One Free Press Coalition’s “10 Most Urgent” List For 2025 Highlights Journalists In Detention And Governments’ Current Efforts At Criminalizing Journalism
NEW YORK – May 1, 2025 – Coinciding with World Press Freedom Day, leading news organizations and publishers around the world have come together as part of the One Free Press Coalition to announce the 2025 “10 Most Urgent” list, bringing to light and emphasizing ten cases of those who are currently detained for actively pursuing their duty as fellow journalists. The mission of the coalition is to use the collective voices of its members – which reach more than two billion people worldwide – to “stand up for journalists under attack for pursuing the truth.”
In 2025, many journalists continue to face increased risks and challenges while working to seek the truth and spread the information and knowledge they learned while working.
The “10 Most Urgent” list, published this morning by all members and at the OneFreePress website includes the following journalists:
1. Jimmy Lai, founder of newspaper Apple Daily, Hong Kong
Since December 2020, Jimmy has been confined to solitary confinement in a Hong Kong maximum-security prison, having been charged under the Beijing-imposed National Security Law after raising human rights concerns with international human rights organizations.
2. Shin Daewe, documentary filmmaker and freelancer, Myanmar
Shin was ordered a life sentence in 2024, now reduced to 15 years, on charges of illegal possession of an unregistered drone, after being arrested and interrogated by police in 2023 when she was receiving a drone that she had ordered online.
3. Frenchie Mae Cumpio, community journalist for Eastern Vista, Philippines
Frenchie Mae has been held in pre-trial detention for five years after authorities raided her home in February 2020 and arrested her—along with colleagues Marielle Domequil and Alexander Abingun—on charges of illegal firearms possession and terrorism financing, which she denies.
4. Pham Doan Trang, author, journalist, activist and founder of Luat Khoa legal magazine, Vietnam
Pham was arrested in 2020 and accused of “anti-state propaganda,” and ultimately sentenced to nine years in prison. For years prior to her arrest, she endured threats, police brutality, self-imposed exile and interrogations over her writings about democracy, freedom of expression, human rights, environmental degradation and women’s empowerment.
5. Ihar Losik, freelance journalist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Belarus Service, Belarus
Ihar was detained in June 2020 in advance of Belarus’ rigged election in August, later tried on charges including “organization of mass riots” and “incitement to hatred. He was later sentenced to 15 years in prison.
6. Sevinj Vagifgizi, chief editor of anti-corruption investigative outlet Abzas Media, Azerbaijan
After Azerbaijan implemented a major crackdown on independent press in 2023, Sevinj was arrested and continues to be detained due to multiple financial crime charges in relation to allegedly illegally receiving funding from Western donors.
7. Vladyslav Yesypenko, contributor to Crimea.Realities, a unit of Radio Free Europe/RadioLiberty’s Ukrainian Service, Russia
Vladyslav was arrested in 2021 and sentenced in 2022 to ultimately five years in prison after initially being detained on suspicion of spying for the Ukrainian government, later changed to charges relating to possession and transport of explosives.
8. Li Yanhe, Taiwan-based radio host and publisher and founder of Gusa Press, China
Li was arrested two years ago during a trip to Shanghai, held incommunicado, and sentenced in February 2025 to a $6,900 fine and three years in prison on charges of inciting separatism.
9. Makhabat Tajibek Kyzy, Azamat Ishenbekov and Aike Beishekeyeva, journalists from YouTube-based anti-corruption investigative outlet Temirov Live, Kyrgyzstan
In February 2025, Kyrgyzstan’s Supreme Court confirmed sentences against Makhabat, Azamat and Aike on charges of calling for mass unrest.
10. Joakim Medin, special correspondent for the Swedish newspaper ETC, Turkey
Joakim has been held in a high-security prison in Silivri, Turkey since March 30 after his arrest while traveling to report on civil unrest in the city, and being accused of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and “belonging to an armed terrorist organization” because he was present as a reporter at an anti-Erdoğan rally organized by individuals tied to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party in Stockholm in 2023.
The list is compiled in collaboration with the Committee to Protect Journalists, International Women’s Media Foundation and Reporters Without Borders (RSF). According to Committee to Protect Journalists data, 361 journalists were behind bars worldwide at the end of 2024 (up from 320 in 2023).
Last August, the One Free Press Coalition celebrated the release of two American journalists — Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva — from Russian detention after their cases were at the top of the May 2024 list of “10 Most Urgent” press freedom cases.
News organizations throughout the world can join the coalition by emailing info@onefreepresscoalition.com. Members of the public are also encouraged to join the conversation using #OneFreePress and following developments on X @OneFreePress.
About the One Free Press Coalition
The One Free Press Coalition is comprised of prominent international members including: L’Agefi; Agencia EFE; The Associated Press; The Atlantic; Barron’s; Bloomberg News; The Boston Globe; Business Insider; Deutsche Welle; Dow Jones; The Economist; Forbes; El País; Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty; Nikkei Asia; TIME; The Wall Street Journal; The Washington Post; and WIRED.
To see the “10 Most Urgent” list and to view a complete list of participating news organizations and supporting partners, please visit https://www.onefreepresscoalition.com or @OneFreePress on X.
Media Contacts:
One Free Press Coalition: pr@onefreepresscoalition.com
CPJ: Mohamed Abdelfattah at press@cpj.org
IWMF: Charlotte Fox at cfox@iwmf.org
RSF: Zoé Boissel at zboissel@rsf.org