Arbitrary detention and proceedings

RSF is outraged by the imprisonment of Ronson Chan, a veteran journalist and former chairman of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, who has lost his appeal today.

Media professionals should prepare for a more complex reporting environment during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, marked by heightened surveillance, border scrutiny, and mounting concerns about press freedom in Mexico, the US, and Canada.

Thanks to RSF’s initiative, the French Football Federation (FFF) will use the French Football Cup final between RC Lens and OGC Nice on 22 May to highlight calls for the release of Christophe Gleizes, a French sports reporter wrongly jailed in Algeria.

Benin has fallen 21 places in a year in RSF’s World Press Freedom Index, and now ranks 113th out of 180 countries and territories.

After covering a public interest story involving Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu, two journalists from the news site Adhadhu, Mohamed Shahzan and Leevan Ali Naseer, were wrongfully convicted of “contempt of court.”

The detention of news editor Merdan Yanardag has been extended until his next court hearing on 6 July. Meanwhile, journalists Alican Uludag and Ismail Ari remain in custody and will appear in court for the first time on 21 May and 5 June, respectively.

The journalists arrested and detained for covering the massive protests in March 2025 are being acquitted as their trials come to a close. Now, Nisa Sude Demirel, from the daily Evrensel, is scheduled to appear in court on 14 May.

RSF urges US President Donald Trump to press for the release of Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai during his planned meeting with President Xi Jinping in China this week.

According to information gathered by Reporters without Borders (RSF), Burkinabé investigative journalist Atiana Serge Oulon was detained at least until the end of 2025 in a villa near the United States Embassy in the Ouaga 2000 district of the capital.