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Iran’s journalists are still in danger |
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| The recent conflict with Israel has put a spotlight on how perilous journalism is in Iran. While the current ceasefire means Israeli bombs are no longer exacerbating the repression Iranian journalists have long suffered at the hands of the regime, the recent strikes have left the country’s reporters in a more fragile state than ever. Between internet blackouts, arrests, draconian laws and the aftermath of air raids, Iran’s journalists are in dire need of protection. |
| DATA: 1,270 exiled journalists have received RSF aid since 2021 |
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| On 20 June, World Refugee Day, RSF issued a warning: there is a urgent need to protect journalists who have been forced to flee their countries due to their work. These news professionals are pillars of the free press — and often the only sources of reliable information on the places they’ve had to leave behind. In Nicaragua alone, over 280 media workers have been forced into exile over the past seven years. Some fight to continue their work from abroad, like the staff of the Sudanese newspaper Al-Jarida, who are now dispersed in different nations. Others, like the Afghan journalists in Pakistan, are at risk of arrest, detention, deportation and police harassment. |
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| | The revival edition of Apple Daily is out! Four years ago, Apple Daily – Hong Kong’s largest independent Chinese-language newspaper – was forced to shut down. To mark the anniversary of the iconic outlet’s closure, RSF and a group of former Apple Daily journalists now in exile published a revival edition celebrating the newspaper’s enduring spirit and paying tribute to all outlets worldwide that resist repression. |
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| | Saudi Arabia: Turki al-Jasser, victim of a murderous regime
On 14 June, the Saudi Interior Ministry announced the execution of Turki al-Jasser, the first journalist in Saudi Arabia to be killed following a death sentence under the rule of Mohammed bin Salman. The journalist had been wrongly detained for seven years, convicted on several false charges of terrorism and high treason by the Saudi authorities. |
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| | Azerbaijan: editor-in-chief Sevinj Vagifgizi sentenced to nine years in prison
On 20 June, the verdicts in the case against seven Abzas Media journalists, including editor-in-chief Sevinj Vagifgizi, were handed down. All were sentenced to between seven and nine years in prison on trumped-up charges of “smuggling foreign currency”. |
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| | Burkina Faso: where is journalist Serge Oulon? 24 June marked one year since Serge Oulon, editor of the investigative newspaper L'Événement, was abducted from his home by individuals who claimed to be part of the secret service. There has been no news of him since, and the Burkinabe authorities have remained astoundingly silent. Six other Burkinabe journalists and news commentators are victims of enforced disappearance or forced conscription into the army. |
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| | Russia: “fact-checking”, the Kremlin's latest propaganda toolThe Russian Global Fact-Checking Network (GFCN) is a new website claiming it verifies facts, but in reality, the Kremlin-affiliated site aims to promote the state narrative internationally. The site is a new step in the Kremlin’s longstanding strategy of imitating professional, trustworthy journalism to spread disinformation and propaganda. |
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| | Georgia: French photojournalist Marylise Vigneau arbitrarily expelled As soon as French photojournalist Marylise Vigneau arrived at Kutaisi airport on 11 May, she was forced to leave. This is far from an isolated event, as arbitrary deportations of journalists became the standard in Georgia following new laws adopted this year by the ruling Georgian Dream party. In response, RSF and 22 other NGOs published an open letter condemning these practices. |
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| Madleen’s Gaza mission: Yanis Mhamdi is finally freeFrench journalist Yanis Mhamdi was sent by his employer, the news site Blast, to document the journey of the humanitarian aid ship Madleen, which aimed to break through the blockade on Gaza. On 8 June, Mhamdi was arrested alongside all the other individuals aboard the ship and detained for seven days after refusing to sign a document with unclear conditions. He was released on 16 June. |
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| On 19 June, a Filipino court acquitted Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Rappler CEO Maria Ressa, along with five Rappler directors, in a long-standing legal case. Since 2017, Rappler, Ressa, and her colleagues have been subjected to a sustained campaign of legal persecution and online attacks. |
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| He was tortured, physically and psychologically [...] he paid too high of a price for reporting the truth about what was taking place inside Russia-occupied Crimea. |
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| | RFE/RL President Stephen Capus on Vladyslav Yesypenko, a Ukrainian journalist imprisoned by Russia in occupied Crimea in 2021 who was freed on 20 June along with his RFE/RL colleague Ihar Karnei. |
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| Support Reporters Without Borders |
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| | By making a donation to Reporters Without Borders, you’re helping support exiled media professionals, threatened journalists like Yanis Mhamdi, and projects that resist repression, like the revival edition of Apple Daily. Help us defend press freedom and the right to reliable information today. |
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