Press Freedom
CPJ Updates
- Israel-Gaza war brings 2023 journalist killings to devastating high
- 2023 prison census: Jailed journalist numbers near record high; Israel imprisonments spike
- Haiti joins list of countries where killers of journalists most likely to go unpunished
- Ecuador on edge: Political paralysis and spiking crime pose new threats to press freedom
- Deadly Pattern: 20 journalists died by Israeli military fire in 22 years. No one has been held accountable.
- Fragile Progress: The struggle for press freedom in the European Union
- Fragile Progress: Part 1
- Fragile Progress: Part 2
- Fragile Progress: Part 3
Reporter Without Borders
OPC Calls for Release of 4 Journalists in Egypt
The detention in Cairo of four journalists working for Al Jazeera English is a deplorable development and further evidence that Egypt’s military leader, General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, is determined to crack down on the free press.
The Overseas Press Club of America demands the immediate release of correspondent Peter Greste, producers Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed and cameramen Mohamed Fawzy. The accusations lodged against them—including the supposed broadcasting of “false news” that “damaged national security”—appear to be part of a campaign to intimidate journalists covering Egypt politics. That work necessarily includes reporting on the activities of the once-again outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. Reporters are in increasing jeopardy in Egypt—as documented by our friends at the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Al Jazeera’s team should be freed immediately and Egypt’s Ministry of the Interior and the el-Sisi regime must ensure their safety and well-being.
Michael Serrill
President
Overseas Press Club of America