Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)

“The latest wave of searches and detentions in Belarus is a clear indication that the country’s crackdown on the media continues unabated” – CPJ

Senegalese reporter Pape Ndiaye is charged with “spreading false news”, just a few months after the controversial arrest of journalist Pape Alé Niang.

Malawian journalist Dorica Mtenje is charged with defamation and offensive communication over an article she was not involved in writing.

Journalists from online broadcaster Ethio Salem – Amanuel Asfaw and Meseret Tamiru – arbitrarily detained, for criticising government’s handling of the split in Ethiopia’s Orthodox church.

Novashov was convicted of spreading false information about the Russian military and sentenced to eight months of correctional labour, along with a one-year ban on journalistic activities.

Despite being a registered refugee since 2011 in Malaysia, freelance Pakistani journalist Syed Fawad Ali Shah was secretly deported in August 2022 and is now detained in Pakistan facing several cases related to his reporting on corruption within law enforcement agencies.

The new disinformation law carries a prison term of up to three years for those convicted of publicly spreading false information that causes concern, fear, or panic.

The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Guatemalan authorities to stop any investigation of columnists and employees of ‘elPeriódico’ newspaper, release its president José Rubén Zamora unconditionally, and allow the newspaper’s staff to work freely.