News

November 19, 2024 - Russia/Ukraine - After 1,000 days since Russia’s full-scale invasion began on 24 February 2022, Ukrainian journalists are pressing on despite escalating threats, according to IPI, ECPMF, and IMI data. IPI’s assessment underscores the intense risks: at least 13 media workers killed in combat reporting, countless journalist injuries, and well over 1,000 documented media-freedom violations, including cyberattacks, censorship, and surveillance. The death toll includes frontline reporters like Arman Soldin and Oksana Baulina, many victims of indiscriminate shelling or suspected extrajudicial executions. ECPMF and Media Freedom Rapid Response partner statements mark 19 November 2024...

November 19, 2024 - Palestine - Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has raised serious alarm at recent Israeli actions portraying Palestinian journalists in Gaza as “terrorists.” Director‑General Thibaut Bruttin, speaking in Geneva, condemned this as a deliberate effort by Israeli defense forces to recast frontline reporters—many of whom wear press vests and are civilians—as legitimate military targets. Bruttin described the trend as deeply troubling and unprecedented. He stressed that Gaza is essentially inaccessible to international media, meaning local journalists are “civilians at risk and journalists that might be targeted.” Labeling them terrorists makes it easier to...

November 19, 2024 - Mozambique - In the wake of Mozambique’s disputed October 2024 elections, the once relatively secure environment for journalists has crumbled, thrusting media workers into a perilous landscape of violence, intimidation, and legal harassment. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, at least nine journalists—both local and foreign—have been detained, while two international reporters expelled and Internet shutdowns further crippled independent reporting. On November 14 in Maputo, police apprehended South African journalists Bongani Siziba and Sbonelo Mkhasibe, along with local state broadcaster reporter Charles Mangwiro, detaining them in masked, militarized facilities. They were blindfolded, interrogated...

November 18, 2024 - Turkey - Furkan Karabay, a court reporter for 10Haber, was arrested on several occasions in Turkey due to his investigative reporting and outspoken social media commentary on judicial and political figures. Most recently, he was detained on May 15, 2025, under charges of “targeting public officials involved in counter‑terrorism” and “insulting” President Erdoğan, connected to his reporting on the arrest of Istanbul's opposition mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu. This arrest followed a prior conviction in April 2025 for defamation and insulting the president, which resulted in a deferred sentence of 25 months. Similarly,...

November 18, 2024 - China -  The ongoing national security trial of Jimmy Lai, founder of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, has become a stark symbol of Hong Kong’s diminishing press freedoms under Beijing’s tightening grip. Charged with “collusion with foreign forces” and “conspiracy to produce seditious publications,” Lai faces the possibility of life imprisonment. His prosecution stems from his media work and meetings with international officials, including U.S. lawmakers, which authorities allege were attempts to seek sanctions against China. The trial, which began in December 2023 and has stretched for over 140 days, has...

November 18, 2024 - Palestine - Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh, speaking at a press conference, praised the courageous work of Palestinian journalists amid the ongoing Gaza war. He emphasized their critical role in "publishing the facts that the occupation tried to hide," documenting child casualties, hospital bombings, starvation tactics, and forced displacement—efforts he said were vital for preserving truth and holding Israel accountable.. He highlighted that these journalists courageously brought Gaza's narrative and humanitarian realities to the world, under extremely dangerous conditions. The remarks reinforced President Mahmoud Abbas’s support for the journalists, acknowledging the...

November 18, 2024 - Iran/Palestine -  Tehran hosted a poignant international summit titled “Assassination of Truth”, commemorating over 200 journalists from Gaza and Lebanon who were killed by Israeli fire in the past year. The emotionally charged event featured coverage by Iranian state media, including Press TV and Tehran Times. Iranian media figures—such as IRIB director Peyman Jebelli—spoke at the summit, offering tributes to the fallen reporters and repeating sentiments like Hezbollah’s Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s proclamation that “the time of victory has come”. Hundreds of local and international journalists, media activists, academics, and diplomats participated, paying...

November 17, 2024 - Palestine/Israel -  Amid the ongoing crisis in Gaza, international journalism organizations have united to spotlight the plight of Palestinian journalists and demand urgent protective measures. This global movement reflects growing concern over the deliberate targeting of media professionals amid Israel’s military operations. The Palestinian Information Center reported on November 17, 2024, that leading journalists in Gaza have intensified their reporting, spotlighting humanitarian crises such as hospital strikes and mass displacement. They emphasized the importance of keeping global attention on civilian suffering and Israel’s military tactics—a vital form of resistance against attempts...

November 17, 2024 - Palestine - Hiba Al‑Wahidi, the mother of Al Jazeera cameraman Fadi Al‑Wahidi, has launched a hunger strike to demand urgent medical evacuation for her critically injured son in Gaza. Fadi, one of the last remaining Al Jazeera field journalists in the besieged enclave, sustained severe injuries—reported to include paralysis—during Israeli military operations in northern Gaza. Local medical facilities have been overwhelmed, lacking the necessary resources to provide adequate care. In mid‑November 2024, Hiba began her hunger strike in Doha, where she traveled to raise international awareness of her son’s dire condition. She maintains...

November 17, 2024 - Palestine - Palestinian journalists are increasingly under siege, facing arrest, intimidation, and lethal attacks amid the intensifying conflict across the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In a troubling trend, Israel continues to detain journalists while simultaneously targeting media workers in Gaza with airstrikes, undermining press freedom and endangering those reporting from the frontlines. On June 2, 2024, journalist Rasha Harzallah, a correspondent for the official Palestinian news agency WAFA, was sentenced to six months in Israeli prison by a military court at Salem and fined 13,000 shekels. She had been arrested...

November 16, 2024 - Palestine - Palestinian journalist Mohammed Saleh Al-Sharif was killed in a targeted drone strike while inspecting the impact of the conflict near his home in the Jabalia refugee camp. Israeli forces deployed a quadcopter drone to open fire on Al‑Sharif and his cousin as they approached their residence in Beit Lahia. His cousin died instantly, and Al‑Sharif bled for more than two hours before succumbing to his injuries. The incident took place amid an intense Israeli military offensive in northern Gaza, with authorities simultaneously blocking civil defense and emergency medical teams...

16 November 2024 - Lebanon -  Dr. Eman Shweikh, a well-known Lebanese journalist, TV host, and university professor, announced her resignation from MTV Lebanon on November 16, 2024, due to escalating death threats allegedly from Hezbollah supporters. She revealed on X that the threats included being followed home, chased on the road, and her family being harassed. The Samir Kassir Eyes Center reported that the intimidation began on November 12, accompanied by accusations of treason following her political commentary. Shweikh emphasized the absence of state protection in Lebanon, stating: “laws are inexistent…I do not want to expose my life...

November 15, 2024 - India/Myanmar - Myanmar’s military-run Insein Prison, notorious for torture and inhuman conditions, saw the release of photojournalist Kyaw Swar Tun on November 14, 2024, after serving nearly two years of hard labor under Section 505(a) for allegedly insulting the state and inciting unrest—charges often wielded to silence dissenting journalists. Arrested in September 2022, Tun was detained following a phone message exchange with an ethnic armed group while working for Mizzima’s fact-checking unit. His unlicensed use of a drone drew official attention, triggering his conviction in January 2023 and sentencing to three years of forced labor. Upon...

November 15, 2024 - Azerbaijan - As Azerbaijan hosted the COP29 climate summit in Baku in November 2024, international attention shifted briefly to the country’s environmental commitments. Yet behind the scenes, a harsh crackdown on independent journalists exposed the government’s continued assault on press freedom. In the months leading up to the summit, the Azerbaijani government ramped up arrests of critics. According to the International Press Institute (IPI), at least 18 journalists were detained in 2024 alone, many under charges such as “currency smuggling” and “abuse of office.” Eleven remain in pretrial detention, with some...

November 15, 2024 - Mozambique/Nigeria - During Mozambique’s disputed October 9, 2024, general election, independent journalists found themselves under unprecedented pressure as protests swept the country. The violence—spurred by alleged electoral fraud—continued well into early 2025. In this turbulent environment, the press became a direct target, with journalists facing arrests, beatings, and equipment seizures. On November 14, 2024, News Central TV, a Nigerian outlet, confirmed that its correspondent Bongani Siziba and cameraman Sbonelo Mkhasibe—both based in South Africa—were detained in Maputo alongside translator Charles Mangwiro from Radio Moçambique. Blindfolded and held in a military‑style compound, they endured questioning...

November 15, 2024 - Guatemala - José Rubén Zamora, the 68‑year‑old founder of El Periódico, remains at the epicenter of a highly politicized legal battle that offers a stark example of the shrinking space for investigative journalism in Guatemala. Arrested on 29 July 2022 on money‑laundering charges—amounting to about $38,000—Zamora and his publication had gained recognition for exposing government corruption. He has denied all accusations, maintaining the funds were donated to support his newsroom’s work. In June 2023, Zamora was convicted and sentenced to six years in prison, sparking international condemnation. Human rights groups like Amnesty International decried...

November 15, 2024 - Italy - The editorial staff of Report, a prominent investigative program on Italy’s public broadcaster RAI3, received a chilling social media death threat explicitly referencing the 2015 Charlie Hebdo massacre. The message warned that the Report team “deserved it, Charlie Hebdo editorial team style,” in response to their reportage on the Israel–Gaza conflict. Sigfrido Ranucci, head of Report, revealed the threat was issued on November 12 and was immediately reported to police. Ranucci has been under police protection since 2021, following learned threats linked to an alleged assassination plot by organized...

November 15, 2024 - Montenegro-  Montenegro has been rocked by the recent assault on freelance journalist Ana Raičković, triggering a wave of outrage from press freedom advocates. On November 2, 2024, Raičković and her cameraman were attacked outside the Podgorica court by a real estate developer and his security guards while investigating a controversial construction permit linked to local political and business interests. The assailants physically assaulted her cameraman and attempted to seize their equipment, while Raičković sustained minor injuries and psychological distress. The attack exposed glaring failures in preserving journalists’ safety when shining light...

November 15, 2024 - Mozambique/Nigeria - Amid volatile protests following Mozambique’s contested October 2024 election, two Nigerian correspondents from News Central TV faced sudden detention while reporting in Maputo, drawing significant international attention and prompting calls for press freedom protections. On November 14, 2024, News Central TV journalist Bongani Siziba and cameraman Sbonelo Mkhasibe, both based in South Africa, were detained by Mozambican authorities alongside translator Charles Mangwiro. The trio was covering anti‑government demonstrations when police seized them at gunpoint, blindfolded them, and took them to an undisclosed location. Held overnight, they were denied medication...

November 14, 2024 - India - Two journalists from Bihar—Mithun Mishra and Manish Kashyap—faced arrest and legal retaliation for reporting on flood mismanagement and alleged religious conversions, reflecting growing concerns over press freedom in India’s hinterlands. In October 2024, Mithun Mishra, a local journalist and YouTuber known for grassroots reporting, was arrested after covering flood-hit regions in the Muzaffarpur district. Mishra had filmed local protests against the government's inaction in relief distribution and exposed alleged evangelical activities in nearby villages. His live reporting gained traction online, sparking public outrage but also inviting state backlash. Authorities...

November 14, 2024 - Iran - The Persian Service of Voice of America (VOA) is mourning the loss of their former colleague, journalist Kianoosh Sanjari, who tragically died by suicide in Tehran on November 12, 2024. His death is stirring concerns about his isolation and the pressures faced by journalists working under repressive conditions. Sanjari had previously worked for VOA Farsi in the United States; his career ended amid unconfirmed allegations of espionage. Unable to find work within Iran, he returned to Tehran in 2016. Colleagues described him as deeply distressed over his inability to...

November 14, 2024 - UN/Mexico/Switzerland - At a UN press conference in Geneva on 14 November 2024, the atmosphere was grim: 80% of journalist murders worldwide go uninvestigated, human rights officer Renaud de Villaine warned, calling it a “persistence” of impunity both in war zones and peaceful nations. He emphasised that journalism remains perilous everywhere—from conflict zones like the Middle East and Ukraine to peaceful nations such as Mexico, where reporters exposing corruption, drug cartels, and environmental crimes continue to be targeted. De Villaine cited UNESCO data showing that a journalist is killed every four...

November 13, 2024 - Turkey - The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), alongside six press freedom and free speech organizations, urged Turkish authorities to immediately release court reporter Furkan Karabay, who was detained during a November 8 police raid in Istanbul and jailed pending trial the following day. Karabay, a journalist with independent outlet 10Haber, was accused of “making targets of those who were tasked to combat terrorism,” “insulting a public servant,” and “knowingly distributing misleading information to the public,” after he named prosecutors involved in the investigation of an opposition mayor via social media....

November 13, 2024 - Lebanon - Lebanese radio journalist Sakina Mansour Kawtharani, a correspondent for Radio al-Nour, was killed in an Israeli airstrike that hit her family home in the town of Joun, southern Lebanon. The attack, which also claimed the lives of her two young sons and multiple other family members, has sparked outrage across Lebanon and international media freedom circles. According to reports from Middle East Eye and Al Jazeera, the strike targeted a residential building sheltering displaced civilians. In total, 15 people were killed, including eight women and four children. Mansour had...

November 12, 2024 - Egypt - In a striking escalation of Egypt’s repression of press freedom, a Cairo criminal court has sentenced a journalist to life imprisonment in absentia, despite the journalist reportedly being in government custody at the time of the ruling. The sentence was issued without the journalist being allowed to appear in court or defend himself—an act widely denounced by human rights groups and legal experts as illegal under both Egyptian and international law. The identity of the journalist has not been publicly disclosed, likely due to safety concerns, but media watchdogs...