Europe & Central Asia
2014
Turkey should reverse all anti-press measures and laws
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan: We are writing to express our concern about the Turkish government’s recent steps to restrict the independent Turkish media. In the recent past, your country was hailed as a model for a region aspiring for freedom, democracy, and tolerance. But today Turkey is being criticized as a country that is drifting away from the principles and practices that define true democracy.
CPJ welcomes court ruling against EU data retention
Phoenix, April 8, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists hails today’s decision by the European Court of Justice invalidating the European Union’s mandatory data retention directive. The court found that the indiscriminate collection of metadata poses a “particularly serious” and disproportional interference with the right to privacy. Mass metadata surveillance is “likely to generate in the…
Kazakh authorities shut down another newspaper
New York, April 3, 2014–An independent paper, the Assandi Times, was suspended indefinitely on Tuesday, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns recent measures taken by Kazakh authorities to shut down independent news outlets in the country.
Morocco accuses Spain’s El País of inciting terrorism
Morocco’s inclination for wielding terrorism accusations against journalists and news outlets who report on extremist groups has extended to Spain, where authorities are investigating El País newspaper and one of its journalists at the behest of the Moroccan government.
News from the Committee to Protect Journalists, March 2014
Pakistani PM pledges justice, journalist security to CPJ A CPJ delegation traveled to Pakistan this month and met with high-level Pakistani officials including Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who pledged to continue to expand Pakistan’s media freedoms and address the insecurity plaguing the country’s journalists.
Journalist flees Kazakhstan after court orders her arrest
New York, March 28, 2014–Authorities should drop all charges against a Kazakh journalist who has been accused of libel in connection with a story she has denied writing, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. If convicted, Natalya Sadykova faces up to three years in jail under Kazakhstan’s criminal libel law.
Turkish courts release eight journalists in two days
New York, March 27, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release this week of at least eight imprisoned journalists in Turkey, but calls on Turkish authorities to scrap the charges against them and release all of the journalists jailed in the country.
When the rule of law isn’t: Turkey at the crossroads
In less than a week, Turkish voters will cast their ballots in local elections widely seen as a test of support for embattled Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has faced growing questions about official corruption since a high-level probe first became public in December. Although many observers believe Erdoğan will survive the current political…