Hungarian police question journalists for ‘illicit data collection’ after use of drone footage
Berlin, October 28, 2020 — Hungarian police must stop harassing journalists Gabriella Horn and Balázs Gulyás, and drop any investigation into their sources and their use of drone footage to report on information of public interest, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On October 26, the business crime unit of the Hungarian police in…
Getting Away with Murder
CPJ’s 2020 Global Impunity Index spotlights countries where journalists are slain and their killers go free By Elana Beiser/CPJ Editorial Director Published October 28, 2020 Incremental progress toward reducing the murders of journalists worldwide is fragile and could be thwarted by legal appeals and lack of political leadership, CPJ found in its latest report on…
Russian journalist Irina Slavina dies of self-immolation after harassment by authorities
New York, October 26, 2020 – Russian federal authorities should investigate the circumstances of the death of journalist Irina Slavina, who died of self-immolation in early October after a campaign of legal harassment by authorities, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On October 2, 2020, Slavina, founder and chief editor of independent news website Koza.Press,…
Kazakh police assault, injure journalist Saniya Toiken covering protests in Nur-Sultan
New York, October 26, 2020 – Kazakh authorities should immediately and thoroughly investigate the assault on journalist Saniya Toiken, punish the perpetrators, and ensure that members of the press can work safely in Kazakhstan. On October 24, Kazakh police officers assaulted Toiken, correspondent for Radio Azattyq, the Kazakh service of the U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Radio…
Berlin police shove journalists with batons, prevent them from covering eviction
Police in Berlin physically attacked journalists to prevent them from covering a controversial eviction on October 8, 9, and 10, 2020, in which police removed activists who had been squatting at a house in the city, according to journalists Björn Kietzmann and Christina Gutsmiedl, who spoke with CPJ via messaging app and email respectively, journalists’ social…
Turkish courts pursue trials, asset seizures in multiple cases against journalists
October 22, 2020, Istanbul – Turkey must stop harassing journalists and prosecuting them on trumped up charges, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Yesterday, a court Istanbul rejected an appeal by exiled journalist Can Dündar, thereby allowing authorities to seize his assets in Turkey, the news website Duvar English reported. Today, another Istanbul court…
Unidentified attackers open fire on journalist Shkumbin Kajtazi’s car in Kosovo
Berlin, October 22, 2020 — Kosovo authorities must conduct a swift and thorough investigation into the shooting attack on the car of journalist Shkumbin Kajtazi and ensure his safety, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On October 18, just after midnight, unidentified attackers shot five or six times at the car of Kajtazi, a…
Q&A: Financial Times reporters Dan McCrum and Stefania Palma on Wirecard and pressures on business journalists
Dan McCrum and Stefania Palma, business reporters for the Financial Times, spent years investigating German payments company Wirecard and revealed in a series of articles that the darling of the stock markets and the German tech scene faked its accounts. When it filed for insolvency in June 2020, Wirecard owed creditors billions of dollars, and…
Hungarian court gags investigative report, citing EU data protection law
Berlin, October 21, 2020—A gag order issued by a Hungarian court has cited European Union data privacy rules to prevent the weekly Magyar Narancs newspaper from publishing an article on Budapest-based soft drinks company Hell Energy and its owners, according to the article’s author, Ákos Keller-Alánt, and local news reports. The court in Budapest issued…
Journalist Sergey Plotnikov abducted, beaten, then released in Russia’s far east
New York, October 20, 2020 – Russian authorities should immediately and transparently investigate the kidnapping of journalist Sergey Plotnikov, and ensure that the press in Russia can work safely and freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On October 15, at about 8 p.m., seven unidentified masked men abducted Plotnikov on the street near…