Today, World Press Freedom Day provides an opportunity for people around the world to celebrate the fundamental human right to freedom of expression. Every day, journalists around the world face the threat of intimidation, censorship, imprisonment and violence, including torture, for their efforts to report on human rights violations.
We are shining a light on 8 specific cases in places including China, Zimbabwe, Russia and Egypt where rights to free speech and expression have been harshly denied.
It was during this same time last year when we witnessed the release of American journalist Roxana Saberi. She was arrested in Iran and initially sentenced to eight years in prison on trumped-up charges of espionage. But because we sounded the alarm and refused to let free speech be ignored, justice was served.