May 1, 2020 8:00 AM

One Free Press Coalition Spotlights Journalists Under Attack

Human rights reporter Azimjon Askarov is being held at a prison in Kyrgyzstan, where he is at a higher risk of being exposed to Covid-19.

In May 2019, WIRED joined the One Free Press Coalition, a united group of preeminent editors and publishers using their global reach and social platforms to spotlight journalists under attack worldwide. Today, the coalition is issuing its eighth monthly “10 Most Urgent” list of journalists whose press freedoms are being suppressed or whose cases demand justice.

Here’s May 2020's list, ranked in order of urgency:

1. Azimjon Askarov (Kyrgyzstan)

Jailed journalist in deteriorating health at high risk for contracting Covid-19.

On May 11, a Kyrgyz court is scheduled to hear the final appeal in the case of Azimjon Askarov, which has been drawn out during his nine years in prison, despite persistent international condemnation. The award-winning ethnic Uzbek journalist had been reporting on human rights when he was arrested on trumped-up charges that included incitement to ethnic hatred and complicity in the murder of a police officer. Askarov’s wife, Khadicha, recently wrote a letter to the Kyrgyzstan president pleading for the journalist’s release, saying he is “absolutely innocent” and suffers from painful bone and joint inflammation.

2. Abdulkhaleq Amran, Akram al-Waleedi, Hareth Hameed, and Tawfiq al-Mansouri (Yemen)

Yemeni journalists long held in prison now sentenced to death.

On April 11, four Yemeni journalists—Abdulkhaleq Amran, Akram al-Waleedi, Hareth Hameed, and Tawfiq al-Mansouri—were sentenced to death on charges of spreading false news. The individuals have been detained for nearly five years by the Ansar Allah group, known as the Houthis, which is at war with the internationally recognized government, a Saudi-led military coalition. The journalists’ lawyer says they were allowed no representation in the courtroom during sentencing, which was put off so long because Houthi leaders were trying to release them as part of an exchange deal with the Yemeni government.

3. Mahmoud al-Jaziri (Bahrain)

Imprisoned reporter punished for telling media about inmates’ coronavirus fears.

Mahmoud al-Jaziri was moved to solitary confinement on April 8 as retaliation for an audio clip that surfaced on the dissident-run media channel Bahrain Today3, in which he disputed reports that Bahraini authorities had taken measures to protect prisoners from the spread of Covid-19. A reporter for the now defunct independent newspaper Al-Wasat, the last of the country’s independent newspapers, Al-Jaziri has been imprisoned since December 2015 on a 15-year sentence on charges of belonging to a terrorist group.

4. Solafa Magdy (Egypt)

Prison conditions heighten Covid-19 risk for journalist in deteriorating health.

The overcrowding of Egyptian prisons—such as the one in Al-Qanater housing Solafa Magdy—and inhumane conditions threaten to turn detention places into clusters of disease. Magdy, a freelance multimedia journalist, and her husband have been jailed since November 2019 on charges of “membership of a banned group” and “spreading false news.” She has endured medical neglect and has even declined treatment for fear of contracting an infection in the facility’s unhygienic hospital. In April, prison authorities prohibited Magdy’s mother from visiting and from contributing money and food for her.

5. Darvinson Rojas (Venezuela)

Freelance journalist and parents arrested for his reporting on Covid-19.

Venezuelan freelance journalist Darvinson Rojas spent 13 days in detention after police agents showed up at his home claiming to be conducting a Covid-19 test. In reality, they broke in, violently arrested him, and later interrogated him about sources of his reporting on Covid-19. According to the local press-freedom organization Espacio Publico, Rojas was secretly presented before a judge on March 22 and charged under the controversial “Anti-Hate Law” with incitement to hate and instigation. Rojas was denied the right to his private lawyer and was instead represented by a court-appointed public defender.

6. Truong Duy Nhat (Vietnam)

Authorities switch charges to sentence blogger to 10 years behind bars.

Truong Duy Nhat, a blogger with Radio Free Asia’s Vietnamese-language service, which is funded by the US Congress, disappeared from a Bangkok shopping mall in January 2019 and two days later was in pretrial detention, where he remained for 15 months before being sentenced on March 9 to 10 years in prison. After police initially charged him with illegally acquiring property but failed to procure enough evidence, a half-day trial brought him up on charges of “abusing his position and power while on duty” as a reporter. He previously served two years in prison for writing critically of the Communist Party in his blog.

7. Elena Milashina (Russia)

Journalist fears for her life after leader disputes her coronavirus reporting.

On April 12, Elena Milashina, a correspondent for the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, wrote that quarantined Chechens had stopped reporting coronavirus symptoms for fear of being labeled “terrorists.” The leader of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, called that “nonsense” and blamed the Federal Security Service for not silencing her. She has sought protection from the Investigative Committee of Russia and the prosecutor general’s office but gotten no response. She told CPJ by phone that she is “really afraid, as Kadyrov’s threats are really serious.” Six journalists who cover Chechnya have been murdered in Russia since 1992.

8. Mir Shakil-ur-Rehman (Pakistan)

To silence criticism of pandemic preparedness, government targets broadcast outlet and its CEO.

The CEO, owner, and editor in chief of Jang Media Group, Mir Shakil-ur-Rehman, was arrested March 12 over a case involving allegations that he illegally acquired land in 1986. The next day, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority ordered cable distributors throughout the country to stop transmitting Geo TV, which is owned by Jang Media Group and is the nation’s largest TV news channel, or move its broadcasts to a higher, harder-to-find channel. No charges have been filed, but Shakil-ur-Rehman was denied bail anyway on April 7. The channel has criticized the government’s coronavirus preparations.

9. Yayesew Shimelis (Ethiopia)

Journalist charged with “hate speech and disinformation” for Covid-19 coverage.

On March 26 journalist Yayesew Shimelis published to Facebook and YouTube a report about the Covid-19 virus which Ethiopia’s Ministry of Health condemned as false. He told a friend he feared government retaliation—and the next day was arrested at a relative’s home. On three occasions between April 15 and April 21, police failed to respect court orders to release Shimelis, instead introducing new allegations against him. He was eventually released on bail until a May 15 hearing on charges of distributing disinformation, punishable with up to three years in prison or a fine of up to $3,000 under a recently enacted law.

10. Jamal Khashoggi (Saudi Arabia)

Pressure persists for kingdom to release jailed journalists—and bring justice for brazen murder.

Saudi Arabia imprisoned 26 journalists in 2019, according to CPJ tracking, and it has yet to deliver justice in the 2018 killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Findings from the US and UN point to an “extrajudicial killing” involving the Saudi crown prince and demanding an independent criminal investigation. For its part, Turkey indicted 20 Saudi nationals on March 25 on charges of murder and incitement linked to Khashoggi’s murder.

The One Free Press Coalition is comprised of nearly 40 prominent international members, including Al Jazeera Media Network; AméricaEconomía; The Associated Press; Bloomberg News; The Boston Globe; BuzzFeed; CNN Money Switzerland; Corriere Della Sera; De Standaard; Deutsche Welle; Estadão; EURACTIV; The Financial Times; Forbes; Fortune; HuffPost; India Today; Insider Inc.; Le Temps; Middle East Broadcasting Networks; NHK; Office of Cuba Broadcasting; Quartz; Radio Free Asia; Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty; Republik; Reuters; The Straits Times; Süddeutsche Zeitung; TIME; TV Azteca; Voice of America; The Washington Post; WIRED; and Yahoo News.

One Free Press Coalition partners with the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) to identify the most urgent cases for the list, which is updated and published on the first business day of every month.

The mission of the Coalition is to use the collective voices of its members—which reach more than 1 billion people worldwide—to “stand up for journalists under attack for pursuing the truth.” 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 the hashtag #OneFreePress and following developments on Twitter @OneFreePress.