Newspaper employees detained: report Police in Mersin detained Şirin Çoban and İlker İlkan, two employees of the Kurdish-language daily newspaper Azadiya Welat, the pro-Kurdish Jin News Agency (JİNHA) reported today. The reasons for their detention were not immediately clear, but authorities have intensified their harassment of the newspaper in recent weeks. On August 28, police in Diyarbakır raided the newspaper's office and detained 23 employees.
Sergio Aguayo, one of Mexico's most prominent political commentators, said he was taken by surprise when he heard he was being sued for "moral damages." The plaintiff, Humberto Moreira, is a former governor who faced allegations that he severely mishandled the state's finances, was involved in graft and corruption, and had ties to organized crime. He has always denied allegations against him, both when in office and after he resigned to become the president of the Institutional Revolutionary Party.
The city of Yuyao, in China's Zhejiang province, is 70 miles away from Hangzhou, where leaders of the world's 20 leading economies will gather September 4 and 5 for the annual G20 summit. Nonetheless, on August 26, democracy activist You Jingyou and his wife were subject to extra security checks at the train station in Yuyao, where they went to board a train to their home of Fuzhou, in Fujian province--a train that would not even pass by Hangzhou.
Sitting uncomfortably in her chair because of a soccer injury, the Jordanian radio host Diala Dabbas said, "I know we are banned from talking about the king, his family, and the divine, but now I am also afraid to talk about anyone else who could be considered a 'religious symbol'."
A photograph of freelance journalist Lucy Yasini trying to ward off an attack by police while covering a protest in Harare was circulated on social media last week. A day later, a photograph was shared of two reporters, Obey Manayiti and Robert Tapfumaneyi, in the back of a police truck after their arrest. The incidents signaled to the world that Zimbabwean journalists are once again targets as police try to clamp down on widespread protests.
Government revokes press credentials for 115 journalists Turkey's General Directorate for Press, Broadcasting, and Information (BYEGM, by its Turkish acronym) -- the bureau within the prime minister's office responsible for accrediting journalists -- today revoked the credentials of 115 journalists, Turkey's official Anatolia News Agency reported. The government alleged the journalists were affiliated with the Hizmet movement -- or FETÖ, as the government calls it - which the Turkish government classes as a terrorist group and accuses of plotting a failed July 15 military coup that left more than 200 people dead.
A rare and serious vulnerability in Apple's iOS operating system has been discovered by researchers at the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab, which today published a report detailing its findings. It is the first known remote iOS vulnerability of its kind. Disturbingly, the company behind malware designed to exploit the security flaw may have also helped target an investigative journalist in Mexico in 2015, Citizen Lab said.
The Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders today sent a letter to Sultan Qaboos bin Said of Oman, to draw his attention to the prosecution of three journalists from the independent daily newspaper, Azamn.
Kurdish wire reporter, newspaper employee arraigned on terrorism charges A court in Turkey's eastern Van Province today arraigned Erdem Mühirci, a reporter for the pro-Kurdish Dicle News Agency (DİHA), and ordered him jailed, pending trial, on charges of "being a member of a [terrorist] organization" and "recruiting members for a [terrorist] organization," DİHA reported. Mühirci was among seven people detained from their homes in the district of Başkale in a series of arrest raids on August 21.
On August 1, prominent Chinese human rights lawyer Wang Yu, who had been detained incommunicado for over a year, reemerged--with an unusual twist on an old script. Wang gave a TV interview in which she renounced her legal work and accused foreign forces of using her to "attack" and "smear" the Chinese government; the report claimed she'd just been released on bail. The public statement of guilt without trial is part of an established pattern in China, with more than a dozen such "confessions" delivered by human rights activists, journalists, and writers. But this time, the state-owned China Central Television (CCTV) failed to play a role. Instead, the interview was carried by a website affiliated with the Hong Kong newspaper Oriental Daily.
Do you believe the free flow of information must be protected? Sign the #RightToReport petition and demand that President Obama immediately:
1. Issue a presidential policy directive prohibiting the hacking and surveillance of journalists and media organizations.
2. Limit aggressive prosecutions that ensnare journalists and intimidate whistleblowers.
3. Prevent the harassment of journalists at the U.S. border.
Or click here to see the full petition, and join leading journalists like Christiane Amanpour, The Guardian’s Alan Rusbridger, Editor of the AP Kathleen Carroll, and Arianna Huffington in signing on.
https://cpj.org
