Europe & Central Asia

2013

  

Investigative journalist imprisoned in Macedonia

New York, October 24, 2013–Authorities in Macedonia should reverse on appeal the conviction of a prominent investigative journalist who has been imprisoned since May, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Belgium arrested Somali pirate chief Mohamed Abdi Hassan, shown in a January photo, after prosecutors lured him to Brussels on promises of shooting a documentary film about his life. (AFP/Abdi Hussein)

Duping pirates and endangering journalists

It could have been the script for a John Le Carré intrigue. On Saturday October 12, Belgian security agents arrested Mohamed Abdi Hassan, a kingpin of Somali piracy known as “Afweyne” (Big Mouth), and his associate Mohammed M. Aden, nicknamed Tiiceey, a former governor of Himan and Heeb province.

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CPJ concerned about Cameron’s Guardian comments

New York, October 16, 2013–The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron’s statement today in which he urged members of parliament to investigate whether the Guardian had broken the law or damaged national security by publishing the NSA files.

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Greenwald wants to return to US, but not yet

Glenn Greenwald would like to go home to the United States, at least for a visit. But the Guardian journalist and blogger is afraid to do so. He still has material and unpublished stories from his contacts with fugitive whistleblower Edward Snowden that he believes U.S. authorities would love to get their hands on.  The…

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Solidarity in the face of surveillance

One way for journalists to build more secure newsrooms and safer networks would be for more of them to learn and practice digital hygiene and information security. But that’s not enough. We also need journalists to stand together across borders, not just as an industry, but as a community, against government surveillance. The Obama administration,…

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France confirms two journalists missing in Syria

New York, October 9, 2013–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the abduction of two French journalists in Syria and calls on all sides of the conflict to stop targeting the press. Nicolas Hénin, who regularly reports for French news magazine Le Point and Franco-German TV channel Arte, and Pierre Torres, a photographer covering local elections,…

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Journalist covering Greenpeace ship detained in Russia

On September 18, 2013, British freelance journalist and former videographer for The Times of London Kieron Bryan, 29, was detained along with Russian freelance photographer Denis Sinyakov and 28 Greenpeace activists and ship crew members off the north coast of Russia. Bryan was covering a Greenpeace demonstration in protest of oil mining in the Arctic,…

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Editor handed five-year jail term in Azerbaijan

New York, September 30, 2013–An appellate court in Azerbaijan should reverse the conviction and five-year prison sentence handed on Friday to Hilal Mamedov, chief editor of the independent newspaper Talyshi Sado.

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Clockwise from top left: Nedim Şener, Janet Hinostroza, Nguyen Van Hai, Bassem Youssef (AP, Sebastián Oquendo, To Coucle Refaat, Free Journalists Network of Vietnam)

News from the Committee to Protect Journalists, September 2013

Press freedom award winners announced Four journalists–Janet Hinostroza (Teleamazonas, Ecuador), Bassem Youssef (Capital Broadcast Center, Egypt), Nedim Şener (Posta, Turkey), and Nguyen Van Hai (Dieu Cay, Vietnam)–will be honored with CPJ’s 2013 International Press Freedom Awards in recognition of their courageous reporting in the face of severe reprisal.Upon receiving the news, Hinostroza told CPJ: “It will…

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Freelance photographer Denis Sinyakov sits in a defendant cage in court on Thursday. (AFP/Greenpeace/Igor Podgorny)

Photographer covering Greenpeace protest held in Russia

New York, September 27, 2013–Russian authorities should immediately release a freelance photographer who was detained nine days ago while covering a Greenpeace demonstration, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. A court on Thursday ordered Denis Sinyakov to be held for two months pending an investigation into accusations of piracy, news reports said.

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2013