Europe & Central Asia

Berlin, May 9, 2025—Russian authorities should immediately release journalist Veronika Orlova, who was detained Tuesday in Moscow after filming the aftermath of a protest against President Vladimir Putin, and drop all charges against her, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. Orlova, a reporter with the independent news outlet SOTAvision, was in Moscow to cover a…

New York, May 9, 2025— After 18 months, Azerbaijan’s vast media crackdown shows no signs of abating, as police arrested two independent journalists, Ulviyya Ali and Ahmad Mammadli, on the night of May 6-7. The arrests bring the total number of journalists and media workers jailed in Azerbaijan since late 2023 to at least 25,…

Istanbul, May 8, 2025—Authorities in Turkish occupied Northern Cyprus must do everything in their power to ensure the safety of chief editor Ayşemden Akın, who was threatened after her Turkish news site Bugün Kıbrıs published her three-part investigation into alleged government corruption, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. Akın said she received a threatening phone call a…

Berlin, May 6, 2025—CPJ calls on Italian authorities to step up efforts to investigate spyware attacks against journalists at the news site Fanpage.it, as reporter Ciro Pellegrino became the second member of staff to reveal that his phone had been targeted this year. “The repeated targeting of Fanpage.it journalists suggests a pattern of surveillance aimed…

New York, April 24, 2025 —The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a lawsuit filed by Kyrgyz prosecutors against independent broadcaster Aprel TV, which the outlet reported on April 23, over alleged “negative” and “destructive” coverage of the government. “Kyrgyz authorities continue a deplorable pattern of shuttering news outlets on illegitimate grounds that their ‘negative’ reporting could spark…

New York, April 17, 2025—A court in the southern city of Almaty sentenced Temirlan Yensebek, the founder of the Instagram-based satirical outlet Qaznews24, on Friday, April 11, to five years of restricted freedom on charges of inciting ethnic and religious hatred. The court prohibited Yensebek from engaging in public activities, including working as a journalist, participating in…

Istanbul, April 17, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Turkey to drop charges against five photojournalists, whose trial begins on Friday, for allegedly taking part in protests in Istanbul last month. The journalists could be jailed for up to three years for violating the law on gatherings and demonstrations. In the indictment, reviewed by…

CPJ joined 31 other organizations in an April 16 statement calling on the European Commission to strengthen its annual rule of law report, which assesses media freedom in European Union member states. The statement said the European Commission “should issue targeted recommendations to mitigate risks to media freedom and pluralism, ensuring a comprehensive and transparent…

New York, April 15, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Russian authorities to immediately release Russian journalists Antonina Favorskaya, Artyom Krieger, Konstantin Gabov, and Sergey Karelin, who were sentenced by a Moscow court on Tuesday to 5 ½ years in prison on extremism charges. The journalists were all accused of association with the anti-corruption…

New York, April 8, 2025 —Moldova’s unrecognized Moscow-backed breakaway state of Transnistria is considering legislation that could add to an increasingly hostile atmosphere for media there, the Committee to Protect Journalists said. Journalists in Moldova and its breakaway republic have faced a slew of challenges this year, including detentions, violence and online harassment as tensions…