The Most Urgent Threats to Press Freedom in 2026
Coinciding with World Press Freedom Day (May 3rd), global media outlets unite as One Free Press Coalition to publish this annual “10 Most Urgent” list, bringing attention to fellow journalists who are being threatened for seeking to tell the truth. These 10 cases focus on journalists who are targeted for “terrorism” or “anti-state” charges.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the majority of imprisoned journalists—61% of those jailed worldwide—are being held on “anti-state” charges, which include accusations of terrorism or accepting funds from a foreign government.
The list is compiled in collaboration with CPJ, International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF), and Reporters Without Borders (RSF). According to CPJ data, 330 journalists are currently behind bars worldwide because of their work.
The One Free Press Coalition crucially and emphatically unites our collective voices in support of the following individuals and their urgent cases of press persecution.
Reza Valizadeh—Iran
After 16 years working as a journalist in the U.S., Iranian-American Reza Valizadeh returned to Iran in February 2024 to care for his aging parents. He claimed to have attempted to negotiate assurances from Iranian authorities for his safe return, but was repeatedly summoned and interrogated for cooperating with exile-based Persian media. He was then arrested in September 2024 in Tehran and sentenced to 10 years in prison for “collaboration with the hostile government of the United States.” Valizadeh’s health has deteriorated in detention, especially worsening of his chronic asthma during a brief transfer from Evin Prison to “dangerously overcrowded” Fashafouyeh Prison (in the words of Valizadeh’s brother) after a deadly strike on Evin during Iran’s 12-day war with Israel in 2025. CPJ reached the U.S. State Department for comment in July 2025 and received word that the Trump Administration called on Iran “to immediately release Mr. Valizadeh and all unjustly detained individuals in Iran.”
Jimmy Lai—Hong Kong
In February, a Hong Kong court sentenced 78-year-old Jimmy Lai to 20 years in prison—effectively a life sentence—following a December conviction on two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and one count of conspiracy to publish seditious material. The court also delivered sentences to six of Lai’s colleagues from Apple Daily, a pro-democracy outlet that ceased publication in 2021 after 26 years due to authorities freezing its assets and repeatedly raiding its offices. British citizen Lai has been in detention since 2020, having been arrested under a Beijing-imposed national security law that was used to quell protests and silence dissent. CPJ data finds China consistently ranks as the world’s worst jailer of journalists, currently holding at least 51 behind bars, including eight in Hong Kong.
Pham Doan Trang—Vietnam
In 2021, Vietnamese author, journalist, and activist Pham Doan Trang was sentenced to nine years in prison for crimes of “anti-state propaganda.” Her writing focuses on democracy, freedom of expression, human rights, and police brutality for outlets such Luat Khoa legal magazine, which she founded, and independent English-language website The Vietnamese. A spokesperson has reported that Trang has faced deteriorating health conditions during detention—including sinusitis, arthritis, gynecological issues, and long-term pain in her legs resulting from harassment by security officials in 2015. Trang has been denied outside medical treatment and has been transferred to a facility nearly 1,000 miles away from her family as an “extra form of punishment,” according to a report from The Vietnamese.
Zhang Zhan—China
Zhang Zhan is serving her second sentence in China as she has continued to be persecuted for her reporting. Her first arrest on charges of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” came in May 2020 when she was reporting from Wuhan during the COVID-19 outbreak. She served four years behind bars and then was detained again on the same charges in 2024. A closed-door trial delivered her an additional four years in detention in Shanghai. RSF reports that Zhang has been denied the right to meet with lawyers and to be represented by a lawyer of her own choosing. Zhang, 42, has been hospitalized and force-fed during detention as she engages in severe hunger strikes in protest of mistreatment.
Ulfatkhonim Mamadshoeva—Tajikistan
Amid mass protests in Tajikistan’s eastern Gorno-Badakhshan autonomous region in 2022, authorities arrested veteran freelance journalist Ulfatkhonim Mamadshoeva at her home, accusing her of organizing the unrest. She was convicted on multiple anti-state charges—including treason, terrorism, forming a criminal group, violent usurpation of state power, murder, and attempted murder—and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Mamadshoeva, who is now 68-years-old, covered cultural, social, and geopolitical issues in the region for various publications; she also ran an independent news website and an NGO focused on women’s rights and other issues.
Tsi Conrad—Cameroon
Filmmaker and photographer Tsi Conrad has been awaiting a court date since appealing his 15-year sentence in 2023 with the Supreme Court of Cameroon. He was arrested in 2016 while covering protests and has been behind bars since 2018 on charges including secession, hostility against the state, rebellion, and spreading false news. A 2021 appeal resulted in partially overturning his original conviction. Conrad’s work included founding a news agency and film production company called Ruphina’s House and providing multimedia content for radio stations and separatist news website Bareta News based in the country’s northwest region, where Conrad is from.
Frenchie Mae Cumpio—Philippines
A Philippine court in February denied bail for 27-year-old journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio, who has been detained for more than six years. The Tacloban court ruled there was “no strong or compelling reason” to grant bail for Cumpio, who was convicted of financing terrorism and sentenced to 12 to 18 years in prison. Cumpio’s lawyers issued an appeal soon after the January decision. An outside investigation found that authorities planted weapons in Cumpio’s home before raiding the space in 2021 and incriminating the then-21-year-old whose reporting included local radio coverage of military and police abuse and independent media stories about marginalized people in the Philippines.
Sevinj Vagifgizi—Azerbaijan
Sevinj Vagifgizi, chief editor of anti-corruption investigative outlet Abzas Media, is serving a nine-year prison sentence in Azerbaijan. She is one of 24 journalists currently detained amid the country’s crackdown on independent media since 2023. Vagifgizi was arrested in late 2023 along with two colleagues, when authorities searched the outlet’s offices in Baku and found more than $43,000. She received her sentence in mid-2025 on financial crime charges in relation to alleged receipt of Western donor funding and conspiring to bring a large sum of money into the country illegally. Vagifgizi, 36, and her colleagues denied the charges, instead claiming in a statement that the charges were retaliation for “a series of investigations into the corruption crimes committed by the president of the country and his appointed officials.”
Genet Asmamaw—Ethiopia
Detained for the past three years, Genet Asmamaw is scheduled to present her defense in court in May 2026. She reported for the YouTube-based Medlot Media prior to officials violently arresting her in her home in Addis Ababa in 2023. The outlet covered conflict and political issues relating to the Amhara people and had attracted more than 100,000 subscribers. Courts have accused Asmamaw of inciting violence through social media and other platforms and mobilizing young people to overthrow the government. Asmamaw could face the death penalty, if convicted. Terrorism charges are the reason for detention in the case of all five journalists currently behind bars in Ethiopia, according to CPJ data.
Christophe Gleizes—Algeria
RSF reporting calls Christophe Gleizes the only French journalist currently imprisoned anywhere in the world. The freelance sports reporter and contributor to the French magazines So Foot and Society was arrested in Algeria in May 2024 while covering the history of local football club Jeunesse Sportive de Kabylie (JSK). Authorities convicted Gleizes that year of “glorifying terrorism” and “possessing publications for propaganda purposes harmful to national interests.” His seven-year prison sentence was upheld by an appeals court in 2025.