Brooklyn, New York-based Iranian American journalist and writer Masih Alinejad was the target of an international kidnapping plot, according to a federal indictment unsealed on July 13, 2021.

Four Iranian nationals allegedly involved in the country’s intelligence network were indicted with conspiring to kidnap Alinejad, who fled the country in 2009 and has been critical of the Iranian government, The New York Times reported. A fifth individual was indicted on charges of providing financial support for the plot, but wasn’t alleged to have participated in the kidnapping conspiracy; he was arrested in California on July 1.

In an op-ed published by The Washington Post in August 2020, Alinejad wrote that “the Iranian government had unleashed a social media campaign calling for my abduction.” According to the Times, the Iranian government had attempted to induce Alinejad’s relatives into luring her into an abduction in 2018 and began plotting her kidnapping in earnest as early as June 2020.

“As alleged, four of the defendants monitored and planned to kidnap a U.S. citizen of Iranian origin who has been critical of the regime’s autocracy, and to forcibly take their intended victim to Iran, where the victim’s fate would have been uncertain at best,” U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said in a news release.

According to the indictment, the defendants used private investigators to surveil Alinejad’s residence in Brooklyn, capturing photographs and video of her and other members of her household. They also reportedly researched means of transporting Alinejad out of the country, including using military-style speedboats to travel from New York to Venezuela, the government of which has friendly relations with Iran.

Alinejad told CNN after the indictment was unsealed that she has been under FBI protection since the end of 2020, and had been staying at different safe houses.

The four defendants were each charged with conspiracies related to kidnapping, sanctions violations, bank and wire fraud and money laundering and face life in prison, but remain at large, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

“This is not some far-fetched movie plot,” William F. Sweeney Jr., the head of the FBI’s New York office, said in the news release. “We allege a group, backed by the Iranian government, conspired to kidnap a U.S. based journalist here on our soil and forcibly return her to Iran. Not on our watch. When we find you, you will be brought here and held accountable under U.S. law.”

In a statement published by The Iranian Students’ News Agency, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson dismissed the allegations as “baseless and ridiculous,” CNN reported.

Honduran journalist Thirzia Galeas was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement when she requested asylum at the airport in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 23, 2021, according to the Committee for Free Expression in Honduras (C-Libre).

Galeas is a journalist and human rights activist who worked with C-Libre, a Honduran free expression organization that supports independent journalists. She has also reported in Honduras for the digital news outlet Conexihon.hn and Reporteros de Investigación.

In a written statement, Galeas told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that her life was threatened in December 2020 when C-Libre employees were summoned for a security training. Galeas’ statement was translated from Spanish by Dagmar Thiel of Fundamedios, a partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.

The man who was leading the training identified himself as a government employee who worked in the Public Prosecutor’s Office and in government intelligence, Galeas said. She said he gave his name as Lester Obando.

Galeas said that Obando threatened her, telling her that there was a price on her head. She said she asked him why, and he told her it was because she knew a lot of information.

Obando told her that she had been under surveillance for a while, and told her details of what she did when she was on a recent assignment for C-Libre bringing aid to journalists in the city of San Pedro Sula who had been impacted by storms.

Galeas said several other incidents also had raised her concerns. In November 2020, the month before the man threatened Galeas, two other journalists who worked with C-Libre were detained and beaten by members of the Honduran National Police, the organization reported. When the other journalists working for the organization were standing outside of the police building, a person in a military uniform took a photo of the group, according to Galeas.

According to Galeas, Obando indicated that the journalists were detained in order to “disappear” them, or kill them. However, the two journalists were released.

In February 2021, Galeas said there was an assasination attempt on a member of C-Libre, which prompted several C-Libre colleagues to express concerns about their safety to the Committee of Relatives of the Detained and Disappeared of Honduras. Galeas said that was the first time she said that she was afraid.

According to C-Libre, Galeas had faced harassment in Honduras since 2011. In that year, the organization said, she was assaulted by the country’s Presidential Honor Guard as the group arrived at a protest against the murders of journalists in the country. The international press freedom group IFEX reported at that time that Galeas, who was there to observe events, was punched in the face by a soldier.

According to Fundamedios, Galeas entered the United States on a tourist visa and requested asylum because of persecution. She said many journalists have been killed in Honduras.

“I left Honduras for fear of being murdered, of being one more victim,” Galeas wrote in a statement.

The Committee to Protect Journalists, a founding partner of the Tracker, has documented eight journalists in Honduras killed due to their work since 1992. According to C-Libre, 87 journalists have been killed in the country over the last two decades.

Galeas was detained in the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, for 18 days, according to Fundamedios. Her brother told C-Libre that she was held with about 30 other detainees, some of whom were infected with COVID-19.

Galeas has been released and is awaiting a hearing on her asylum request, she told the Tracker.

ICE did not reply to a request for comment.

TV and radio stations owned by the Cox Media Group were forced offline by what was believed to be a ransomware attack starting on June 2, 2021, according to several media reports.

The attack affected ABC affiliates WFTV in Orlando, Florida, and WSOC in Charlotte, North Carolina, as well as NBC affiliate WPXI in Pittsburgh, according to an NBC report. NBC’s June 4 report said the stations had been able to produce some broadcasts for their local audiences.

The three stations are part of the Cox Media Group, which owns more than 100 news outlets in 20 media markets. Radio stations owned by Cox were also affected by the apparent attack, a report from Inside Radio said. It found most news radio stations were back on air on June 4, but not the music stations.

In ransomware attacks an outside individual or group of hackers takes control of a company’s IT and digital services, and then demands ransom money from the company to “release” them.

"We are only able to communicate with each other over personal phones and text messages," a WFTV employee told NBC.

"They wouldn't let us say anything on social media about why we weren't on the air," a WFTV employee told NBC. "We feel a need to let our viewers know."

In Pittsburgh, the IT network staff began shutting down company servers as a precaution on June 3, an employee told NBC. "Since then we've been locked out," leaving staff unable to access emails and internal programs used for their broadcasts, the employee told NBC.

The attack meant some systems were still down the following week, including access to some stations’ digital video libraries, according to media reports. Weather computers were also not working for at least two stations, said CNN sources.

Some reports said that journalists were told not to open emails on their phones, and that broadcast software was not working.

Inside Radio reported that two weeks after the attack, Cox music stations were still not back to full service.

It said: “More than a dozen CMG music stations found … are still offline as the company enters a third week since the hack. Major music brands – like hip-hop/R&B “99 Jamz” WEDR Miami, AC “B98.5’ WSB-FM Atlanta, country “93Q” KKBQ Houston, CHR “The Big Ape” WAPE Jacksonville, soft AC “105.5 The Dove” WDUV Tampa and scores more – are playing this message when listeners attempt to access their stream: ‘This stream is currently unavailable and we are working diligently to bring it back online. Our radio stations continue to broadcast 24/7 and you can listen to us over the air. Thanks for your patience.’”

The Cox Media Group has not confirmed any information about the attack, and it did not respond to a request for a comment from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.