The record

Incidents: detention and violence, stage: eliminate

Each incident is a dated action by a government, an official, a regulator, a court or a legislature that limited journalists' ability to gather or publish news.

The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.

All filters: country, dates, head of government, sort

13 incidents match this view.

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Date	Incident	Country	Tactic	Head of government	Outcome
15 December 2025	China (Hong Kong): conviction and 20-year sentence of the media owner Jimmy Lai under the National Security Law, 2025 to 2026	Hong Kong (RSF 2026 rank: 140th of 180)	Detention and violence	John Lee	Sustained (8 February 2026)
14 June 2023	Guatemala convicts investigative journalist Jose Ruben Zamora on money-laundering charge	Guatemala (RSF 2026 rank: 128th of 180)	Detention and violence	Alejandro Giammattei	Ongoing
29 March 2023	Russia: Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich sentenced to 16 years	Russia (RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180)	Detention and violence	Vladimir Putin	Reversed (1 August 2024)
8 February 2023	Belarus: journalist Andrzej Poczobut sentenced to eight years	Belarus (RSF 2026 rank: 165th of 180)	Detention and violence	Alexander Lukashenko	Reversed (28 April 2026)
14 May 2020	China: citizen journalist Zhang Zhan imprisoned for Wuhan reporting	China (RSF 2026 rank: 178th of 180)	Detention and violence	Xi Jinping	Ongoing
2 October 2018	Saudi Arabia's government kills journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside its Istanbul consulate	Saudi Arabia (RSF 2026 rank: 176th of 180)	Detention and violence	Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud	Unknown
3 September 2018	Myanmar sentences two Reuters journalists to seven years under the Official Secrets Act for reporting on a massacre	Myanmar (RSF 2026 rank: 166th of 180)	Secrets and espionage laws	Aung San Suu Kyi	Reversed (7 May 2019)
1 September 2015	Azerbaijan: investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova sentenced to 7.5 years	Azerbaijan (RSF rank: not recorded)	Detention and violence	Ilham Aliyev	Reversed (25 May 2016)
7 October 2006	Investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya is shot dead in Moscow; a former police officer is later convicted of organizing the killing	Russia (RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180)	Detention and violence	Vladimir Putin	Upheld by a court (9 June 2014)
18 September 2001	Eritrea: independent press closed and journalists jailed without trial	Eritrea (RSF rank: not recorded)	Detention and violence	Isaias Afwerki	Ongoing
July 1995	Nigeria's military government convicts journalists by special tribunal over coup-plot reporting	Nigeria (RSF 2026 rank: 112th of 180)	Detention and violence	Sani Abacha	Reversed (15 June 1998)
1980	Haiti's Duvalier government arrests and deports Radio Haiti-Inter staff, driving its director into exile	Haiti (RSF 2026 rank: 107th of 180)	Expulsion and visa denial	Jean-Claude Duvalier	Reversed (1 February 1986)
24 March 1976	Argentina's military junta threatens journalists with prison for reporting on its opponents	Argentina (RSF 2026 rank: 98th of 180)	Detention and violence	Jorge Rafael Videla	Reversed (10 December 1983)

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