring.  

    CPJ emailed the Hakkari chief prosecutor’s office for comment but received no immediate reply.


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

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • The DOJ Is Clueless Over Iranian Hackers

    The Department of Justice has announced that they are preparing to file criminal charges for the hacking of Donald Trump’s campaign that was done by the country of Iran. The only problem is that the DOJ doesn’t know who they are even going to indict. Mike Papantonio & Farron Cousins discuss more. Transcript: *This transcript was generated by a […]

    The post The DOJ Is Clueless Over Iranian Hackers appeared first on The Ring of Fire Network.

    This post was originally published on The Ring of Fire.

  • Israeli forces raid Al Jazeera’s West Bank office, issue 45 day ban on its journalism

    Beirut, September 22, 2024 – The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Israeli authorities to stop harassing and obstructing Al Jazeera after armed Israeli forces raided the Qatari broadcaster’s office in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah during a live broadcast early Sunday morning, ordered its closure for 45 days, and forced its staff to leave.

    “CPJ is deeply alarmed by Israel’s closure of Al Jazeera’s office in the occupied West Bank, just months after it shuttered Al Jazeera’s operations in Israel after deeming it a threat to national security,” said CPJ’s program director, Carlos Martínez de la Serna, in New York. “Israel’s efforts to censor Al Jazeera severely undermine the public’s right to information on a war that has upended so many lives in the region. Al Jazeera’s journalists must be allowed to report at this critical time, and always.”

    Al Jazeera aired footage of the raid, during which soldiers confiscated documents and equipment from the office. Soldiers seized the microphone from Al Jazeera’s West Bank bureau chief Walid al-Omari while he was live on air with correspondent Givara Budeiri outside the building. Al Jazeera said the forces also removed a poster of Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian American correspondent murdered by Israeli forces in 2022, from the building.  

    The September 22 military order accused the broadcast’s West Bank operations of “incitement to and support of terrorism.” Israeli communications minister Shlomo Karhi confirmed the raid in a statement to Reuters, calling Al Jazeera a “mouthpiece” for Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. “We will continue to fight the enemy channels and ensure the safety of our heroic fighters,” he said.

    CPJ’s headquarters in New York emailed the Israel Defense Forces’ North America desk for comment on the raid and closure but received no immediate response.

    “This is part of a larger campaign against the Palestinian outlets and media in general aimed at erasing the truth,” al-Omari said in an interview with Al Araby Al Jadeed. “We’ve been under increasing incitement since the beginning of the war.”  

    In May, the Israeli cabinet voted to ban Al Jazeera’s operations in Israel after the country’s parliament passed a law authorizing the shutdown of foreign channels’ broadcasts if the content was deemed to be a threat to the country’s security during the ongoing war. Until Sunday the broadcaster had continued to operate from Ramallah, a Palestinian city in the West Bank under Israeli military occupation; it still operates in Gaza, where the Israeli military has killed numerous Al Jazeera staff and freelancers since the start of the Israel-Gaza war in October 2023.


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

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Russia fines 11 journalists, restricts 2 outlets with anti-state laws

    Berlin, September 20, 2024—Russian authorities have deployed laws penalizing “foreign agents,” “undesirable” organizations, and those who “discredit” the army to issue fines against 11 journalists, at least five of whom live in exile, and to retaliate against two media outlets in the last two months.

    The latest figures show that Russia’s crackdown has continued apace since CPJ’s previous report in late July, which found that 13 exiled journalists had been targeted in the previous month.

    Russian authorities have clamped down on independent reporting since their full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 while journalists who have fled into exile have been hit with fines, arrest warrants, and jail terms in absentia.

    Harassed as ‘foreign agents’

    Russian authorities have designated hundreds of media outlets and journalists as “foreign agents,” requiring them to regularly submit detailed reports of their activities and expenses to authorities and to list their status on published content.

    • On August 14, “foreign agent” Idris Yusupov of the independent outlet Novoye Delo was fined 30,000 rubles (US$330) for holding a solitary silent picket in Russia’s southwestern Republic of Dagestan calling for the release of jailed journalist Abdulmumin Gadzhiev and expressing support for Palestinians. “Foreign agents” are not allowed to organize public events.
    • On September 13, one of Russia’s last remaining independent print newspapers Sobesednik was designated a “foreign agent.” The outlet suspended publication while it challenges the decision in court.
    Journalists work in the office of Meduza in Riga, Latvia, in 2015.
    Journalists in the office of exiled media outlet Meduza in Latvia in 2015. (Photo: Reuters/Ints Kalnins)

    Criminalized as ‘undesirable’

    More than a dozen media outlets have been labeled “undesirable,” which means they are banned from operating in Russia. Anyone who participates in them faces fines or up to six years in prison. It is also a crime to distribute the outlets’ content.

    The popular news site Meduza, whose CEO Galina Timchenko won CPJ’s 2022 Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award, has been a key target. The Latvia-based outlet is both a “foreign agent”  and an “undesirable” organization. Meduza’s website was blocked in Russia following its condemnation of the Ukraine war.

    • On July 26, Aida Ivanova, editor-in-chief of the Siberian online outlet SakhaDay, was fined 10,000 rubles (US$109) for posting a Telegram link to Meduza.
    • On July 30, Andrey Soldatov, exiled editor-in-chief of Agentura.ru, which documents the activities of Russian intelligence agencies, was fined 5,000 rubles (US$55) for his reporting and podcast for Meduza.
    • On July 30, Meduza’s exiled journalist Svetlana Reiter was fined 5,000 rubles (US$55) for her reporting, including an interview with the late opposition leader Alexey Navalny’s lawyer.
    • On August 23, Tuyara Innokentyeva was fined 15,000 rubles (US$164) for publishing three links to Meduza in 2020 as the administrator of a now-defunct Telegram channel of the independent newspaper Aartyk.ru based in northeastern Sakha Republic.
    • On September 13, the prosecutor general’s office designated the Poland-based TV channel Belsat as “undesirable,” saying that it had created a negative image of Russia and criticized its “special military operation” in Ukraine.

    ‘Discrediting’ the Russian army

    • Following a police raid on their homes and office in May, the independent newspaper Qirim’s founder Seyran Ibrahimov and editor-in-chief Bekir Mamutov were fined a total of 790,000 rubles (US$8,680) for four offences between June 7 and August 27 for “discrediting” the Russian army and “abusing” media freedom.

    Qirim covers issues affecting the Crimean Tatar ethnic minority in the Ukrainian peninsula seized by Moscow in 2014. The offending articles included a United Nations report on the humanitarian situation in Crimea and an opinion piece on the mobilization of Crimean Tatars into the Russian army in 2022.

    “Fines must be paid within two months of a court decision or they will double,” Ibrahimov told CPJ, adding that the amounts were “unaffordable” for the journalists and that non-payment could result in asset seizure. 

    • On August 16, Pavel Dmitriev, an exiled journalist with Pskovskaya Guberniya newspaper, was fined 30,000 rubles (US$330) for “discrediting” the Russian army in a YouTube video where he criticized President Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine. The exiled outlet has faced multiple criminal charges and raids.


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

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Journalists supportive of ousted Bangladesh leader targeted with arrest, criminal cases

    New York, September 19, 2024—At least four Bangladeshi journalists who produced coverage seen as supportive of recently ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Awami League party remain detained following the establishment of an interim government in August.

    “CPJ is alarmed by the apparently baseless criminal cases lodged against Bangladeshi journalists in retaliation for their work, which is seen as supportive of the recently ousted government,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi. “Bangladesh’s interim government should ensure that authorities respect the procedural rights of those accused, as well as their right to a fair trial, while safeguarding the ability of all journalists to report without fear of reprisal.”

    Hasina fled to India on August 5 following mass protests that ended her 15-year rule. Dozens of Bangladeshi journalists whose reporting was considered favorable of Hasina’s government have since been targeted in criminal investigations.

    On August 31, a court in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka jailed Farzana Rupa, former principal correspondent at the privately owned, pro-Awami League broadcaster Ekattor TV, and Shakil Ahmed, Rupa’s husband and former head of news at the broadcaster, on judicial remand following nine days in police custody, according to a person familiar with the case, who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity due to fear of reprisal.

    Police detained Rupa and Ahmed — who were dismissed from their positions at Ekattor TV on August 8 — at Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on August 21. Officers also confiscated the couple’s mobile phones and passports, according to the anonymous source, adding that the journalists were both being held in relation to two cases of instigating murder during the mass protests.

    Rupa began receiving an influx of threats in July after questioning Hasina about the protests that ultimately led to her ousting, the anonymous source said.

    On September 16, police detained two other Ekattor TV journalists — Mozammel Babu, managing director and editor-in-chief, and Mahbubur Rahman, a senior reporter — along with Shyamal Dutta, editor of the privately owned newspaper Bhorer Kagoj, and their driver, after the group allegedly attempted to illegally enter India from Bangladesh’s northern Mymensingh district.

    The following day, a Dhaka court ordered that Babu and Dutta be held in a seven-day police remand in two separate murder cases, while Rahman and the driver were released, according to the anonymous source.

    Rupa, Ahmed, Babu, and Dutta were also among the more than two dozen journalists named in an August complaint filed at Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal, a domestic war crimes tribunal, on allegations of involvement in crimes against humanity and genocide during the mass protests.

    Twenty-eight other journalists also are facing investigations in connection with the mass protests. On September 4, a court in the southeastern city of Chittagong ordered the Police Bureau of Investigation to probe a criminal complaint filed by a teacher against the journalists and 81 other people.  

    The complaint, reviewed by CPJ, cites several sections of the penal code, including promoting enmity between classes, causing grievous hurt, and kidnapping, as well as sections of the Explosive Substances Act of 1908, which can carry a sentence of the death penalty or life imprisonment. It also accuses several privately owned news outlets — including Ekattor TV, Somoy TV, and the Dhaka Tribune newspaper — of failing to publish or broadcast appropriate coverage of the protests.

    Enamul Haque Sagor, a Bangladesh police spokesperson, did not respond to CPJ’s calls and WhatsApp messages requesting comment on the latest arrests and investigations.


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

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Belarusian journalist Andrei Tolchyn released following presidential pardon

    New York, September 18, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the September 17 release of Belarusian journalist Andrei Tolchyn, who received a presidential pardon after serving almost a year of a two-and-a-half year prison sentence.

    “While we welcome the release of journalist Andrei Tolchyn, he should not have spent a single day in prison,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, in New York. “Despite the recent releases of political prisoners, Belarus remains Europe’s worst jailer of journalists and one of the most hostile places in the world for independent journalism. The authorities must free all members of the press jailed in retaliation for their work.”  

    Tolchyn was among 37 political prisoners pardoned by Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko on September 16 who were convicted on “extremism” charges, the president’s office said in a statement. The list included prisoners with disabilities and chronic conditions.

    “Already in the pretrial detention center [Tolchyn] had health problems: serious leg pain and high blood pressure,” a representative of the Belarusian Association of Journalists, an exiled advocacy and trade group, told CPJ under condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.

    Tolchyn, a freelance camera operator, was detained in September 2023 and sentenced in March 2024 on charges of “facilitating extremist activity” and defaming the president. 

    Authorities have detained Tolchyn multiple times and fined him in connection with his work and coverage of the 2020 protests demanding Lukashenko’s resignation. Tolchyn left journalism in 2020.

    This is the third pardon signed by Lukashenko in the last months; the first one, on August 16, included journalists Dzmitry Luksha and Ksenia Lutskina.

    Belarus is the world’s third-worst jailer of journalists, with at least 28 journalists, including Luksha, behind bars on December 1, 2023, when CPJ conducted its most recent prison census.


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

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Corporate Donors Hide Behind Church Lawsuit To Gain Tax Exempt Status

    A new lawsuit brought by right wing religious organizations could soon make political donations a tax-deductible item, which would lead to even more corporate money flowing into our election process. Mike Papantonio & Farron Cousins discuss more. Transcript: *This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos. Mike Papantonio: A new lawsuit brought […]

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  • Belarus’ dangerous push for Serbia to extradite journalist Andrey Gnyot

    New York, September 17, 2024—Belarusian filmmaker Andrey Gnyot is stuck in a legal limbo after a Serbian appeals court announced on September 11 that it had sent his extradition case to the Belgrade Higher Court for a third review.

    Gnyot, who is currently under house arrest, has been held by Serbian authorities since October 2023 and could face seven years in jail if extradited to Belarus and convicted on tax evasion charges.

    Gnyot told CPJ on September 12 that the “most dangerous thing” about waiting for the hearing, which he said was probably one month away, was it would give President Aleksandr Lukashenko’s authoritarian government more time to “make up any number of new fake criminal cases against me” to persuade Serbia to grant its extradition request.

    “If Serbia extradites Andrey Gnyot to Belarus, it could set a dangerous precedent for Belarusian authorities’ transnational repression of journalists and profoundly undermine Serbia’s aspirations to join the European Union,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “If Serbia is serious about being an EU candidate country, it must respect the bloc’s values of democracy and human rights. Serbian authorities must end these baseless judicial proceedings and free Gnyot immediately.”    

    Serbia applied for EU membership in 2009, but European Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi said in May that the country still needed to proceed with democratic reforms.

    Harassment beyond Belarusian borders

    Belarusian authorities cracked down on independent media following 2020 protests against Lukashenko’s disputed reelection. As hundreds of journalists have fled into exile, the government has stepped up its efforts to reach beyond its borders to harass them. This includes stripping citizenship from exiles convicted on anti-state charges, banning citizens from renewing their passports abroad, initiating criminal proceedings against several exiled journalists, and searching the Belarusian homes of others who have left the country. CPJ is working to determine whether the prosecutions are connected to the journalists’ work.

    In 2021, Belarusian authorities arrested journalist Raman Pratasevich and his girlfriend after diverting a commercial Ryanair flight to the capital Minsk. In 2023, Pratasevich was given an eight-year sentence on charges that included organizing protests and insulting the president, while exiled former colleagues from his Telegram channel NEXTA, Stsypan Putsila and Yan Rudzik, were given sentences in absentia of 20 and 19 years respectively. Pratasevich was later pardoned.

    During the 2020 protests, Gnyot worked with independent news outlets, including Radio Svaboda, the Belarusian service of U.S. Congress-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), and co-founded SOS BY, an independent sports association that influenced the cancellation of the 2021 Hockey World Cup in Belarus. Belarusian authorities later designated both organizations as “extremist.”

    ‘I’m not giving up’

    Serbian authorities arrested Gnyot upon his arrival in the country on October 30, 2023, based on an Interpol arrest warrant issued by the Belarusian Interpol bureau. After seven months in prison, he was transferred to house arrest in June. He denies the charges.

    “No one knows for how long I am stuck in this ‘terminal’ between the East and the West and for how much [longer] I will have enough moral, material, and physical resources. I’m not giving up. But, of course, I’m angry,” Gnyot told CPJ. “I am left in detention, without a job, without means of livelihood, with one hour out of the house, without medical care.”

    Belarus is among the world’s worst jailers of journalists, often using “extremism” laws to incarcerate journalists in retaliation for covering the 2020 protests. At least 28 journalists were behind bars when CPJ conducted its most recent annual prison census on December 1, 2023. (Gnyot was not listed as being held in Serbia at the time due to a lack of information about the connection between Gnyot’s detention and his journalism.)

    A 2023 U.S. State Department report found that prisoners in Belarus jails face harsh conditions, including food and heating shortages, gross overcrowding, and lack of access to basic or emergency medical care.


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

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • WikkiTimes publisher, reporter face criminal charges over reporting on alleged corruption

    Abuja, September 16, 2024—Authorities in Nigeria should discontinue criminal proceedings against journalists Haruna Mohammed Salisu and Yawale Adamu, of the privately owned WikkiTimes news site, and reform laws that criminalize the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday.

    “Nigerian journalists must be allowed to investigate allegations of corruption without fear of imprisonment,” said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Muthoki Mumo, in Nairobi. “The criminal proceedings against WikkiTimes journalists Haruna Mohammed Salisu and Yawale Adamu should never have ended up in court and should be discontinued without delay.”

    Adamu, a reporter, is set to be arraigned on September 17 at a court in the northern Bauchi state on charges of criminal defamation, injurious falsehood, and mischief, in a case privately prosecuted by a businessman, Abubakar Abdullahi, according to the journalist, WikkiTimes lawyer Idrees Gambo, and a charge sheet reviewed by CPJ.

    Gambo told CPJ that Salisu, the outlet’s publisher, who is currently outside of Nigeria, is facing the same charges and that on September 3, the court had issued an arrest warrant for him. The defamation and falsehood charges each carry a sentence of up to five years, with a term of up to two years for mischief, according to the Bauchi state penal code. The journalists would also face an unspecified fine if convicted.

    The charges emanate from an April 16 report alleging that a federal lawmaker from Bauchi state, Mansur Manu Soro, colluded with the businessman to fraudulently divert public funds.

    Abdullahi told CPJ in a phone interview that he was aware of the court case, but he denied instituting the proceedings.

    CPJ’s September 16 calls and messages for comment on the charges to Soro went unanswered.


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

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Dems Fear NY Governor’s Nonstop Problems Will Damage The Party

    New York governor Kathy Hochul has always been deeply unpopular, but the arrest of her chief of staff last week for acting as an agent of China has made the situation so much worse. There are now fears that Hochul’s nonstop problems could severely hurt Democrats this year and beyond in New York. Mike Papantonio & Farron Cousins discuss […]

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  • Former editor subpoenaed in constable’s defamation suit

    The former managing editor of the Sullivan County Democrat, a twice-weekly newspaper in New York’s Catskills Mountains, was subpoenaed on July 18, 2024, to testify and produce documents about a former law enforcement official suing the town of Highland for defamation and discrimination.

    A motion to quash the subpoena by the editor, Joseph Abraham, was denied in September, but the order was stayed for 60 days pending a possible appeal.

    The Democrat published an article by reporter Derek Kirk in August 2022 about a Highland Town Board investigation of its law enforcement entity, a team of constables (or “constabulary”). The board had released a redacted report on its investigation and announced its decision to dissolve the constabulary and instead contract with the county sheriffs.

    The Democrat obtained and confirmed the authenticity of an unredacted version of the board’s report, however, that contained a number of allegations labeled “substantiated” and “unsubstantiated” against one of the constables. The paper’s August 2022 article described the substantiated allegations, which accused Constable Marc Anthony of workplace misconduct.

    Anthony then sued the town, alleging that a town official had leaked information from the investigation that damaged his reputation.

    Abraham left the Democrat in April 2023, according to court documents. In March 2024, he received an email from Anthony’s attorney, reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, asking to talk about the 2022 article. Abraham did not respond.

    The attorney then issued a subpoena demanding Abraham’s testimony and any documents in his possession that referred to Anthony, the constabulary or the article.

    Kirk, the author of the article, confirmed to the Tracker that he was not subpoenaed in the case.

    The court allowed a motion from Abraham to quash that subpoena due to “improper service” — the subpoena had been sent to a house that Abraham owns but does not live in.

    But Anthony’s attorney then issued another subpoena July 18, this time also calling for text messages between Abraham and the town official Anthony had accused of leaking information from the investigation. That official admitted to compiling the board’s report but not to confirming its authenticity to the Democrat.

    That the town official authenticated the allegations within the report for the paper is key to Anthony’s defamation claims against her, his attorney argued.

    Abraham filed another motion to quash Aug. 19, arguing that Anthony was seeking “a broader swath of information that even more clearly violates Mr. Abraham’s rights under the New York Shield Law and the First Amendment.”

    The court denied the motion Sept. 10. Abraham did not respond to a question from the Tracker about whether he plans to appeal the ruling during the 60-day stay.


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

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Parents Are Finally Being Held Responsible For School Shootings

    The tragic school shooting in Georgia has reignited debates about gun control in America. That may be a problem that never gets solved – but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a solution out there, and the way that this case is being handled could offer us an answer to help prevent more tragedies. Mike Papantonio & Farron Cousins discuss […]

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  • Tunisia appeals court upholds Sonia Dahmani’s conviction amid election coverage crackdown

    New York, September 13, 2024—Tunisian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release commentator Sonia Dahmani, following an appeals court decision Tuesday to uphold her conviction for spreading false news with a reduced eight-month sentence, and allow all journalists and news outlets to cover the upcoming presidential elections freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.

    “The sentencing of Tunisian lawyer and media commentator Sonia Dahmani to eight months in prison on appeal, instead of releasing and acquitting her, is unacceptable because she did not belong in prison in the first place,” said CPJ Interim MENA Program Coordinator Yeganeh Rezaian. “Tunisian authorities must release Dahmani, drop all charges against her, and allow all journalists in the country to cover the elections without intimidation.”

    The Tunisian appeals court, issuing its verdict without a hearing and without the presence of Dahmani’s legal representatives, reduced her sentence from one year to eight months.

    Dahmani, a lawyer and commentator for local independent radio station IFM and television channel Carthage Plus, was arrested on May 11 over comments that authorities deemed critical of President Kais Saied. On July 6, a court convicted her and imposed a one-year sentence.

    Dahmani’s defense team said she had been subjected to a “disgraceful body search” while in custody and forced to wear a long white veil typically worn by inmates convicted of sexual offenses.

    Tunisian authorities have tightened their grip over media coverage of the upcoming October 6 elections. Last week, authorities banned sales of the September print issue of Paris-based magazine Jeune Afrique featuring an investigative report about Saied, while the Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE) prevented journalists from attending the announcement of final election candidates. On August 20, ISIE revoked the press accreditation of Khaoula Boukrim, editor-in-chief of local news website Tumedia, which would likely prevent her from covering the elections.

    CPJ’s email to ISIE, and its phone call to the Ministry of Interior, requesting comment on Dahmani’s sentencing, and violations regarding the election coverage received no responses.

    Editor’s note: The headline was updated to correct a typo.


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

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Election Oracles Predict The Next President

    America’s Lawyer E114: The oracle of American politics has unveiled his prediction for which candidate he believes will win the White House this year, so we’ll tell you who it is and why they are the favorite to win. New York governor Kathy Hochul is in deep trouble after one of her aides was arrested […]

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  • CPJ joins call to release over a dozen journalists jailed in Azerbaijan ahead of COP29 

    The Committee to Project Journalists called on the Azerbaijani government to release over a dozen jailed journalists and reform the country’s deeply restrictive media laws in a letter signed by 25 organizations ahead of the United Nations Climate Conference on November 11-22, 2024.

    Azerbaijani authorities have charged 13 journalists over the past year for alleged violations of funding rules in an extensive crackdown on independent media outlets and civil society, amid declining relations between Azerbaijan and the West. 

    CPJ and partners also urged member states of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the conference’s organizing body, to ensure all journalists can freely participate and cover conference developments without obstruction. 

    Read the full statement here.


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

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Texas Governor Creates Special Courts To Benefit Big Oil

    The state of Texas has created a brand new court system that only deals with cases involving big businesses – and you shouldn’t be surprised to learn that the judges chosen for these new courts ALL come from law firms that represented these same companies. Mike Papantonio & Farron Cousins discuss more. Transcript: *This transcript was generated by a […]

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  • Biden Orders DOJ To Smack Down Greedy Price Gougers

    The federal government has filed multiple lawsuits aimed at helping reduce the costs of everything from rent to groceries for consumers. But these lawsuits face a steep uphill battle. Mike Papantonio & Farron Cousins discuss more. Transcript: *This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos. Mike Papantonio: The federal government has filed […]

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  • Texas Judges Gone Crazy For Big Oil

    America’s Lawyer E113: In less than 9 weeks, this presidential election cycle will be over, but we are about to be overloaded by both candidates as they sprint towards the finish line. Saudi Arabia is refusing to pay their bills for weapons that the US has sold them, and in spite of not getting paid, […]

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  • CPJ, others reject 7-year prison sentence for Brazilian journalist over blog

    The Committee to Protect Journalists joined the 10 other members of Brazil’s Coalition in Defense of Journalism in condemning the August 12 sentencing of journalist Ricardo Antunes to seven years in prison for slander, libel, and defamation after he published five blog posts about a businessman.

    The posts dealt with an investigation into an alleged corruption scheme involving the businessman, a company, and Caruaru City Hall in the northeastern state of Pernambuco, in the organization of events.

    “Criminal justice is not the appropriate response to dealing with slander, defamation and libel. These should be addressed solely through civil lawsuits, to enable the balancing of rights and preserving freedom of expression and of the press,” the statement said.

    Read the full statement in English here.

    Read the full statement in Portuguese here.


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

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • CPJ concerned by Kazakhstan’s restrictive new media accreditation

    New York, September 3, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned that recent changes to Kazakhstan’s domestic media accreditation regulations and proposed changes to foreign media accreditation could be used to silence critical journalists.

    “New and proposed amendments to Kazakhstan’s accreditation regulations are excessive and open too many doors to censorship. Instead of the greater openness promised by President Tokayev’s ‘New Kazakhstan,’ what journalists are really getting is ever more creeping state control,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Kazakh authorities should heed journalists’ legitimate complaints and revise the media accreditation rules.”

    The new rules governing domestic media, which went into force August 20, allow journalists’ accreditation to be withdrawn for six months if they twice fail to comply with rules at news events, which could potentially include asking off-topic questions.

    The proposed rules for foreign media, posted for public comment August 19, would allow the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to deny or revoke accreditation for any violation of Kazakh law, including minor “administrative” offenses. A media law passed in June already bans foreign media from unaccredited journalistic activity.

    Press freedom advocates say the proposed changes are worrying given authorities’ monthslong denial of accreditation to dozens of journalists working for U.S. Congress-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Kazakh service, known locally as Radio Azattyq, over a “false information” fine, as well as escalating use of administrative “false information” charges against domestic journalists.

    Diana Okremova, head of local press freedom organization Legal Media Center, told CPJ that the reforms amounted to an “intensification of government control” that would give authorities “wide discretionary tools to clamp down on” journalists.

    CPJ’s emails to the Ministry of Culture and Information and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment did not receive any replies.


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

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • CPJ, others: China criminalizing journalism in Hong Kong with Stand News verdict

    Taipei, September 2, 2024—Hong Kong authorities are criminalizing normal journalistic work with the “openly political” conviction of two editors from the shuttered news portal Stand News for subversion, the Committee to Protect Journalists and four other rights groups said.

    By weaponizing the legal system against journalists, China has ruthlessly reneged on guarantees given to Hong Kong, which should enjoy a high degree of autonomy after the former British colony was handed back to Beijing in 1997, the groups said in a joint statement.

    Former Stand News editors Patrick Lam and Chung Pui-kuen are due to be sentenced on September 26 and could be jailed for two years.

    “We now await with trepidation the outcome of trials targeting senior staff from the defunct Apple Daily newspaper, especially its founder Jimmy Lai who faces the prospect of spending the rest of his life behind bars,” they added.

    Read the full statement here.

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

  • Corrupt Texas Judge Exposed In Disgusting Sex Scandal

    Texas has become the hub for corporate bankruptcy cases where big businesses try to avoid paying out lawsuits, and one judge in particular oversees most of those cases. So it shouldn’t be surprising to learn that this judge is about as corrupt as possible, and reports suggest that an illicit affair that he had with […]

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  • Russian journalist Sergey Mikhaylov sentenced to 8 years in prison

    New York, August 30, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the sentencing Friday of Russian journalist Sergey Mikhaylov to eight years in prison on “fake news” charges and calls on Russian authorities to release him immediately.   

    “The sentencing of journalist Sergey Mikhaylov to eight years in prison on what Russian authorities label as ‘fake news’ is another sign of the Kremlin’s fear of journalists telling the truth about the 2022 civilian massacre in Russian-occupied Bucha,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s program coordinator for Europe and Central Asia. “Russian authorities should not contest Mikhaylov’s appeal and stop their prosecution of independent journalists.”  

    A city court in Gorno-Altaysk, the capital of the Siberian republic of Altai, found Mikhaylov, a publisher of independent Siberian newspaper Listok detained since April 2022, guilty of disseminating “knowingly false information” about the Russian army “under the guise of reliable information” over the information distributed through Listok’s Telegram channel and website about the killing of civilians and the destruction of civilian infrastructure in Bucha and other Ukrainian cities.

    The court also banned Mikhaylov from working as a journalist and administering websites for four years after his release.

    Mikhaylov, who plans to appeal, denied the charges and told the court that he wanted “to reveal the truth” about the Russian-Ukrainian war, protect Russians from state propaganda, and reduce the number of war casualties.

    Russian state media regulator Roskomnadzor blocked Listok’s website in February 2022, and law enforcement raided the outlet’s editorial office and several employees’ homes on the day of Mikhaylov’s arrest.

    Mikhaylov was one of the first journalists detained under the March 2022 law against publishing “fake news” about the army following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

    Russia is the world’s fourth-worst jailer of journalists, with CPJ’s most recent prison census documenting at least 22 journalists, including Mikhaylov, in prison on December 1, 2023.


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

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Policy Doesn’t Matter In 2024

    America’s Lawyer E112: The Party conventions are now in the rearview mirror, but the corporate shadow that hung over both the Democrats and Republicans can’t be ignored. We’ll explain why both events were little more than a big love fest for corporations. One of the biggest corporate bankruptcy judges in the country was caught having […]

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    This post was originally published on The Ring of Fire.

  • Kyrgyzstan Supreme Court upholds shuttering of investigative outlet Kloop

    New York, August 29, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the decision by Kyrgyzstan’s Supreme Court in July to uphold the liquidation of Kloop Media, a nonprofit that runs the investigative news website Kloop.

    “The forced shuttering of international award–winning investigative outlet Kloop is a shameful episode in the history of modern Kyrgyzstan — a country long viewed as a haven for press freedom in Central Asia — and is a clear indication that under President Japarov this reputation no longer holds,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Kyrgyz authorities should immediately reverse their repressive course against the media and allow Kloop and all other independent outlets to work freely.”

    On Thursday, Kloop reported that the Supreme Court on July 16 had upheld a lower court’s refusal to hear its appeal against a February liquidation order. The decision, which Kloop learned of on August 22, marks the end of the outlet’s hopes of overturning that liquidation.

    Kloop founder Rinat Tuhvatshin said the decision was “expected” but that the organization plans to keep publishing “the most penetrating investigations, the most balanced news, and the sharpest commentary.”

    Kyrgyz prosecutors applied to shutter Kloop, a local partner of the global investigative network Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), in August 2023 and blocked its website amid a series of corruption investigations into relatives of Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and other top state officials.

    Under Japarov, Kyrgyz authorities have launched an unprecedented crackdown on independent reporting in a country previously seen as a regional beacon for the free press.


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

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Russia retaliates against foreign journalists covering Ukraine advance into Kursk

    Berlin, August 29, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Russia’s recent launch of a spate of criminal investigations into foreign journalists reporting on the Ukrainian army’s advance into Russia’s Kursk region.

    Since the Ukrainian army started its incursion on August 6, Russian authorities have opened probes into seven foreign journalists accompanying Ukrainian forces to report on the conflict in the western town of Sudzha, accusing them of illegally crossing the border. 

    “The prosecution of the journalists covering an important development in the Russian-Ukraine war is another assault on press freedom,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator, in New York. “These reporters were performing their essential role of informing the public about the ongoing conflict. It is imperative that Russian authorities allow journalists to report on the war from within the conflict zone without the threat of prosecution.” 

    Over a 10-day period from August 17 to 27, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) announced investigations into the following journalists and outlets:  

    • Unnamed Washington Post reporters who visited Sudzha on August 17 accompanied by Ukrainian military personnel. An August 18 Washington Post report said that Siobhán O’Grady, Tetiana Burianova and photographer Ed Ram had traveled to Ukrainian-held territory in Russia. 

    The charge of illegally crossing the Russian border carries a prison sentence of up to five years, according to the Russian criminal code. The FSB said those under investigation will be placed on an international wanted list. 

    CPJ did not receive a response to an email requesting comment on the investigations from Russia’s Foreign Ministry.

    Editor’s note: The first bullet point was updated to correct the characterization of the TV channel.


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

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • CPJ submits report on Iraq to UN’s human rights review

    The Committee to Protect Journalists has submitted a report on the state of press freedom and journalist safety in Iraq and semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan to the United Nations Human Rights Council ahead of its January to February 2025 Universal Periodic Review (UPR) session.

    The U.N. mechanism is a peer review of each member state’s human rights record. It takes place every 4 ½ years and includes reports on progress made since the previous review cycle and recommendations on how a country can better fulfill its human rights obligations.

    CPJ’s submission, together with the MENA Rights Group, a Geneva-based advocacy organization, and the local human rights groups Press Freedom Advocacy Association in Iraq and Community Peacemaker Teams Iraq, shows that journalists face threats, online harassment, physical violence, and civil and criminal lawsuits.

    The submission notes an escalating crackdown on civic space in Iraq where crimes against journalists are rarely investigated, fueling a cycle of violence against the press, while public officials have voiced anti-press rhetoric and attempted to limit access to information.

    Iraq is ranked 6th in CPJ’s Global Impunity Index 2023, with 17 unsolved murders of journalists, and is one of the few countries to have been on the Index every year since its inception in 2007.

    CPJ’s UPR submission on Iraq is available in English here.


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

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Biden Takes On SCOTUS With Final Days In Office & JD Vance Regret Sinks In For Republicans

    In an op-ed, President Biden called for sweeping reforms for the Supreme Court, including term limits and a code of ethics. Also, Donald Trump thought he picked a winner when he selected Senator JD Vance as his running mate, but Republicans disagree with his choice. Mike Papantonio & Farron Cousins discuss more. Transcript: *This transcript was generated by a […]

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    This post was originally published on The Ring of Fire.

  • CPJ welcomes conviction in killing of Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German

    Washington, D.C., August 28, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomed the news that jurors had reached a decision in the trial of Robert Telles, who was found guilty of killing Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German.

    “While Wednesday’s ruling will not bring Jeff German back to his family, friends, and colleagues, the conviction sends an important message that the killing of journalists will not be tolerated,” said CPJ U.S., Canada, and Caribbean Program Coordinator Katherine Jacobsen. “It is vital that the murder of journalists should be taken seriously and perpetrators held accountable.”

    German, a veteran reporter who covered organized crime and local politics, was found stabbed to death on September 2, 2022, outside his home in Las Vegas, Nevada.

    Telles, a former Clark County public administrator, lost a re-election bid in June 2022 after German reported on alleged mismanagement in the official’s office.


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

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Turkish court orders social media accounts blocked despite ruling that banned police ‘virtual patrolling’

    Istanbul, August 27, 2024— The Committee to Protect Journalists urges X (formerly Twitter) site administrators not to comply with a Turkish court’s order to block accounts belonging to several journalists and media outlets.

    “Turkish authorities continue to practice the ‘virtual patrolling’ and censorship of social media users under the false guise of national security,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, in New York. “The request to block access to multiple X accounts, including those of journalists and media, will have a negative effect on press freedom in Turkey, where media have already worked under constant government restraints.” 

    On August 20, a criminal court in the northeast city of Gümüşhane ordered 69 X accounts, including those of at least three journalists and a media outlet, to be blocked from access inside Turkey. The court ruling was issued in response to request by the local military police to stop “terrorist organization propaganda,” according to reports. The court document, reviewed by CPJ, did not specify the nature of the alleged terrorist propaganda. 

    The list of accounts CPJ reviewed included those of politicians, activists and individuals from various countries. As of August 27, some of those accounts were not accessible from inside Turkey, while others were suspended or deleted. The accounts of Amberin Zaman, chief correspondent for the independent news website Al Monitor; Deniz Tekin, a correspondent for the local media freedom group MLSA in the southeastern city of Diyarbakır; and the pro-Kurdish daily Yeni Yaşam were accessible despite being included on the court list. The account of Öznur Değer, a reporter for the pro-Kurdish news site JİNNEWS, was inaccessible. 

    The Constitutional Court of Turkey canceled the Turkish police force’s authority for “virtual patrolling” in 2020 due to the right to privacy and the protection of personal data. However, the Turkish security forces continue the practice.

    CPJ emailed Turkey’s interior ministry, which oversees the military police, for comment but didn’t receive a reply. 


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

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.