Gulnoza Said/CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator

Gulnoza Said is a journalist and communications professional with over 15 years of experience in New York, Prague, Bratislava, and Tashkent. She has covered issues including politics, media, religion, and human rights with a focus on Central Asia, Russia, and Turkey.

Independent Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Mukhtarli speaks in Baku, Azerbaijan ,,on Sunday, March 2, 2014. Mukhtarli spoke to CPJ after his release from prison in Azerbaijan on March 17, 2020. (AP Photo/Aziz Karimov)

Journalist Afgan Mukhtarli: ‘Azerbaijani prisoners are facing death under coronavirus quarantine’

Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Mukhtarli was released from prison on March 17, 2020, after nearly three years in jail, and flown to Berlin, where he was reunited with his wife and daughter. He served half of his six-year sentence on charges that Azerbaijani authorities brought in retaliation for his investigative reporting, as CPJ research shows.

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A screen shot of Chechen blogger Tumso Abdurakhmanov broadcasting on one of his YouTube channels. Abdurakhmanov, a prominent blogger critical of the Chechen authorities, survived a violent assault in his home in Swedish town of Gävle on February 26, 2020.

Chechen blogger and government critic Tumso Abdurakhmanov: ‘I am constantly at risk’

Tumso Abdurakhmanov, a prominent blogger critical of the Chechen authorities, survived a violent assault in his home in Swedish town of Gävle on February 26, 2020. Two Russian nationals have been arrested in connection with the attack, according to a report by Agence France-Presse. CPJ documented the incident and spoke to the blogger after his…

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Police officers are seen in Koi-Tash, Kyrgyzstan, on August 8, 2019. CPJ recently joined a letter urging the Kyrgyz government to stop harassing journalists. (AP/Vladimir Voronin)

CPJ joins call for Kyrgyzstan to ensure safety of journalists covering corruption

CPJ and four other international organizations today sent a letter to Kyrgyzstan authorities demanding they stop harassing local journalists who have covered alleged official corruption, and urging authorities to investigate threats and attacks against journalists.

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Protesters hold up placards and pictures of the murdered Maltese blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia as they gather outside the prime minister's office in Valletta, Malta, on November 20, 2019. CPJ and other press freedom groups are reiterating their call for an independent investigation into the journalist's killing. (AFP/Matthew Mirabelli)

Malta must avoid political interference in Caruana Galizia investigation

CPJ and nine other international press freedom organizations today released a joint statement reiterating that the investigation into the assassination of Maltese blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia must be independent and free from political interference.

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Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma, is seen in Moscow on April 17, 2019. The State Duma recently passed legislation that would add individual journalists and bloggers to the country’s list of “foreign agents.” (Reuters/Sputnik/Alexander Astafyev)

CPJ joins call for Russian government to drop foreign agent bill

The Committee to Protect Journalists today joined nine other international press freedom organizations in signing a statement urging Russia to drop draft legislation that would add individual journalists and bloggers to the country’s list of “foreign agents.”

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Friends and family members of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia carry a banner calling for "Truth and Justice" in the investigation into her murder, in Valletta, Malta, on October 16, 2019. Her family and the Maltese government recently reached an agreement on the nature of the investigation. (Reuters/Darrin Zammit Lupi)

CPJ joins statement welcoming changes in inquiry of Daphne Caruana Galizia killing

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined eight other international press freedom organizations today in a statement welcoming an announcement that the Maltese government and the family of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia have agreed on the membership of the board appointed to investigate the circumstances of Caruana Galizia’s 2017 killing, and on the investigation’s scope.

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People lay flowers and candles at a memorial during a vigil and protest on the first anniversary of the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia outside the Courts of Justice in Valletta, Malta, on October 16, 2018. On the second anniversary of her murder, CPJ joined a call to end impunity in her case. (Reuters/Darrin Zammit Lupi)

CPJ joins call to end impunity in killing of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia

Two years after the assassination of Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia and one year after CPJ joined five other organizations in an international press freedom mission to Malta, CPJ and nine other groups once again demanded an end to impunity for the heinous attack and renewed calls to ensure the independence of a public…

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A court where journalists from the Zaman newspaper were tried is seen in Istanbul on July 6, 2018. CPJ joined 12 other groups in issuing a statement calling on U.N. member states to urge Turkey to improve its freedom of speech record. (AP/Lefteris Pitarakis)

CPJ joins call to UN rights council for end to press crackdown in Turkey

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 12 other press freedom and freedom of expression organizations calling on the member states of the U.N. Human Rights Council to urge Turkey to end its repressive policies against independent reporting and free speech.

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Marija Pejcinovic Buric is seen after being elected as Secretary General of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France, on June 26, 2019. CPJ and other organizations recently sent a letter to Pejcinovic Buric, urging her to prioritize press freedom issues. (AFP/Patrick Hertzog)

CPJ joins call for new Council of Europe head to prioritize press freedom

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 21 other press freedom and freedom of expression organizations in sending an open letter to Secretary General of the Council of Europe Marija Pejcinovic Buric yesterday, calling on her to prioritize press freedom and the safety of journalists among the council’s 47 member states.

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Kyrgyz journalist and rights advocate Azimjon Askarov is seen on January 24, 2017. CPJ recently signed on to a letter to Frederica Mogherini, the European Union's high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, urging for his release. (AP/Vladimir Voronin)

CPJ joins letter to EU’s Mogherini urging release of Kyrgyz journalist Askarov

CPJ joined seven other human rights and freedom of expression groups in writing a letter, made public today, calling on the government of Kyrgyzstan to release journalist and rights advocate Azimjon Askarov.

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