Europe & Central Asia documents by Year:
Q&A: RAI journalist Stefania Battistini on covering Italy’s coronavirus outbreak
March 26, 2020 1:23 PM ET
Stefania Battistini, an experienced reporter for Italian public broadcaster RAI, has covered terrorist attacks, earthquakes, and Syria’s civil war for the channel’s news program. Now, she is confronting the biggest challenge of her career: the coronavirus pandemic that is ravaging Lombardy, northern Italy, one of the hardest-hit regions in...
Turkey indicts 20 Saudi nationals over Jamal Khashoggi killing
March 25, 2020 12:30 PM ET
New York, March 25, 2020 -- The Committee to Protect Journalists today welcomed an announcement that Turkish officials have indicted 20 Saudi nationals on charges of murder and incitement linked to the 2018 killing of exiled Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and issued the following statement:...
Journalist Afgan Mukhtarli: ‘Azerbaijani prisoners are facing death under coronavirus quarantine’
March 24, 2020 4:48 PM ET
Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Mukhtarli was released from prison on March 17, 2020, after nearly three years in jail, and flown to Berlin, where he was reunited with his wife and daughter. He served half of his six-year sentence on charges that Azerbaijani authorities brought in retaliation for his investigative...
Russian media regulator orders 2 outlets to take down COVID-19 reports
March 24, 2020 1:00 PM ET
Vilnius, Lithuania, March 24, 2020 -- Russian authorities should stop censoring news outlets reporting on the COVID-19 outbreak and allow journalists to report freely and safely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today....
Proposed Hungarian laws could imprison journalists covering coronavirus response
March 24, 2020 10:30 AM ET
Berlin, March 24, 2020 -- Hungarian lawmakers should not pass amendments to the country's criminal code that threaten journalists with prison sentences for their coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today....
Wife of imprisoned journalist Azimjon Askarov calls for his release as COVID-19 hits Kyrgyzstan
March 23, 2020 3:15 PM ET
On March 11, Khadicha Askarova, the wife of imprisoned journalist Azimjon Askarov, wrote a letter to Kyrgyzstan President Sooronbay Jeenbekov pleading for the journalist’s release....
Journalist Afgan Mukhtarli released from prison in Azerbaijan
March 17, 2020 4:20 PM ET
New York, March 17, 2020 -- The Committee to Protect Journalists today expressed relief that Azerbaijani investigative reporter Afgan Mukhtarli was released from prison, and called for Azerbaijan authorities to release all other journalists held for their work....
Chechen blogger and government critic Tumso Abdurakhmanov: ‘I am constantly at risk’
March 16, 2020 10:14 AM ET
Tumso Abdurakhmanov, a prominent blogger critical of the Chechen authorities, survived a violent assault in his home in Swedish town of Gävle on February 26, 2020. Two Russian nationals have been arrested in connection with the attack, according to a report by Agence France-Presse. CPJ documented the incident and...
CPJ joins calls on Turkey to lift ad ban on Evrensel daily
March 16, 2020 9:55 AM ET
CPJ joined the International Press Institute, Reporters Without Borders, the Journalists Union of Turkey, the European Federation of Journalists, and 20 other Turkish and international groups in a joint letter today calling for Turkey’s Press Ad Agency, the state regulator of government advertisements in print media, to lift its...