Europe & Central Asia
2008
Two killed, several injured or missing in South Ossetia
New York, August 11, 2008–Two journalists were reported killed, at least eight were injured, and two have gone missing since fighting erupted between Georgian, Russian, and local forces in the disputed region of South Ossetia. No press-related casualties have been immediately reported in the conflict in another breakaway Georgian region, Abkhazia.
Film ‘waltzes’ inside a censored Belarus
On Tuesday, CPJ reported that Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko had signed a new media law allowing authorities to further restrict press freedom by controlling what is published on the Internet. Belarus is on CPJ’s list of the world’s Most Censored Countries. Journalists are not the only ones denied freedom of expression. “Belarusian Waltz,” an upcoming…
Independent weekly editor charged with extremism in Dagestan
New York, August 7, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the decision of regional authorities in Dagestan to open a criminal case against Nadira Isayeva, editor-in-chief of an independent weekly, after the newspaper quoted a former guerilla leader in an article. According to news Web site Lenta, regional prosecutors in Dagestan’s capital, Makhachkala,…
Facing harassment, Web site editor flees Russia
New York, August 7, 2008–The editor-in-chief of independent news Web site Ingushetiya has fled Russia and is seeking asylum in Europe, daily The Moscow Times reported today. Ingushetiya’s lawyer, Kaloy Akhilgov, told CPJ that Roza Malsagova left Russia two weeks ago being harassed, threatened, and beaten by Ingush authorities. She also faces criminal prosecution. Earlier…
Despite protests, Lukashenko signs restrictive media law
BELARUS: New York, August 5, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is troubled to learn that President Alexander Lukashenko has signed a restrictive new media law, which, according to CPJ research, will allow authorities to further restrict press freedom in Belarus. The Belarusian parliament—before its adjournment in late June—rushed the bill through in three consecutive readings…
Authorities alter charge to justify journalist’s arrest
UZBEKISTAN New York, August 5, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed to learn that police in the western Uzbek city of Nukus have brought another charge against an independent journalist to justify his arrest and detention, after initially bringing charges of drug use. On August 2, investigators in Nukus acknowledged that Salidzhon Abdurakhmonov’s blood…
In Russia, CPJ condemns conviction of Novaya Gazeta editor
We released the following statement today after a magistrate court in the city of Samara convicted Sergei Kurt-Adzhiyev, editor of the shuttered local edition of the Moscow-based independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, of using counterfeit Adobe, Microsoft, and 1C software to produce the newspaper. “The allegation of software piracy is nothing but a lame excuse for…
RUSSIA: Web site editor kidnapped, beaten, threatened in Ingushetia
New York, July 28, 2008–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Friday’s vicious attack on Zurab Tsechoyev, editor of Mashr, a human rights Web site based in the volatile North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia. At least 50 armed, masked men in camouflage gear raided Tsechoyev’s home, shoved him into an armored personnel carrier, drove him to…
RFE/RL unable to reach reporter
TURKMENISTAN: New York, July 11, 2008—A contributing reporter for the Turkmen Service of the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) who was forcibly held for two weeks in two different psychiatric facilities has now had his phone disabled, according to RFE/RL. Bowing to international pressure, authorities freed Sazak Durdymuradov on July 3. A security officer…