#press-freedom

#press-freedom

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.

We appreciated that Vance described The Nation as a "well-respected magazine whose publishing history goes back to the American Civil War." We were less appreciative, however, of his clumsy critique of our coverage of the death of Charlie Kirk, which elided the fact that our columnists condemned the political violence that took the conservative activist's life while pointedly criticizing his record.