Europe & Central Asia documents by Year:
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of February 10
February 14, 2019 2:41 PM ET
Police detain two journalists in separate raids Police on February 12 detained Salih Turan, a freelance journalist who formerly worked for the U.S. government-funded broadcaster Voice of America and the Kurdish service of the Russian-state-funded outlet Sputnik, on accusations of "making propaganda of a [terrorist] organization" on social media...
CPJ joins call for Turkey to release jailed journalists
February 14, 2019 9:10 AM ET
The Committee to Protect Journalists today joined 47 members of the European Parliament and other press freedom organizations to call on Turkey to end its crackdown on the press and the mass imprisonment of journalists....
Editor of Russia's Novye Kolyosa due in court after 15 months in custody
February 13, 2019 4:47 PM ET
New York, February 13, 2019--Igor Rudnikov, editor-in-chief and owner of the independent Kaliningrad-based weekly Novye Kolyosa, is due to appear in court on extortion charges in St. Petersburg tomorrow, according to local news reports. Rudnikov, who faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted, has been in pre-trial...
Tut editor in Belarus court on charge of illegally accessing state media website
February 12, 2019 4:17 PM ET
Kiev, February 12, 2019--The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Belarusian authorities to end their harassment of Maryna Zolatava, editor-in-chief of the country's largest independent news website, Tut.by. Zolatava appeared in court in Minsk today on charges of illegally accessing part of a state-owned news outlet's website and "official...
Russia investigates reporter, seizes property over allegations of "justifying terrorism"
February 8, 2019 3:16 PM ET
New York, February 8, 2019--Russian authorities should immediately drop a criminal investigation launched against reporter Svetlana Prokopyeva and return her personal possessions seized during a raid of her apartment by armed police on February 6, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today....
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of February 2, 2019
February 7, 2019 1:36 PM ET
Court convicts parliamentary deputy and editor Barış Yarkadaş An Istanbul court on February 7 convicted Barış Yarkadaş, the parliamentary deputy for the main opposition party CHP and former chief editor of the online newspaper Gerçek Gündem, of "violating the secrecy of private life" and handed him a suspended 10-month...
Serbia's N1TV receives letter threatening to kill staff, blow up office
February 6, 2019 2:43 PM ET
Berlin, February 6, 2019--Serbian authorities should thoroughly investigate a death threat made against staff at the privately owned N1TV, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The station received a letter on February 4 from someone threatening to kill its journalists and their families, and to blow up its...
French police attempt to search Mediapart offices over Benalla report
February 4, 2019 1:55 PM ET
Berlin, February 4, 2019--The Paris prosecutor's office should cease its attempts to search the offices of investigative news outlet Mediapart, the Committee to Protect Journalists said. Mediapart reported that police and prosecutors attempted to search its office today as part of an investigation into the outlet's reporting on the...
French radio station burned in arson attack, anarchist group claims responsibility
February 4, 2019 10:09 AM ET
The Grenoble office of regional French public radio station France Bleu Isère was partially destroyed in an arson attack on January 28, 2019, according to the broadcaster. On January 30, a local anti-capitalist anarchist group claimed responsibility for the attack, the station reported....