3 May
2021
3 May
'21
9:39 a.m.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE : May 3, 2021
Contact : Rohit Mahajan | 202.530.4976 | mahajanr(a)rfa.org
RFA President Calls for Justice for Journalists on World Press Freedom Day
WASHINGTON -- Marking World Press Freedom Day amid alarming global trends toward the
spread of disinformation and a growing distrust in fact-based journalism, [
https://www.rfa.org/english/ | Radio Free Asia ] (RFA) President Bay Fang renewed a call
for an end to the persecution of reporters. Highlighting the darkening media environments
in Hong Kong and Myanmar, Fang urged for the protection of the independence of news
outlets and safety of journalists.
“The brutal decline of press freedom during the pandemic underscores an urgent need for
responsible journalism, which should never be on trial. Increasingly sophisticated tactics
employed by censors in Hong Kong, Myanmar, the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and
Vietnam, mean that RFA’s reporting has become ever more crucial in filling the gap for
local news,” Fang said. “In Myanmar, the military junta has shuttered all domestic
independent media outfits, depriving Burmese citizens of trustworthy information when it’s
needed most.
“Authorities in Vietnam and Cambodia have unjustly charged and jailed former RFA
contributors for their work amid wide-ranging crackdowns on critics and citizen
journalists. The Chinese government has gone so far as to make an RFA Uyghur journalist
the target of a smear campaign while pursuing an endless persecution of her and her
colleagues’ families. The recent arrests and prosecutions of Hong Kong journalists have
all but blighted hopes of a local free press surviving in the territory for much longer.
“As RFA marks its 25th consecutive year of bringing free press to closed societies in
Asia, we reiterate the essential role of journalism in lifting up the voices of the
unheard and holding the powerful accountable to those they purport to serve.”
In Vietnam, RFA contributors [
https://www.rfa.org/about/releases/conviction-of-nguyen-tuong-thuy-a-2018bl…
| Nguyen Tuong Thuy ] , [
https://www.rfa.org/about/releases/condemns-conviction-03092020120832.html | Truong Duy
Nhat ] and [ https://www.usagm.gov/news-and-information/threats-to-press/nguyen-van-hoa/ |
Nguyen Van Hoa ] are serving sentences of 11, 10 and seven years respectively. In
Cambodia, former RFA journalists Yeang Sothearin and Uon Chhin have remained in a [
https://www.rfa.org/about/releases/chhin-and-sothearin-appeal-decision-0127…
| legal limbo ] two years after a judge ordered their re-investigation, despite a prior
investigation finding no conclusive evidence of wrongdoing. And in China’s Uyghur region,
relatives of at least eight RFA journalists have been [
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/special/uyghurfamilies/ | detained in retaliation ] for
RFA’s Uyghur Service’s explosive coverage of the internment of over a million Uyghurs and
other minorities in the province. Chinese authorities made unfounded accusations against
RFA Uyghur journalist Gulchehra Hoja as part of [
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/smear-04132021191322.html | a smear campaign ]
against expatriate Uyghurs who have publicly spoken out about the prison state in the
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
In commemoration of World Press Freedom Day, RFA also launched a [
https://twitter.com/RadioFreeAsia/status/1387542142277586944 | social media campaign ]
emphasizing a free press’s role in ensuring transparency. Across [
https://twitter.com/RadioFreeAsia | Twitter ] , [ https://www.facebook.com/RFAEnglish |
Facebook ] and [ https://www.facebook.com/RFAEnglish | Instagram ] , the campaign
highlights recent RFA exclusives -- from the exposure of police brutality against Burmese
protesters and volunteer medics, to the disappearance of Chinese whistleblowers who aimed
to tell the world about COVID-19, and many more -- that shed light on events that
otherwise would be blotted out by censors.
In its recently released [
https://rsf.org/en/2021-world-press-freedom-index-journalism-vaccine-agains…
| 2021 Press Freedom Index, ] media freedom watchdog [ https://rsf.org/en | Reporters
Without Borders ] (RSF) noted a general “dramatic deterioration in people's access to
information and an increase in obstacles to news coverage” around the world, and
highlighted the seriousness of the situation in Asia. The report cited the rising threats
to free press in Hong Kong (which dropped seven places in the global rankings to 80th
place) in its assessment of China (ranked 177th out of 180 countries). The report also
pointed out China’s increased efforts to promote its own repression as a model for other
nations’ governments to squash independent journalism and dissent.
# # #
Rohit Mahajan
Vice President of Communications and External Relations
Radio Free Asia