A press freedom group on Tuesday called for charges to be dropped against the Alabama newspaper publisher and a reporter arrested Friday for allegedly printing grand jury secrets, saying the pair “should not be prosecuted for simply doing their jobs.”

The arrests of Atmore News publisher and co-owner Sherry Digmon and Don Fletcher, a reporter at the outlet, stemmed from an Oct. 25 article on an Escambia County Sheriff’s Office investigation into federal COVID-19 funds that were possibly improperly paid to seven former Escambia County School System employees, the newspaper said Saturday on its Facebook page.

Besides her roles at the Atmore News, Digmon is also a member of the Escambia County Board of Education.

A sidebar accompanying the main article on the investigation reported phones belonging to Digmon and fellow board member Cindy Jackson were seized by sheriff’s deputies. Both Digmon and Jackson voted against renewing Superintendent Michele McClung’s contract, according to the paper.

Fletcher was arrested at the newspaper’s offices Friday morning while Digmon was arrested at Atmore Community Hospital, where she was caring for a friend, according to the Atmore News.

On Tuesday, the Committee to Protect Journalists urged for the charges of revealing grand jury secrets to be dropped against Digmon and Fletcher.

“CPJ is outraged by the arrest of Atmore News publisher Sherry Digmon and reporter Don Fletcher and calls on local authorities to immediately drop all charges against them. They should not be prosecuted for simply doing their jobs and covering a matter of local interest, such as the allocation of school board funds,” Katherine Jacobsen, the organization’s program coordinator for the United States and Canada, said in a statement. “Journalists play a crucial role in their local communities. Arresting them creates a chilling effect and is a gross misuse of taxpayer funds.”

Veronica “Ashley” Fore, the school system’s payroll and insurance bookkeeper, was arrested along with Digmon and Fletcher, although the Atmore News reported the reasons behind Fore’s arrest were unknown.

Escambia County Sheriff Stephen Billy told the Atmore Advance he stood by the charges.

“All three of them, (including) the girl that was expelled, were all charged with the same thing. But, you just can’t do that, and there’s no reason for that. Innocent people get exposed, and it causes a lot of trouble for people.”