Gulnoza Said - Committee to Protect Journalists

Gulnoza Said, CPJ's Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, is a journalist and press freedom advocate with over 20 years of experience in New York, Prague, Bratislava, and Tashkent. At CPJ, she has conducted several missions to countries in Europe and Central Asia, and advocated for greater press freedom and the release of jailed journalists at forums including the U.S. Congress, the United Nations, and the OSCE. Before joining CPJ in 2016, she was a journalist and covered issues including elections, politics, media, religion, and human rights with a focus on Central Asia, Russia, and Turkey. She also worked in communications for the United Nations Secretariat and the UNDP. Her op-eds, reports, and comments have appeared in CNN, the BBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, PBS, NBC, Voice of America, RFE/RL, Fergana, Eurasianet, and other outlets, and she authored the Uzbekistan chapter in a book on the study of social entrepreneurship. Follow her on LinkedIn.

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

November 18, 2019 2:38 PM EST

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.”

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

November 15, 2019 2:55 PM EST

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.

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

October 16, 2019 11:34 AM EDT

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…

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

September 20, 2019 1:40 PM EDT

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.

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

September 19, 2019 3:09 PM EDT

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.

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

July 1, 2019 3:30 PM EDT

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.

People are seen holding photos of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in Valletta, Malta, on April 16, 2018. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe recently passed a resolution requiring the Maltese government to launch an independent public inquiry into her killing. (AFP/Matthew Mirabelli)

CPJ welcomes resolution demanding investigation into Daphne Caruana Galizia killing

June 27, 2019 2:00 PM EDT

CPJ joined other press freedom and freedom of expression organizations today in welcoming a resolution condemning the lack of progress in determining responsibility for the October 16, 2017, car bomb killing of Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Kyrgyzstan journalist Azimjon Askarov and his wife, Khadicha, pictured during a family vacation in Arslanbob in the summer of 2009. 'This was Azimjon's last summer of freedom,' Khadicha told CPJ. (Askarov family)

Harsh conditions for Askarov, the Kyrgyz journalist UN says should be freed

June 3, 2019 10:00 AM EDT

On a recent morning in Bazar-Korgon, southern Kyrgyzstan, Khadicha Askarova was giving hasty instructions to her daughter about what needed to be packed. They were about to set off: first for the capital Bishkek, some 600km from where they live, and then another 70km to a prison colony where her husband, Azimjon Askarov, was transferred…

A view of the State Duma building in Moscow, in March 2018. CPJ and other rights groups have called on President Vladimir Putin to not approve amendments to a bill that could further limit internet and press freedom in Russia. (AFP/Vasily Maximov)

Letter calls on Putin to not approve Russia’s ‘sovereign internet’ bill

May 1, 2019 11:22 AM EDT

CPJ and a coalition of international human rights and press freedom organizations called on President Vladimir Putin to not approve legislative amendments known as the “bill on a sovereign internet” that could lead to further limitations on internet and media freedom in Russia.

Slovakia's president-elect Zuzana Čaputová, pictured talking to the press outside a polling station in Pezinok on March 30. CPJ and other rights organizations are calling on the newly elected leader to ensure the safety of journalists. (AFP/Vladimir Simicek)

Calls for Slovakia’s new president to respect press freedom

April 2, 2019 12:27 PM EDT

CPJ and a coalition of eight other international press freedom groups today called on the newly elected president of Slovakia to respect press freedom and ensure the safety of journalists.