JX Fund – European Fund for Journalism in Exile

This episode of the mediares podcast takes a closer look at the case in which the Vietnamese government is suing Berlin-based exile journalists. Sebastian Engelbrecht discusses the political background, the implications for press freedom, and what this cross-border legal action means for journalists living in exile.

Law and Democracy Support Foundation (LDSF) strongly condemns the sexual and physical assaults, threats, and surveillance targeting the exiled journalist Sophia Tekwani and her family in Sweden, as part of a dangerous pattern of transnational repression by Zimbabwean authorities.

Interpol has rejected a request from Kyrgyz authorities to issue an international warrant for the co-founder of one of the country’s leading independent media outlets, calling the request politically motivated. OCCRP learned Thursday that Kyrgyzstan had asked Interpol to issue a so-called Red Notice for Rinat Tuhvatshin, the co-founder of Kloop, an award-winning outlet.

In Kyrgyzstan, authorities are no longer just reacting to stories — they are trying to stop them before they are told, dismantling entire newsrooms and effectively criminalizing journalism. This week, four former employees of Kyrgyzstan’s leading investigative newsroom, Kloop, went on trial in Bishkek, accused of conspiring to “incite mass unrest.”

A new report highlights how Taliban censorship, arrests, and intimidation severely threaten Afghan journalists working inside the country. Despite growing risks, many continue reporting under fear and secrecy. Journalists warn that without strong international support, independent voices in Afghanistan may soon be silenced.

The Spanish-language report ‘Displaced Voices: An X-ray of Latin American Journalistic Exile 2018–2024’ shows that a total of 913 journalists were forced to leave their countries in Latin America between 2028 and 2024. Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba together account for more than 90% of all journalistic exile in the region.

From empowering exiled journalists, to sustaining watchdog journalism in fragile democracies and conflict zones, donor aid often serves as the lifeline for public interest media across the Asia-Pacific region. However, recent research led by DW Akademie reveals that donor aid is sometimes fragmented, poorly coordinated, and even unintentionally harmful.

Iranian authorities have carried out a wave of arrests and multiple executions of people suspected of links to Israeli intelligence agencies, in the wake of the recent war between the two countries. Analysts view these tactics as part of a broader strategy to silence dissent and intimidate exiled media workers.

After fleeing persecution by Daniel Ortega’s regime, seven Nicaraguan journalists exiled in Costa Rica have been unable to renew their identification documents: Nicaragua refuses them, and Costa Rica has yet to fully recognize them. They are not locked in a terminal, but they have no homeland.

Turkish journalist Cevheri Güven, living in Germany, continues to face constant threats to his life despite seeking asylum. Under 24/7 police protection, he must inform authorities whenever he leaves home. He also wears a security bracelet, designed to look like a watch, that allows him to send an alert if he faces danger.

A new comprehensive article by researcher Sheila B. Lalwani exposes how spyware is increasingly being used to target journalists worldwide, including those in exile. This growing digital threat fuels concerns about surveillance, self-censorship, and the further erosion of press freedom.

Ahmet Dönmez, a Turkish journalist living in exile in Sweden, said in an interview with the Journalisten news website that he left the country for the United States some two years after surviving a brutal attack in Stockholm. Dönmez had narrowly escaped death after being severely beaten in a suburb of Stockholm in March 2022.

After the Taliban took power, the journalist Hamed fled Afghanistan with his family – via a German government admission program. The government promised to take in 1,000 particularly vulnerable people, such as journalists, every month. In reality, only a fraction make it.

In Spring 2024, a delegation from the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) conducted a press freedom fact-finding mission to Tbilisi, Georgia as part of a project funded by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). Today, ECPMF publishes a report detailing the findings of the mission, which paint a picture of independent media in the midst of an existential crisis.

Following last year’s joint investigation into the use of NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware against Galina Timchenko, co-founder, CEO, and publisher of Meduza, Access Now, the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy at the University of Toronto (“the Citizen Lab”), and independent digital security expert Nikolai Kvantiliani have uncovered how at least seven more Russian, Belarusian, Latvian, and Israeli journalists and activists have been targeted with NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware within the EU.

At least seven journalists and activists who have been vocal critics of the Kremlin and its allies have been targeted inside the EU by a state using Pegasus, the hacking spyware made by Israel’s NSO Group, according to a new report by security researchers.