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National Press Club alarmed about reported abuses in DC by Turkish security
National Press Club leaders expressed alarm about reports that security personnel guarding Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had physically abused journalists in Washington, D.C. on Thursday. According to published news reports and multiple tweets from eyewitnesses, Erdogan’s security team manhandled reporters at the Brookings Institution ahead of a speech by Erdogan. The Turkish leader’s bodyguards sought to physically remove one journalist from the event, kicked another and threw a third, a woman, to the sidewalk, the reports said. Smart phone footage posted on Twitter appeared to…
Type: News
National Press Club Concerned by Attacks on Journalists Covering Presidential Campaign
The National Press Club on Monday raised concerns about the increasing attacks and threats against journalists covering the United States presidential campaign, particularly after multiple unsettling reports from Donald Trump events. The Press Club urges all candidates and their teams to support freedom of the press, and to respect journalists playing a vital role in U.S. democracy. "The United States should be an example for the rest of the world in how we protect the right of journalists to report," said National Press Club President Thomas Burr. "As candidates talk about freedom and rights…
Type: News
National Press Club Troubled by Turkish Government's Seizure of Leading Opposition News Group
The National Press Club on Friday voiced its serious concern over the Turkish government's move to seize control of a leading opposition newspaper and other affiliated news outlets, the latest action in a troubling series of crackdowns on independent journalism in the country. An Istanbul court ordered trustees to take over the running of the widely-read daily Zaman newspaper following a request from state prosecutors, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency. The newspaper is tied to religious leader Fethullah Gulen, now in exile in the United States, whose Gulen movement has become a…
Type: News
National Press Club Calls on Azerbaijan to Free Jailed Journalists
The National Press Club called on Azerbaijan to free journalists jailed in that country on spurious charges. On Sept. 1, an Azeri court sentenced Khadija Ismayilova, a reporter who has written for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and other news organizations, to seven and a half years in jail, ostensibly for illegal business activity, tax evasion, embezzlement and abuse of power. She has been imprisoned since December 2014. "Ismayilova has been sentenced to jail for one reason: because she wrote critical stories about official corruption," said John Hughes, the National Press Club’s…
Type: News
National Press Club Calls on Turkish Government to Stop Persecuting Journalists
The National Press Club sharply disapproves of recent incidents of journalist harassment and repression in Turkey. According to news reports, two British journalists for Vice News and a Turkish assistant were arrested in Diyarbakir, Turkey and charged yesterday with aiding terrorists. In a separate action earlier today, police raided 23 businesses that include TV stations and newspapers, which according to media reports was related to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's crackdown on a rival. Turkey must release the Vice journalists and their assistant and show restraint in aggression against…
Type: News
National Press Club outraged by jail sentences for reporters in Egypt
The National Press Club president came out strongly against an Egyptian court’s sentencing on Saturday of three Al-Jazeera English reporters. The court sentenced Peter Greste, Baher Mohammed and Mohammed Fahmy to three years in prison on charges that independent experts say are trumped up, including spreading "false news." The three men were first detained in 2013. Greste was subsequently deported to Australia, while Mohammed and Fahmy were released on bail. "The National Press Club is saddened and outraged by this verdict," said National Press Club President John Hughes. "We had hoped that…
Type: News
National Press Club expresses outrage at slaying of journalists in Virginia
National Press Club President John Hughes issued the following statement in response to news that two TV reporters were gunned down during a live broadcast near Roanoke, Va.: "I am horrified by the fatal shooting of reporter Alison Parker and videographer Adam Ward in Moneta, Va., as they went about their jobs serving their community today," Hughes said. "Members of the National Press Club send our thoughts and prayers to their families and colleagues. This killer, or these killers, must be brought to justice quickly." "At the National Press Club we fight for the freedom of journalists…
Type: News
NPC urges Kerry to focus on press freedom in Cuba
The National Press Club on Wednesday called on Secretary of State John Kerry to make press freedom and the expansion of Internet access in Cuba a priority in his department’s engagements with the Castro regime. The secretary will become the highest-ranking U.S. official in decades to visit Cuba when he travels to the Caribbean nation on Friday, Aug. 14 to take part in the ceremonial re-opening of the U.S. embassy in Havana. The United States and Cuba resumed diplomatic relations earlier this summer and President Barack Obama is urging Congress to lift the half-century old trade embargo on the…
Type: News
National Press Club statement on reporters Wesley Lowery and Ryan Reilly
Following is a statement by National Press Club President John Hughes on the circumstances surrounding the possible legal jeopardy for reporters Wesley Lowery of The Washington Post and Ryan Reilly of Huffington Post who were covering the disturbances in Ferguson, Mo., last year. “We were surprised and disappointed to hear that St. Louis County, Mo., is bringing charges against reporters Wesley Lowery of the Washington Post and Ryan Reilly of Huffington Post related to their brief detention while working more than a year ago when they were in a McDonald’s close to the action in Ferguson. We…
Type: News
Statement on Jason Rezaian trial by National Press Club
Following is a statement by John Hughes, President of the National Press Club, on the conclusion of what is expected to be the fourth and final trial session for Jason Rezaian of The Washington Post. "Four times in the last year Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian has been brought from prison to a secret trial session in Revolutionary Court in Tehran to be tried on absurd charges. We understand that today was the fourth and last trial session and the first one where Jason's lawyer was allowed to make a defense. As we have done in the past, we continue to call on Iran to free Jason. Just a…
Type: News