Europe & Central Asia
2019
Kazakhstan’s move to control internet prompts censorship, surveillance concerns
A state-controlled internet service provider in Kazakhstan is requiring at least some of its subscribers to submit to having their internet traffic intercepted when they use specific websites–including social media sites, email and messaging services, and Google News, according to research published this week by Censored Planet, a project at the University of Michigan.
Demonstrators attack reporters, damage equipment at press conference in Kazakhstan
Washington, D.C., July 25, 2019 — Kazakhstan authorities should immediately investigate the attack on journalists at a press conference in Almaty and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Kazakhstan government-backed security certificate raises censorship, surveillance concerns
New York, July 22, 2019 — Telecommunications providers in Kazakhstan’s capital, Nur-Sultan, have requested internet users to install a security certificate issued by government authorities onto their personal devices, which could compromise their digital security, according to a report by the BBC and Adil Nurmakov, a political scientist and digital media expert based in Nur-Sultan,…
Ingushetia court orders journalist Rashid Maysigov to remain in pre-trial detention for two months
Washington, D.C., July 22, 2019 — Authorities in the Republic of Ingushetia must release journalist Rashid Maysigov unconditionally and investigate allegations that he was tortured in custody, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
CPJ leads call for new European Commission President to prioritize press freedom
CPJ and 19 other organizations write to new European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and urge her to ensure that media freedom, the protection of journalists, and EU citizens’ access to information are top political priorities during her term.
Turkish court sentences documentary filmmakers to 4 and a half years
Istanbul, July 19, 2019–Documentary filmmakers Ertuğrul Mavioğlu and Çayan Demirel, directors of the 2015 documentary movie “Bakur” (“North”), about the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), were sentenced to four years and six months in prison yesterday for “making propaganda for a [terrorist] organization” by a court in the southeastern city of Batman, according to news…
For Turkish journalists in Berlin exile, threats remain, but in different forms
For Can Dündar, sitting in the audience of a theater performance near Dortmund in Germany in May was an emotional moment. In an interview with CPJ, he recalled how during the premiere night, he watched the main actor on stage playing a journalist as he was imprisoned in Turkey, had his house searched, his books…
Tajik authorities harass journalist Humayra Bakhtiyar and family
In July 2019, Humayra Bakhtiyar, a Tajik journalist living in exile who was recently granted asylum in a European Union country, told CPJ in a phone call that Tajik authorities have harassed and intimidated her family over the past several years as retribution for her critical reporting.