Europe & Central Asia

2019

  
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, right, gestures as he walks past journalists after talks in Warsaw, Poland, in September 2017. A joint mission to Hungary in November 2019 found that the government has pursued a strategy to silence the country's press. (AP/Alik Keplicz)

Hungary’s media control unprecedented in EU, joint mission finds

Since 2010, the Hungarian government has achieved a degree of media control unprecedented in an EU member state, seven international organizations, including the Committee to Protect Journalists, said in a statement released today. The organizations urged the EU “to take all available measures to respond.”

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Protesters hold up placards and pictures of the murdered Maltese blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia as they gather outside the prime minister's office in Valletta, Malta, on November 20, 2019. CPJ and other press freedom groups are reiterating their call for an independent investigation into the journalist's killing. (AFP/Matthew Mirabelli)

Malta must avoid political interference in Caruana Galizia investigation

CPJ and nine other international press freedom organizations today released a joint statement reiterating that the investigation into the assassination of Maltese blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia must be independent and free from political interference.

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A police car is seen in Rome, Italy, on July 31, 2019. Police are investigating recent attacks against journalist Mario De Michele. (AP/Paolo Santalucia)

Italian journalist Mario De Michele survives shooting attempt

Berlin, November 18, 2019 — Italian authorities must conduct a transparent and thorough investigation into the attempted shooting of journalist Mario De Michele and ensure his safety, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma, is seen in Moscow on April 17, 2019. The State Duma recently passed legislation that would add individual journalists and bloggers to the country’s list of “foreign agents.” (Reuters/Sputnik/Alexander Astafyev)

CPJ joins call for Russian government to drop foreign agent bill

The Committee to Protect Journalists today joined nine other international press freedom organizations in signing a statement urging Russia to drop draft legislation that would add individual journalists and bloggers to the country’s list of “foreign agents.”

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Friends and family members of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia carry a banner calling for "Truth and Justice" in the investigation into her murder, in Valletta, Malta, on October 16, 2019. Her family and the Maltese government recently reached an agreement on the nature of the investigation. (Reuters/Darrin Zammit Lupi)

CPJ joins statement welcoming changes in inquiry of Daphne Caruana Galizia killing

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined eight other international press freedom organizations today in a statement welcoming an announcement that the Maltese government and the family of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia have agreed on the membership of the board appointed to investigate the circumstances of Caruana Galizia’s 2017 killing, and on the investigation’s scope.

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President Donald Trump walks toward the Oval Office after posing for photographers with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on November 13. Turkey detained at least six journalists in the same week as Erdoğan's visit to the U.S. (AP/Evan Vucci)

As Erdoğan visits Trump, Turkey jails more journalists

Istanbul, November 14, 2019—Turkey must end its harassment of the press and stop jailing journalists simply for doing their job, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. In the past week, Turkish authorities have jailed at least three journalists, and detained three others overnight, according to reports.

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The logo of Russia's state communications regulator, Roskomnadzor, is reflected in a laptop screen in February 2019. Research by Censored Planet shows how Russia has imposed its censorship model in the past seven years. (Reuters/Maxim Shemetov)

Laws, cheap web filters arm Russia to block news, says Censored Planet

When Daniil Kislov tried to view the website of Fergana from his computer in Moscow on November 1, his browser showed him the now-familiar notification that the independent news outlet he directs had been blocked by order of Roskomnadzor, the national agency that regulates the internet in Russia, he told CPJ. Fergana has been blocked…

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CPJ
Covers of CPJ's 'Attacks on the Press' books. Starting in 1987, the annual publication acted as a database of press freedom violations. (CPJ/Mustafa Hameed)

CPJ deepens database of attacks on the press

He couldn’t have known it at the time, but when a Moroccan court sentenced editor Mohammed al-Herd on August 4, 2003, to three years in prison, he was emblematic of a new trend, one that would accelerate and continue to the present day.

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The Dutch Parliament is seen in The Hague, Netherlands, on September 27, 2018. The parliament is considering legislation that could expose journalists to jail time for reporting from terrorist-controlled areas without government permission. (Reuters/Eva Plevier)

CPJ calls for modification of Dutch terrorism bill to protect press freedom

Berlin, November 4, 2019 — Dutch lawmakers should amend a bill that could expose journalists to jail time for reporting from terrorist-controlled areas without government permission, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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A view of the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium on October 9, 2019. (REUTERS/Yves Herman)

European Parliament must push for safeguards for journalists in ‘e-evidence’ proposal

Brussels, October 30, 2019—The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed concern today that a proposed European Union regulation on law enforcement access to electronic data lacks sufficient safeguards for journalists. The Regulation on European Production and Preservation Orders is known as the “e-evidence proposal.”

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2019