Europe & Central Asia

2014

  

French muckraker Mediapart to appeal to European Court of Human Rights

In the course of a couple of hours on Wednesday, France was rocked by two judicial decisions with profound political repercussions for French politics and the press’ right to publish. Just as a baffled public learned that former President Nicolas Sarkozy had been put under formal investigation for corruption and influence-peddling, France’s highest court, the…

Read More ›

Russia intensifies restrictions on blogs, social media

On August 1, Russia will significantly tighten its grip on blogging and social media conversations and will acquire expanded powers to block Internet services originating abroad. The new authorities, approved by Russia’s parliament in April, buttress existing regulations that have already been used to block several independent news sites, some of which reported on the…

Read More ›

Despite recent convictions, Anna Politkovskaya’s murder remains unsolved

Nearly eight years after Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya was gunned down in an elevator near her apartment, authorities appear to have made little progress identifying the mastermind behind her murder. Although five men were sentenced to lengthy prison terms on June 9 for their roles in the slaying of the Novaya Gazeta journalist, her family…

Read More ›

Ukrainian journalists held by pro-Russian separatists

New York, July 1, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists deplores the detention of at least three Ukrainian journalists by pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine and calls for their immediate release.

Read More ›

CPJ urges Renzi to bring Italian libel laws up to European standards

Prime Minister Renzi: As Italy today takes the rotating presidency of the European Union, we call on your government to abolish criminal libel and bring Italian laws in line with European and international standards.

Read More ›

Russian cameraman killed in eastern Ukraine

New York, June 30, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the killing Sunday in the Donetsk region of Anatoly Klyan, a cameraman with the Russian state-owned broadcaster Pervy Kanal (Channel One). Klyan, 68, died at a local hospital where he was treated for a gun wound to his abdomen, local and international press reported.

Read More ›

Journalists, media outlets remain in the crosshairs in eastern Ukraine

New York, June 27, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns continued pressure on the media in the eastern Ukraine region of Donetsk and calls on separatists to allow journalists to report the news without fear of reprisal.

Read More ›

Iran, Syria, and Somalia top countries that journalists flee

CPJ releases annual report on journalists in exile to mark World Refugee Day New York, June 18, 2014–Over the past five years, the Committee to Protect Journalists has supported 404 journalists who have been forced to flee their home countries because of their work, according to a new CPJ report on exiled journalists. Journalists cite…

Read More ›

Russian journalist and media worker killed in eastern Ukraine

New York, June 17, 2014–A Russian journalist and a media worker died from injuries they sustained in mortar fire in the eastern Ukrainian city of Lugansk today, according to Russian and international media reports. Igor Kornelyuk, correspondent for the state-owned broadcaster VGTRK, and Anton Voloshin, a sound engineer, were reporting on the deadly clashes between…

Read More ›

CPJ calls for a renewed investigation in Askarov’s case

New York, June 12, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by Bishkek City Court’s refusal to open a new investigation into the case of Azimjon Askarov, a journalist and human rights defender who has been imprisoned in Kyrgyzstan since 2010 in retaliation for his work exposing wrongdoing. The court scrapped today an earlier decision…

Read More ›

2014