** Pope Leo XIV’s admirable commitment to press freedom now needs concrete action
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“Only informed individuals can make free choices,” proclaimed the new pope, Leo XIV, in one of his first speeches. He also called for the release of journalists imprisoned "for seeking to report the truth" and for safeguarding “the precious gift of free speech and of the press.” His statement sends a strong, uplifting signal as violence against the press persists worldwide and over 560 journalists are currently imprisoned for their work. RSF welcomes the pope’s stance and has issued five recommendations ([link removed]) to the Catholic Church’s new leader to help translate this commitment into concrete action.


** Data - The World Press Freedom Index is turning red
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** Video: Gaza through the eyes of Fatma Hassouna
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“It seemed to me that all the analysis and all the media coverage of this war, this conflict, an important piece of the puzzle was missing, namely, the viewpoint of the Palestinians, of Gaza’s civilians.” This conviction led Iranian director Sepideh Farsi to create the documentary “Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk,” which follows Gazan journalist Fatma Hassouna. “She became my eyes, talking about her daily life,” says Farsi. But on 16 April, Fatma Hassouna was killed by the Israeli army at her home in Gaza, 24 hours after learning that the film had been selected for the Cannes Film Festival, which opens this week. Nearly 200 journalists have been killed by the Israeli army since October 2023 in the Gaza Strip, a territory under complete blockade ([link removed]) .
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** NEWS BRIEFS
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** Tunisia: press freedom in dramatic decline
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Judicial, political, and economic pressure are being wielded as instruments to enforce a mass crackdown ([link removed]) on journalism in Tunisia, which has fallen 11 places and now ranks 129th in the RSF World Press Freedom Index. ([link removed]) President Kaïs Saïed’s administration continues to repeat the errors of past regimes: no new reforms, strengthening the repressive legal framework from the era of former president Ben Ali and eroding a news media sector that is already depleted.


** Crackdown in India amid tensions with Pakistan
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Narendra Modi's government has stepped up its arbitrary measures ([link removed]) to stifle independent reporting amid violent clashes with Pakistan, blocking social media accounts, taking down the news site The Wire and arresting journalist Hilal Mir. While The Wire was put back online after the ceasefire announcement on 10 May, the government’s recent crackdown against independent outlets is part of a larger pattern of harassment ([link removed]) against the free press.


** Mali’s TV5 Monde suspended, a veiled threat to the country’s news outlets
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Following the permanent suspension of foreign news outlets such as

Radio France Internationale (RFI) and France24, the international French-language channel TV5 Monde has now been suspended “until further notice.” This is yet another blow to the media landscape, where local journalism also faces serious pressure, as illustrated by the suspension of Joliba TV ([link removed]) and the ongoing legal proceedings against journalist Alfousseini Togo ([link removed])


** Raúl Celis López, the second Peruvian journalist murdered in 2025
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Known for his work on insecurity, corruption and crime, Raúl Celis López ([link removed]) was shot dead as he was about to record his programme for Radio Karibeña in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon. He is the second journalist to be killed this year in Peru ([link removed]) , afterGastón Medina Sotomayor ([link removed]) , in a region where news reporting can be fatal. Since the beginning of the year, eight journalists have been killed in Latin America, and 38 are still missing.


** China: over 60 NGOs mobilise for detained reporter
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** Zhang Zhan
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Five years after the arrest of Chinese journalist Zhang Zhan ([link removed]) , a coalition of press freedom and human rights NGOs led by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) issued a statement calling for her release. Her health has severely deteriorated due to her intermittent hunger strikes in protest of her arbitrary detention. She is currently held in the Pudong Detention Centre in Shanghai, and risks being sentenced to up to 5 years in prison.
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20 million Uyghurs had only one reliable international news source and radio station that could convey their voice to the world: Radio Free Asia. It is a very regrettable decision by the Trump administration to erase the voice of the Uyghurs [...] The effect this will have on the Uyghurs is nothing less than ‘giving up.’ It brings deep despair.

Taken from an interview ([link removed]) with Gulchehra Hoja, Senior Journalist for RFA’s Uyghur service, which closed following the American government’s decision ([link removed]) to cut funding to the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), the government entity that administers funding to RFA and other vital international broadcasters.


** Highlight
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Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, both Ukrainian and foreign journalists ([link removed]) have come under Russian fire — even in their hotels, which also function as their workspace. A new report by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and Ukrainian human rights organisation Truth Hounds (TH) documents these attacks, offences that amount to war crimes and must not go unpunished.
➔ Read it tomorrow on the RSF website. ([link removed])
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** GOOD NEWS OF THE WEEK
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“I fled — I had no other choice. Journalism no longer exists in Russia,”

Exhausted but free, Ekaterina Barabash fled ([link removed]) from Moscow to escape the Russian authorities, who put her on their wanted list as she faced up to ten years in prison. The journalist and film critic is now safely in Paris thanks to an exfiltration operation coordinated by RSF. Discover her entire story here ([link removed]) .


** YOU CAN HELP :
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** Vietnam must free journalist Pham Doan Trang at once! ([link removed])
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Join our campaign to demand the urgent release of Pham Doan Trang, one of Vietnam’s most prominent voices for press freedom. Detained since 2020, she was sentenced to nine years in prison simply for doing her job: reporting the truth.

Today, Trang is in a dire state as her health keeps deteriorating in prison. RSF needs your support in demanding her release. Sign the #FreePhamDoanTrang petition ([link removed]) today!
➔ Sign here ([link removed])
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