#press-freedom

#press-freedom

When Elena Kostyuchenko (Yaroslavl, Russia, 38 years old) arrived in Berlin after covering the beginning of the war in Ukraine and learning that she could never return to Russia because a price had been put on her head, she thought she was safe. However, a few months later, she was poisoned in Germany with an unknown substance that continues to wreak havoc on her body even today.

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

The Kashmir Times rejected that allegation, describing the raid on its office as yet another attempt to silence us. The bizarre allegations against us are baseless, the news outlet said in a statement shared on its website on Thursday. Criticising the government is not the same as being inimical to the state. In fact, it is the very opposite, it said. A robust, questioning press is essential to a healthy democracy.

U.K. journalist Sami Hamdi, a 35-year-old father of three and outspoken critic of Israel's genocide in Gaza, was residing in the U.S. on a travel visa when he was abducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at San Francisco International Airport on October 26. His wife, Soumaya Hamdi, only found out he was being detained after a friend sent her a text message about DHS bragging about the abduction on social media.

It's a warning shot aimed at the very idea of independent civic life. The silencing of a revolutionary media outlet Instead, the Decree, once seen as a safeguard for civic freedom, is now being weaponized as a tool of control. Nawaat's team describes the action as part of a broader campaign of harassment: tax audits, financial investigations, and administrative interrogations that together amount to an attempt to "stifle all media resistance to the dictatorship."

The journalist, a Vietnamese citizen who lives and works in Thailand, had returned to their home country in August to renew their passport, according a source with knowledge of the situation. While their passport was reissued, it was held by police, who interrogated them over a number of days, asking questions about their journalism, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

Reporters carry their belongings from the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., on October 15, 2025 after U.S. and international news outlets including The New York Times, AP, AFP and Fox News declined to sign new restrictive Pentagon media rules, and were stripped of their press access credentials.