Europe & Central Asia

Contact CPJ Europe & Central Asia

Facebook: CPJ ECA Desk
Program Coordinator:
Gulnoza Said

Researcher:
Anna Brakha

Tel: 212-465-1004
Fax: 212-214-0640

Knight Foundation Press Freedom Center
P.O. Box 2675
New York, NY 10108 USA

  

Georgian journalists assaulted, obstructed while covering renewed protests

New York, February 7, 2025 – In Georgia, resurgent protests demanding new elections have been met with a violent police crackdown in which authorities forcefully obstructed or assaulted more than a dozen journalists covering the demonstrations. Protests against the Georgian Dream party’s disputed October election victory and the November suspension of European Union accession talks…

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Pavlo Borysko-Oleksandr Motornyi

Ukrainian journalist Pavlo Borysko injured while reporting on war 

New York, February 7, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Russia’s latest attack on Ukraine, which injured camera operator Pavlo Borysko, with TSN, a daily news program with the Ukrainian privately owned broadcaster 1+1, and calls on Russian and Ukrainian authorities to ensure the safety of journalists covering the war. “Three years since the beginning of Russia’s…

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Swedish public broadcaster SVT’s building vandalized

Berlin, February 6, 2025—Swedish authorities should quickly investigate the recent vandalistic attack on Sveriges Television’s (SVT) building in Stockholm and ensure the broadcaster’s journalists’ safety, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday.  “CPJ is concerned by the repeated attacks on SVT, Sweden’s public broadcaster,” said Attila Mong, CPJ’s Europe representative. “This fourth attack of vandalism…

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Shamshad Agha (Photo: Meydan TV)

Azerbaijan jails 21st journalist in 15 months amid intensifying media crackdown

New York, February 5, 2025 – The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the arrest of Shamshad Agha, chief editor of the independent news site Arqument.az, and calls on Azerbaijani authorities to release him and other jailed journalists. “Shamshad Agha’s arrest underscores a grim intent by Azerbaijani authorities to silence and further restrict the country’s small…

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Temirlan Yensebek, founder of the Kazakh satirical outlet Qaznews24 gestures to his handcuff while seated in a police station in the capital Almaty on January 17.

Kazakh political satirist Temirlan Yensebek arrested on incitement charges

New York, February 4, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the two-month pretrial detention of Temirlan Yensebek, founder of the Instagram-based satirical outlet Qaznews24, on charges of inciting ethnic hatred, for which he could face seven years in jail.  “The incitement charges against Temirlan Yensebek raise concerns that he’s being targeted for his biting political…

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Maj. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine's military intelligence, attends the forum Ukraine 2024 in Kyiv, Ukraine, on February 25, 2024. (Photo: AP/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Ukraine’s security service opens criminal case after Ukrainska Pravda report

New York, February 3, 2025—Ukraine’s domestic security service (SBU) opened a criminal case on January 28 for “disclosure of state secrets” after independent news outlet Ukrainska Pravda published statements by Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, at a closed-door parliamentary meeting. According to an unnamed source cited in the report, Budanov said that…

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Hungarian police forcibly remove Telex reporter Dániel Simor from outside a film studio in Fót on January 30 where he and colleague Noémi Gombos were waiting to ask the prime minister a question.

Hungarian authorities detain, charge 2 journalists seeking to question PM Orbán

Berlin, February 3, 2025—Hungarian authorities should immediately drop misdemeanor charges against two journalists who were arrested in a parking lot as they waited to question Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and detained for three hours, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On January 30, police removed the independent online outlet Telex’s reporter Dániel Simor and…

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Turkish journalist Suat Toktaş arrested following broadcast 

Istanbul, January 31, 2025—Turkish authorities should release Halk TV’s editor-in-chief Suat Toktaş, who was arrested this week after airing an interview with an expert court witness, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.  “Suat Toktaş’ arrest and the detaining of the other Halk TV personnel is a political move by Turkish authorities to silence critical…

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Journalists (from left) Kurt Pelda, Josef Zehnder, and Petro Chumakov were detained by Ukrainian military officers for eight hours on accusations of ‘illegal border crossing’ on January 6 in Sudzha, a town in Russia’s Kursk region. (Photo: Courtesy of Kurt Pelda)

3 journalists fear accreditation limbo after detention by Ukrainian military

New York, January 30, 2025—Ukrainian military officers detained three journalists for eight hours on accusations of “illegal border crossing” on January 6 in Sudzha, a Ukrainian-controlled town in Russia’s Kursk region. The journalists — Ukrainian freelance reporter Petro Chumakov, Kurt Pelda, correspondent with Swiss media group CH Media, and freelance camera operator Josef Zehnder — had army…

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A Turkish court found journalist Safiye Alagaş guilty of membership in a terrorist organization and sen-tenced her on January 28, 2025. One judge dissented from the decision. (Photo: Mezopotamya News Agency)

Kurdish journalist sentenced to 6 years, 3 months on terrorism charges in Turkey

Istanbul, January 28, 2025—A court in the Kurdish-majority city of Diyarbakır on Tuesday found journalist Safiye Alagaş guilty of membership in a terrorist organization and sentenced her to six years and three months in prison. Alagaş, who spent a year behind bars in pretrial arrest, remains free pending appeal.  “The evidence brought against Kurdish journalist…

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