Europe & Central Asia

Berlin, March 3, 2020 — Greek authorities should quickly and thoroughly investigate attacks on reporters covering refugee movements and ensure the safety of journalists who report on events of public interest, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Istanbul, March 2, 2020 — Turkish authorities should allow journalists to cover refugee movements and other important events of public interest without fear that they will be detained or imprisoned, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Vilnius, Lithuania, February 27, 2020 — The Committee to Protect Journalists today expressed alarm over the assault of Chechen blogger Tumso Abdurakhmanov.

Eight months after he was attacked outside his Ankara home with baseball bats, Yavuz Selim Demirağ still has trouble sleeping. “The worry of suffering another attack at any minute messed with my psychology. Sometimes I feel like I am being followed,” the Turkish journalist said. “In the end, the threat continues. Because the attackers are…

New York, February 24, 2020 — Kyrgyzstan authorities should not contest the appeal of journalist and human rights defender Azimjon Askarov and should release him immediately, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Washington, D.C., February 21, 2020 — The United Kingdom should not extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to face espionage charges in the United States, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

When the U.K. launched an initiative to support media freedom in the waning days of Jeremy Hunt’s tenure as foreign minister, CPJ was skeptical that this government-led effort would be more than a feel-good campaign. However, we chose to engage, given the current vacuum of leadership on press freedom globally. As the U.S. pulls back…

Berlin, February 10, 2020 — Slovak authorities should immediately drop criminal defamation and slander charges against journalist Michal Havran and stop using the country’s criminal code to prosecute journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) outbreak a pandemic on March 11, 2020.

Vilnius, Lithuania, February 7, 2020 — Russian authorities should conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into the attack against journalist Elena Milashina and bring the perpetrators to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.