Russian authorities warn journalists, social media platforms, and news outlets ahead of pro-Navalny protests
New York, January 21, 2021 – Russian authorities should cease intimidating and harassing journalists covering protests in the country, and allow members of the press to work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Since yesterday, police and the country’s media regulator have issued warnings to at least four journalists, as well as to…
Russian journalist Dmitry Timoshenko repeatedly arrested, fined over protest coverage
New York, January 19, 2021– Russian authorities should immediately release journalist Dmitry Timoshenko, drop all charges against him, and stop using the country’s court system to harass members of the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Police in the eastern city of Khabarovsk have detained Timoshenko, a correspondent for the independent regional newspaper…
Deportation for Iranian journalist Mohammad Mosaed ‘not on the table’ in Turkey, official says
Washington, D.C., January 19, 2021 — Iranian journalist Mohamed Mosaed has requested asylum in Turkey, his lawyer Canan Pehlivan told the Committee Protect Journalist today. CPJ is calling on Turkish authorities to conduct an expedited review of his request, as Mosaed faces imprisonment in Iran in reprisal for his journalism. Pehlivan told CPJ that Mosaed…
Portuguese police surveilled, interrogated journalists in leak investigation
Berlin, January 19, 2021 — Portuguese authorities must thoroughly investigate alleged police surveillance of journalists, and ensure that members of the press are not targeted in government leak investigations, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. From April to June 2018, as part of a bribery investigation into executives of a local soccer team, the…
Turkish authorities must halt deportation of Iranian journalist Mohammad Mosaed, CPJ 2020 awardee
Washington, D.C., January 18, 2021—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Turkish authorities to immediately halt the deportation of Iranian investigative journalist Mohammad Mosaed to Iran. Mosaed was honored with CPJ’s 2020 International Press Freedom Award in November. Yesterday, Mosaed contacted CPJ via messaging app, saying he had been detained by Turkish border police after…
Turkish journalist Orhan Uğuroğlu attacked in Ankara
Istanbul, January 15, 2021 – Turkish authorities should conduct a swift and thorough investigation into the assault of journalist Orhan Uğuroğlu and bring the perpetrators to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Earlier today, in Ankara, the capital, three unidentified men attacked Uğuroğlu, the Ankara correspondent for the nationalist daily Yeniçağ, while he…
Turkish police raid Etkin News Agency, arrest reporter Pınar Gayıp
Istanbul, January 14, 2021 – Turkish authorities must release journalist Pınar Gayıp immediately and return all items confiscated in a recent raid on the Etkin News Agency, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Last night, police raided the Istanbul office of the Etkin News Agency, a news outlet supportive of the Socialist Party of…
Russian regulator announces fines for RFE/RL outlets under expanded ‘foreign agent’ law
New York, January 14, 2021 – Russian authorities should repeal the country’s foreign agents law to ensure that local and foreign news outlets can work freely, and in the meantime refrain from fining media organizations over alleged violations of the law, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On January 12, Roskomnadzor, the country’s media…
Authorities harass, obstruct journalists covering Kazakhstan parliamentary elections
On January 10, 2021, Kazakh law enforcement officers and electoral officials harassed and interfered with the work of at least seven journalists who were covering parliamentary elections in the country, according to news reports and journalists who spoke to CPJ. In Nur-Sultan, the capital, a police officer grabbed the phone of Saniya Toiken, a correspondent…
A positive step for Julian Assange but a blow to press freedom
A London court’s decision this week not to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States imperils press freedom even as it benefits Assange. In her January 4 decision, Judge Vanessa Baraister ruled that Assange would be at risk of suicide should he be extradited to the U.S. to face criminal prosecution, including on espionage…