Europe & Central Asia
2017
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of October 22, 2017
Two journalists held on terror charges An Istanbul court yesterday ordered two journalists from the socialist Etkin News Agency (ETHA) to be jailed pending trial, alongside 10 other people including politicians and lawyers, their employer reported today.
CPJ calls on Russian authorities to condemn stabbing attack on Ekho Moskvy journalist
New York, October 23, 2017–An unidentified assailant today broke into the Moscow office of Ekho Moskvy and stabbed Tatyana Felgengauer in the throat, the outlet’s editor-in-chief, Alexey Venediktov, wrote on Twitter. Felgengauer, the deputy editor-in-chief and an anchor at the independent radio station, was hospitalized, according to media reports. Security staff apprehended the assailant, who…
Car bombing kills Malta journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia
New York, October 16, 2017–The Committee to Protect Journalists called on authorities in Malta to swiftly ensure justice for Daphne Caruana Galizia, a prominent blogger killed today. The car that Caruana Galizia was driving exploded near to her house in Bidnija, in the north of the island, media reported.
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of October 15, 2017
Police conduct house raids, arrest at least 7 journalists Turkish police detained at least seven journalists from leftist and pro-Kurdish media outlets during house raids that took place yesterday in Istanbul and today in Ankara, according to the independent news site Bianet.
Two-fold risk for Serbia’s women journalists as attackers target their work and gender
“In the past five years I was publically called many things. I was an old hag, a sterile, cheap Soros’ prostitute, a hooker, not f***ed enough, in need of a good prick, and destroyer of the Serbian Orthodox Church,” said Tatjana Vojtehovski, a Serbian television journalist with a large presence on social media. “My response…
Press at risk as EU-based companies export surveillance software to hostile regimes
In August, Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen told the daily newspaper Information that the government had authorized sales of online surveillance software to several Middle Eastern countries. While acknowledging the potential for human rights violations that could result from the use of these tools, the minister said that Denmark has an interest in the fight…
Turkey convicts Wall Street Journal reporter of terrorism
New York, October 10, 2017–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the conviction today of Wall Street Journal reporter Ayla Albayrak, and called on Turkish authorities to stop their relentless crackdown on the press. As the Journal reported, a court in the southeastern city of Cizre convicted Albayrak in absentia of terrorism and sentenced her to…
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of October 8, 2017
Two media workers released from state custody, trial ongoing A Turkish court yesterday released Şirin Çoban and İlker İlkan, two employees of the shuttered Kurdish-language daily Azadiya Welat, from state custody during their first trial hearing, according to the online newspaper Gazete Karınca. The trial is ongoing.
Uzbek journalist goes missing, turns up in court trial
New York, October 5, 2017–The Committee to Protect Journalists called today for the Uzbek authorities to immediately release journalist Bobomurod Abdullaev, who went missing on September 27 and has since been secretly tried in a criminal court in Tashkent, the capital.
Russia and former Soviet states emboldened by declining press freedom in US, Europe
Receding media freedom in established European democracies and in the United States has emboldened authoritarian governments in Russia and other former Soviet countries to crack down on independent voices at home. I am sharing this information today with the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe-known as the Helsinki Commission-and the House Freedom of…