Journalist Milka Tadić-Mijović was approached by former boxer Boško Filipović in a parking lot outside Petrovac supermarket. Filipović abused and threatened Milka for several minutes, during which time, the journalist was seriously concerned about her safety. He levelled accusations at her colleague and the nature of her work. The incident was taken up by state authorities and Filipović has been arrested since.

Rozina Islam, an established journalist for Prothom Alo newspaper, is still under investigation related to the Official Secret Act, a colonial-era law that dates back to 1923. CFWIJ has learned that Rozina cannot pursue investigative pieces due to persistent surveillance since her arrest on May 17.

Former journalist Ksenia Lutskina has been in prison for over eight months. Earlier, she was accused of large-scale tax evasion. Ksenia was first implicated in the investigation against the Belarusian Press Club, but she is now facing new criminal charges. There is little information about the case since the defense lawyer signed a non-disclosure agreement.

Journalist Stefanie Glinski and nine other journalists were detained by the United States Armed Forces at Kabul airport. They were intercepted before they could continue into the city. Despite the journalists wanting to stay in Kabul and arranging transport between the airport and the city, the U.S. forces deported the journalists. The marines allegedly pushed journalists onto an airplane that was meant for vulnerable Afghans looking to flee.

The health of journalist Zhan Zhang is rapidly deteriorating in prison. She was arrested last year in May for reporting on state mismanagement and negligence in their response to the COVID crisis. She was sentenced to four years in prison in December 2020 on charges of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”. The journalist has pre-existing medical conditions that her family has already raised the alarm on.

The threatened yet resilient Afghan women journalists shared stories of despair, fear, and silence as The Coalition For Women In Journalism was flooded by applications for assistance. With a tireless team effort and sincere commitment to our women journalists on the ground, we have managed to relocate more than 30 at-risk individuals so far. The bustling Afghan media that once thrived even amidst the worst of threats is now finding it hard to survive under Taliban rule.

Shabnam Dawran, a broadcaster at state-run news channel Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA), was denied entry to work. In a video message Shabnam shared with the private news network, TOLO News, she alleged the Taliban barred her from entering the news station and told her to “go home”. Shabnam was dressed in a hijab and presented her work ID, but was not allowed into the Kabul-based network. Another female presenter, Khadija Amin, was instructed to go home and wait when she tried to return to work on August 18.

The withdrawal of the US troops from Afghanistan after the failure of their nation-building experiment in the region that began two decades ago, and the subsequent Taliban takeover of Kabul has resulted in widespread fear across the country. Several journalists, news media organizations, activists, non-government organizations, women and minority groups now fear a threat to their lives and seek asylum elsewhere.

Journalists Alexa MacLean, Sarah Plowman and Zane Woodford were asked to vacate the premises of the Horseshoe Park while they were covering the eviction of citizens who had taken shelter there. According to the updates they posted on their social media platforms, members of the police kept arriving in hoards to vacate the park despite those on the location presenting no threats.

The court decided to drop another libel charge against Maria Ressa. This is the second libel charge against the journalist being dropped in two months. The case concerned the alleged corruption at a leading university - De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, regarding which the university itself decided to open an investigation. The case was particularly baffling because Ressa herself was neither involved in the research nor in the publication of the piece that made the allegations.

Sarah Rainsford, a BBC correspondent in Moscow, was denied an extension to her work visa. According to the reports announced on Russia 24, she will have to leave the country by the end of August. The reasons behind the decision were explained as retaliation to the United Kingdom failing to grant visas to Russian journalists.

Journalist and Youtuber Javeria Siddique was targeted online by trolls after she pointed out the wrong approach of a male journalist on an important and sensitive subject. Journalist Imran Riaz Khan who is a current affairs host on the GNN TV channel, issued a problematic statement on the murder of Noor Muqadam (a 27-year-old girl who was beheaded by Zahir Jaffer on 21 July at his residence) on his YouTube channel.

Jin News muhabiri Beritan Canözer, bu sabah evine düzenlenen polis baskınının ardından gözaltına alındı. Gazetecinin “örgüt propagandası yapmak” ve “örgüt adına eylem ve faaliyetlerde bulunmak” iddialarıyla gözaltına alındığı öğrenildi. Gazetecilikte Kadın Koalisyonu (CFWIJ) olarak gazetecileri sindirme amacıyla uygulanan baskı politikalarını kınıyoruz. Gazeteci Beritan Canözer derhal serbest bırakılmalıdır. Gazetecilik suç değildir.

Jin news reporter Beritan Canözer was detained this morning after the police raided her home. Reportedly, the journalist was detained on charges of "spreading terrorist propaganda" and "acting on behalf of a terrorist organization". The Coalition For Women In Journalism (CFWIJ) condemns the systematic repression policies against journalists aiming to intimidate them. Journalist Beritan Canözer must be released immediately. Journalism is not a crime.

An attempt was made to hack into the phone of Irina Pankratova, a journalist associated with the publication, The Bell. Irina’s employer organization confirmed the news on their Telegram channel, the attackers tried to access phone and text communication records of the journalist, however remained unsuccessful in doing so. The attacker is yet to be identified. Even though the motive behind the attack is not apparent, Irina is not the first person who has been targeted in this manner in the country, raising concern within civil society.