Europe & Central Asia

Istanbul, May 17, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes a Turkish court’s sentencing of seven people involved in the April 8, 2022 raid on Deniz Postası’s broadcast studio in the central Province of Kayseri, during which attackers beat journalist Azim Deniz and his guest, local businessman and politician Sedat Kılınç.  At least 50 people raided the studio,…

The Committee to Protect Journalists led a coalition of civil society organizations urging the United States Department of Justice to drop charges against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who is currently being held in the U.K. pending a hearing on May 20 that could determine whether Assange is extradited to the U.S. In 2019, U.S. prosecutors…

New York, May 16, 2024 – Ukrainian authorities must swiftly and transparently investigate recent threats sent to several journalists, including investigative reporter Mykhailo Tkach, with the independent news website Ukrainska Pravda, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On May 10, Tkach received a message on Telegram from someone claiming to be Oleksandr Slobozhenko, a…

New York, May 14, 2024 — Serbian authorities should not extradite Belarusian journalist Andrey Gnyot to face criminal charges in Belarus and release him immediately, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. Serbian authorities detained Gnyot upon his arrival in the country on October 30, 2023, based on a September 21 Interpol arrest warrant issued…

Stockholm, May 14, 2024 — The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply troubled that as thousands of protesters waited for the results amid a heavy police presence equipped with water cannons and riot gear, the Georgian parliament voted Tuesday to adopt the controversial Russian-style “foreign agents” law that would target foreign-funded media. Georgian President Salome…

Stockholm, May 10, 2024—Georgian authorities should thoroughly investigate widespread harassment and threats against journalists covering a bill that would designate media outlets as “foreign agents” and Parliament should reject the draft law, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. Since May 7, more than 30 journalists covering the bill “on transparency of foreign influence” and…

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined calls urging North Macedonia authorities in a May 3 letter to end the ongoing harassment of journalist Furkan Saliu and his colleagues. The letter, also signed by 10 other groups, including international and regional press freedom organizations, requests that Minister for Internal Affairs Pance Toskovski refrain from publicly commenting…

New York, May 9, 2023—Authorities in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea must stop intimidating journalist Lutfiye Zudiyeva and let members of the press work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On Monday, May 6, an officer with Russia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs in the city of Dzhankoi, in northern Crimea, came to Zudiyeva’s home…

Istanbul, May 9, 2024 — After an Istanbul court on Thursday sentenced five journalists for “aiding a terrorist organization without being a member” in connection to their work at the shuttered pro-Kurdish daily Özgürlükçü Demokrasi (Liberal Democracy), the Committee to Protect Journalists called on Turkish authorities to not fight their appeals and end the judicial…

“A real epidemic of attacks.” That’s the way Serbian journalist, advocate, and professor Dinko Gruhonjić characterized the state of press freedom in his country in a recent op-ed for the media-focused news site Cenzolovka. Gruhonjić faced severe online harassment after a doctored video in which he appears to praise a war criminal was circulated online…