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[**Syrian blogger on freedom after 15 years in al-Assad’s prisons**](https://cpj.org/2025/03/nightmares-syrian-journalist-tal-al-mallohi-on-surviving-15-years-in-assads-jails/)

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Syrian journalist Tal al-Mallohi was arrested in 2009; she was freed after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. (Photo: Tal al-Mallohi)

When Syria’s Bashar al-Assad was [ousted](https://apnews.com/article/syria-bashar-assad-war-1468a97ff95bb782f5933856d99c9a8d) from power last December, [Syrian journalist Tal al-Mallohi](https://cpj.org/data/people/tal-al-mallohi/) was among the thousands who [poured out](https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/bewildered-elated-prisoners-pour-out-assads-jails-flung-open-2024-12-08/) of the country’s jails.  

Mallohi was 18 when security police detained her in 2009 after posting on the then-popular [Blogger](https://talmallohi.blogspot.com/) platform poems and articles about Palestinian rights and other political issues. She spent 15 years behind bars – three times as long as her [five-year sentence](https://cpj.org/2011/02/syrian-blogger-sentenced-to-five-years-in-prison/) on state security charges in 2011.  

Al-Mallohi [spoke](https://cpj.org/2025/03/nightmares-syrian-journalist-tal-al-mallohi-on-surviving-15-years-in-assads-jails/) to CPJ via a video call from her living room in the city of Homs about her 15 years in prison, how she is coping with the way the world has changed, her family’s sacrifices to keep her alive, and what it means to be a journalist in post-Assad Syria.

The fates of four other journalists whose cases are documented on [CPJ’s prison census](https://cpj.org/special-reports/in-record-year-china-israel-and-myanmar-are-worlds-leading-jailers-of-journalists/) – [Akram Raslan](https://cpj.org/data/people/akram-raslan/), [Austin Tice,](https://cpj.org/data/people/austin-tice/) [Fares Maamou](https://cpj.org/data/people/fares-maamou/), and [Jihad As’ad Mohamed](https://cpj.org/data/people/jihad-asad-mohamed/) – remain unknown. CPJ is also investigating cases of missing journalists in Syria.  

**[Read more](https://cpj.org/2025/03/nightmares-syrian-journalist-tal-al-mallohi-on-surviving-15-years-in-assads-jails/)**

**Other press freedom news**

1.  [](https://cpj.org/2025/03/cpj-calls-for-release-of-jose-ruben-zamora-after-guatemala-judge-orders-the-journalist-back-to-jail/)

    [Statements](https://cpj.org/statements/) – [Guatemala](https://cpj.org/americas/guatemala/)

    ### [CPJ calls for release of José Rubén Zamora after Guatemala judge orders the journalist back to jail](https://cpj.org/2025/03/cpj-calls-for-release-of-jose-ruben-zamora-after-guatemala-judge-orders-the-journalist-back-to-jail/)

2.  [Alerts](https://cpj.org/news/) – [Turkey](https://cpj.org/europe/turkey/)

    ### [Turkey criminalizes ‘false’ reporting on cybersecurity-related data leaks](https://cpj.org/2025/03/new-turkish-law-criminalizes-false-reporting-on-cybersecurity-related-data-leaks/)

3.  [Alerts](https://cpj.org/news/) – [India](https://cpj.org/asia/india/)

    ### [CPJ alarmed by India state government’s use of AI to monitor media](https://cpj.org/2025/03/cpj-alarmed-by-india-state-governments-use-of-ai-to-monitor-media/)

[MORE](https://cpj.org/news/)

#### [Rights groups urge FCC to end press freedom threats](https://cpj.org/2025/03/cpj-partners-urge-fcc-to-stop-threatening-press-freedom-and-free-speech/)

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr during a Senate committee hearing in 2020. (Photo: The Washington Post/Jonathan Newton)

The Committee to Protect Journalists and 16 other organizations, led by the nonprofit group Public Knowledge, sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr on March 7, urging him to halt actions that may erode long-established safeguards for editorial independence and free expression.

The agency [recently](https://cpj.org/2025/02/cpj-denounces-trump-administrations-actions-against-ap-other-retaliation-against-media/) launched investigations into public broadcasting for allegedly airing advertising and threatening to investigate the northern California radio station KCBS after it reported on planned U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids. FCC investigations can result in fines and license revocations, undermining the ability of news organizations to operate freely and without fear of government retaliation.  

**[Read More](https://cpj.org/2025/03/cpj-partners-urge-fcc-to-stop-threatening-press-freedom-and-free-speech/)**

### More From CPJ

[Israel-Gaza war](https://cpj.org/full-coverage-israel-gaza-war/)

[Census: jailed journalists](https://cpj.org/special-reports/in-record-year-china-israel-and-myanmar-are-worlds-leading-jailers-of-journalists/)

[SPYWARE](https://cpj.org/tags/spyware/)

[Ukraine](https://cpj.org/invasion-of-ukraine/)

[Press freedom in the EU](https://cpj.org/reports/2023/04/fragile-progress-the-struggle-for-press-freedom-in-the-european-union/)

* * *

[**Safety Guides** – Easy-to-follow, practical guides for physical, digital, and psychological safety](https://cpj.org/journalist-safety-and-emergencies/#safetyresources)  

[**U.S. Journalist Safety Kit**](https://cpj.org/2024/04/u-s-presidential-election-2024-journalist-safety-kit/)

[**Emergency Support** – CPJ provides emergency support to journalists in distress around the globe](https://cpj.org/journalist-safety-and-emergencies/)

[**Safety Videos** – Practical guidance to journalists covering unrest worldwide](https://cpj.org/2023/02/cpj-launches-safety-videos-to-support-journalists-covering-unrest-globally/)

Need assistance? [Contact us](https://cpj.org/emergency-response/how-to-get-help/).

[More Resources](https://cpj.org/tags/safety/)

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    Email Address

### The Committee to Protect Journalists promotes press freedom worldwide.

We defend the right of journalists to report the news safely and without fear of reprisal.

*   [Our Impact](https://cpj.org/impact/)

*   [Our People](https://cpj.org/about/staff/)

*   [Our History](https://cpj.org/about/history/)

*   [Frequently Asked Questions](https://cpj.org/about/faq/)

Journalists Attacked

--------------------

### Myat Thu Tan

MURDERED

Myat Thu Tan, a contributor to the local news website Western News and correspondent for several independent Myanmar news outlets, was shot and killed on January 31, 2024, while in military custody in Mrauk-U in Myanmar’s western Rakhine State.  

He was arrested on September 22, 2022, and held in pre-trial detention under a broad provision of the penal code that criminalizes incitement and the dissemination of false news for critical posts he made on his Facebook page. Myat Thu Tan had not been tried or convicted at the time of his death.  

The journalist’s body was found buried in a bomb shelter, with the bodies of six other political detainees, and showed signs of torture.  

Myanmar’s military junta has cracked down on journalists and media outlets since seizing power in a February 2021 coup.  

[Learn more about Myat Thu Tan](https://cpj.org/data/people/myat-thu-tan/)

In at least 8 out of 10 cases, the murderers of journalists go free. CPJ is waging a global campaign against impunity.

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