On March 2, 2020 the Coalition launched the 13th monthly "10 Most Urgent" list (ranked in order of urgency), calling attention to the most pressing cases of journalists under attack for pursuing the truth.

View fullsize

1. Chen Qiushi (China)

Journalist missing as Chinese authorities stifle reporting on coronavirus outbreak. Freelance video journalist Chen Qiushi has not been seen since February 6, when he told family he planned to report on a temporary hospital. On January 24, he traveled to the city of Wuhan in Hubei province from Beijing and began filming and reporting on the coronavirus health crisis, according to his posts on YouTube, noting local hospitals were short of resources and struggling to handle the number of patients who needed treatment. Later, China expelled three accredited Wall Street Journal journalists over an opinion headline relating to the crisis.

2. Daler Sharifov (Tajikistan)

Tajikistan silences independent media ahead of March 1 elections. Daler Sharifov is ordered two months of pretrial detention since Tajik police raided the independent reporter’s home on January 28, confiscating a computer and books, and days later issuing a statement announcing charges of inciting ethnic, racial and religious hatred. The statement refers to “more than 200 articles and commentaries containing extremist content” he published between 2013 and 2019. CPJ calls this “a clear attempt to silence ahead of elections one of the few media critics that remain.” A guilty verdict could mean up to five years in prison.

3. Patrícia Campos Mello (Brazil)

Politicians join in online sexual harassment to undermine journalist’s integrity. A reporter for Brazil’s largest daily newspaper, Folha de S.Paulo, Patrícia Campos Mello experiences ongoing harassment online in retaliation for her reporting. During a congressional hearing in Brasília last month, an individual falsely accused Campos Mello of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for a “scoop.” Hundreds of Facebook and Twitter users, including the son of President Jair Bolsonaro, shared the allegations, many using sexual language. The allegations were later referenced by the president himself, whose 2018 presidential campaign backers distributed misinformation through WhatsApp to millions of Brazilians, Campos Mello reported.

4. Roohollah Zam (Iran)

Trial underway for anti-government journalist held in undisclosed location. Intelligence agents of the Islamic Republic Revolutionary Guards Corps arrested Iranian journalist Roohollah Zam in October. Founder of anti-government Amad News, Zam had been living in France and, following his arrest in Baghdad, was extradited to Iran. He is accused of working with French, Israeli and U.S. intelligence agencies, amounting to 17 charges, including espionage and spreading false news, although the government has made his platforms almost completely inaccessible for more than two years. In February, at least three trial sessions were held in his case.

5. Agnès Ndirubusa and the team at Iwacu (Burundi)

Court delivers prison sentence and fines for Burundi’s only imprisoned journalists. Following their October arrest, a Burundi court convicted four journalists on January 30 of attempting to undermine state security, fined them each $530, and sentenced them to two years and six months in prison. The four, who had been covering clashes in the country’s Bubanza Province and submitted their appeal on February 21, include Agnès Ndirubusa, head of the political desk at Iwacu, one of Burundi’s last independent outlets, and three colleagues: broadcast reporter Christine Kamikazi, English-language reporter Egide Harerimana and photojournalist Térence Mpozenzi. 

6. Azimjon Askarov (Kyrgyzstan)

Kyrgyz court hears final appeal of journalist’s life sentence. After nearly ten years in prison and his life sentence twice upheld, award-winning journalist Azimjon Askarov, 68, pursued a final appeal at the Supreme Court. The February 26 hearing was quickly adjourned until April 7. The ethnic Uzbek’s reporting on corruption, abuse and human rights elicited trumped-up charges that included incitement to ethnic hatred and complicity in the murder of a police officer. Kyrgyzstan’s one imprisoned journalist experiences deteriorating health amid harsh conditions and limited access to medication.

7. Jamal Khashoggi (Saudi Arabia)

U.S. executive branch idles while calls persist for Khashoggi’s justice. February 14 marked 500 days since Jamal Khashoggi’s murder inside Istanbul’s Saudi consulate. The Washington Post’s columnist’s fiancé, Hadice, observed the date with an op-ed calling for justice. The Trump administration has so far ignored a law passed by Congress, and signed by the president, that mandated the release of an intelligence report about Khashoggi’s murder by January 19. That’s in addition to ignoring a deadline to reply to Congress regarding the killing, as required under the U.S. Global Magnitsky Act.

8. Pham Doan Trang (Vietnam)

Journalist in hiding to evade arrest continues reporting. Phan Doan Trang has been in hiding since August 2018, after Ho Chi Minh City police brutally beat her and confiscated her national ID card, on top of silencing measures including interrogation, monitoring and shutting off her internet and electricity. A colleague reports that Trang, cofounder of The Vietnamese and Luat Khoa news publications, has not fully recuperated from the assault and her health has deteriorated. While moving between safe houses, she has continued critical reporting on the environment, freedom of religion and online civil society.

9. Mahmoud Hussein (Egypt)

Journalist held in extended pretrial detention for unspecified charges. Mahmoud Hussein, a journalist working with Al Jazeera, has spent more than 1,000 days in pretrial detention in Cairo. Last May, an Egyptian court ordered his release, but authorities opened a new investigation with unspecified charges and returned him to prison. Hussein’s initial arrest dates to December 2016, and his detention has been repeatedly renewed every 45 days, with anti-state and false news charges stemming from a 2016 documentary about conscription in Egypt which the government claims uses fake footage and aims to incite chaos.

10. Aasif Sultan (India)

Communications blackout further delays imprisoned journalist’s trial. Kashmir Narrator reporter Aasif Sultan has spent more than a year and half behind bars, since his 2018 arrest and charges months later of “complicity” in “harboring known terrorists.” He has been repeatedly interrogated and asked to reveal his sources for a cover story on a slain Kashmiri militant, whose killing by Indian security forces set off a wave of anti-government demonstrations in Kashmir in July 2016. A number of hearings have been postponed—and other journalists harassed and detained the past year.

On February 3, 2020 the Coalition launched the 12th monthly "10 Most Urgent" list (ranked in order of urgency), calling attention to the most pressing cases of journalists under attack for pursuing the truth.

View fullsize

1. Arash Shoa-Shargh (Iran) 

Case of imprisoned journalist serving 10 years shrouded in silence. Arash Shoa-Shargh, an Iranian journalist living in exile in Turkey and working for popular anti-government news channel Amad News, was arrested and sentenced in 2018 to 10 years on charges of “insulting the Supreme Leader,” “acting against national security,” “encouraging the public to misconduct” and “spreading corruption on the land of God.” Friends have said authorities pressure the journalist’s family to not publicize the case, while detention in a rural prison has made it difficult to access information on his current status.

2. Aleksandr Valov (Russia)

Russian editor held in Irkutsk punishment cell without just cause. The editor-in-chief and founder of local news site BlogSochi, Aleksandr Valov, was placed in solitary confinement last month, held in close supervision because of anticipated retaliation and disagreement with the court’s verdict. He was arrested in January 2018 and sentenced to six years on trumped up extortion charges. Valov captured and narrated a video livestream of his arrest as police broke his door, cut off the electricity and beat him.

3. Samuel Wazizi (Cameroon)

Arrested journalist’s charge and location unknown for more than five months. Whereabouts of Cameroonian journalist Samuel Wazizi (whose legal name is Samuel Ajiekah Abuwe) are unknown since he was transferred from police to military custody in August. He has been denied access to his lawyers, family and friends and held on undisclosed charges which police say are related to the country’s Anglophone armed conflict. The country held at least seven journalists in prison as of December 1, 2019.

4. Azory Gwanda (Tanzania)

No updates after journalist’s disappearance more than two years ago. Azory Gwanda has been missing since November 21, 2017. The freelance journalist was investigating mysterious killings in rural Tanzania when he “disappeared and died,” as Foreign Minister Palamagamba Kabudi said in an interview last July. However, the official backtracked amid requests for clarification, and the government has failed to conduct an investigation or disclose information.

5. Azimjon Askarov (Kyrgyzstan)

Imprisoned journalist’s health deteriorating after nine years of life sentence. In July, a Kyrgyz court upheld the life sentence of award-winning  journalist Azimjon Askarov, despite persistent international condemnation. The ethnic Uzbek is the only journalist imprisoned in the country and has been held nine years on trumped-up charges for reporting on human rights violations. Letters home detail his deteriorating health, limited access to medication and prison officials punishing detainees after visiting days.

6. Lu Yuyu (China)  

Imprisoned journalist has requested and been denied help for severe depression. Prison guards have denied medical treatment for reporter Lu Yuyu, diagnosed with severe depression during his four-year prison sentence commenced August 2017. He and his partner were arrested in Dali, Yunnan province on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” for publishing photos, videos and text on topics including corruption protests and environmental pollution. The court maintained its decision in 2017, and Lu is currently lodging a second appeal. 

7. Luz Escobar (Cuba)

Cuban authorities barricade independent journalist inside her home. Since November, Cuban authorities have repeatedly barred Luz Escobar from leaving her Havana home. The reporter for the independent Cuban news website 14yMedio says authorities often prevent independent journalists from working on “significant dates” either by detaining them or threatening detention if they exit their homes. A security agent was stationed outside Escobar’s door multiple times last year, including on the anniversary of Fidel Castro’s death and international Human Rights Day.

8. Jamal Khashoggi (Saudi Arabia)

Demands for answers in Khashoggi murder persist into new decade. In December, Saudi Arabia sentenced eight individuals in connection with the 2018 brazen killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. What the Kingdom may have considered resolution and closure for the high-profile case, CPJ called a “sham trial” and “mockery of justice. Calls remain for the U.S. and UN to conduct an independent criminal investigation and probe the Saudi crown prince’s role in the “extrajudicial killing.”

9. Patricia Kayuni (Malawi)

Authorities fail to protect journalist from protestors’ assault. Protestors beat and attempted to tear clothing off Tuntufye FM reporter Patricia Kayuni on January 10 while she covered a demonstration in Chitipa, in northern Malawi. No arrests have been made against attackers who believed Kayuni was a police officer sent to photograph demonstrators. The same week, authorities in Malawi detained and charged three journalists seeking to cover the EU delegation’s return.

10. Solafa Magdy, Hossam El-Sayyad and Mohamed Salah (Egypt)

Three journalists awaiting sentencing on charges of membership in a banned group and disseminating false news. In November, plainclothes Egyptian security forces arrested freelance journalists Solafa Magdy and her husband Hossam El-Sayyad at a cafe in the Dokki area of Giza, as well as freelancer and blogger Mohamed Salah. The officers confiscated their mobile phones and car keys and beat Magdy for refusing to unlock her phone. A state security prosecutor delivered charges of membership in a banned group and disseminating false news. Magdy is experiencing health issues in pre-trial detention, ahead of a February 4 hearing.

On January 6, 2020 the Coalition launched the 11th monthly "10 Most Urgent" list (ranked in order of urgency), calling attention to the most pressing cases of journalists under attack for pursuing the truth.

View fullsize

1. Daphne Caruana Galizia (Malta) 

Malta acknowledges mishandling of journalist’s murder case. Malta’s prime minister, Joseph Muscat, has announced he will resign on January 12 in connection with the government’s mishandling of the investigation into Daphne Caruana Galizia’s death. The Panama Papers investigative reporter was killed in an October 2017 car bomb blast. Two years later, a public inquiry was initiated, and three senior members of Muscat’s administration stepped down over allegations of involvement in the murder, while three men are currently in detention in relation to the events.

View fullsize

Esraa Abdel Fattah. (Credit Sherif Mansour)

2. Esraa Abdel Fattah (Egypt) 

Egyptian journalist on hunger strike tortured and hospitalized. Reports surfaced December 16 that Esraa Abdel Fattah of banned website Tahrir News had been hospitalized in connection with her hunger strike. The reporter and social media coordinator had been detained two months at that point, charged with membership in a banned group, spreading false news and misusing social media platforms to disrupt national security. She began a hunger strike in October to demand an investigation into her allegations of mistreatment and torture.

3. Ilham Tohti (China)

Six years in jail for Chinese writer serving life sentence. This month Uighur scholar, writer and blogger Ilham Tohti is serving his sixth year of a life sentence. Uighurbiz, the Chinese- and Uighur-language website he founded in 2006 with a focus on social issues, was shuttered for its “separatist” ideas (a charge Tohti denied) after his arrest in 2014. China is the leading jailer of journalists and allows Tohti’s wife and family members to visit him for only 30 minutes every three months. 

View fullsize

Iwacu's Christine Kamikazi (left) Agnès Ndirubusa. (Credit Iwacu Media)

4. Agnès Ndirubusa and the team at Iwacu (Burundi)

Four Burundi reporters and their driver facing 15 years in prison. Four journalists and their driver were arrested in Burundi in October while covering clashes in the country’s Bubanza Province. Senior political reporter Agnès Ndirubusa, broadcast reporter Christine Kamikazi, English-language reporter Egide Harerimana and photojournalist Térence Mpozenzi remain in detention though their driver, Adolphe Masabarikiza, was released in November. All five face up to 15 years in prison if convicted of the charges of undermining state security.

5. Aleksandr Valov (Russia)

Imprisoned Russian journalist’s whereabouts unknown. Aleksandr Valov’s lawyer has not been able to contact or locate him. The editor-in-chief and founder of local news site BlogSochi was arrested January 19, 2018 and is currently serving a six-year sentence on trumped up extortion charges. Valov narrated a livestream video showing police beating him during the arrest.

6. Jesús Medina (Venezuela)

Trial of detained Venezuelan photographer repeatedly delayed. The trial of freelance photographer Jesús Medina has repeatedly been postponed, with the date currently set for January 30. The only Venezuelan journalist imprisoned, according to CPJ’s 2019 prison census, has been held in pretrial detention at Ramo Verde military prison since August 2018. He is accused of criminal association and inciting hate. 

7. Jamal Khashoggi (Saudi Arabia)

Demands for answers in Khashoggi murder persist into new decade. The new decade arrives without an independent criminal investigation into the 2018 high-profile, brazen killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi inside Istanbul’s Saudi consulate. Calls have gone unheeded for the U.S. and UN to probe the Saudi crown prince’s role in the “extrajudicial killing”—though in December a court delivered sentences to eight individuals in what CPJ called a “sham trial” and “mockery of justice.” Meanwhile, the Kingdom ended 2019 holding 26 journalists in prison.

8. Masoud Kazemi (Iran)

Corruption reporter serving time while government bans Internet. While Iran implemented an Internet ban in November in response to protests over rising gas prices, Masoud Kazemi sat in prison on charges stemming from 2018 Twitter posts about government corruption. Editor-in-chief of the monthly Sedaye Parsi political magazine, Kazemi was sentenced in June to four-plus years, found guilty of spreading misinformation and insulting the supreme leader and other Iranian officials. For an additional two years, he will be banned from working as a journalist.

9. Qazi Shibli (India)

Communications blackout slows case of jailed editor in weakening health. Arrests in Kashmir constitute India’s only two cases of jailed journalists, according to CPJ tracking. And the region’s ongoing communications shutdown that started August 5—the longest ever imposed in a democracy—has slowed trial hearings and updates to family members. Kin of Kashmiriyat news website editor Qazi Shibli didn’t know his whereabouts for more than a month after his July arrest for allegedly reporting on Twitter about troop movements. The family has since expressed serious concerns about his health and hired a lawyer’s help to petition for bail.

10. Nariman Memedeminov (Russia)

Freelance journalist serving 2.5 years in Russian prison. In October, a military court in Russia’s southern city of Rostov-on-Don sentenced Nariman Memedeminov to two years and six months in prison, convicted of making public calls for terrorism online. That followed the 2018 raid of the freelance journalist’s home and his arrest. His coverage included livestreamed trials of Muslim minority Crimean Tatar activists and interviews with their family members and lawyers, since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.