Georgia set to pass restrictive broadcast bills
Editor’s note: On April 1, President Mikheil Kavelashvili signed the broadcast law amendments into law. New York, March 31, 2025 —The Committee to Protect Journalists urges Georgian authorities to discard two bills that could severely restrict the operations of broadcasters, after a parliamentary committee on March 31 paved the way for their final adoption, which is expected…
Ukrainian journalist assaulted after report on mishandled corpses
New York, March 28, 2025—Ukrainian authorities should swiftly investigate a recent attack in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih on a journalist apparently targeted because of his outlet’s online investigation that found a funeral company mishandled corpses, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. “CPJ condemns the assault on a journalist in Kryvyi Rih,…
Russian journalist Maria Ponomarenko sentenced to 22 additional months in prison
New York, March 28, 2025—A court in Russia’s southern Altai Krai on Thursday convicted Maria Ponomarenko, a correspondent for independent news site RusNews, of using violence against prison staff and sentenced her to an additional 22 months in prison. Ponomarenko is already serving a six-year prison sentence after being convicted in February 2023 on charges…
European Commission must be ambitious on European Democracy Shield
The Committee to Protect Journalists, along with 49 other organizations, sent a letter on March 25 urging the European Commission to adopt an ambitious approach while preparing its draft proposal for the European Democracy Shield. In 2024, the European Commission announced the European Democracy Shield, an EU-led initiative designed to reinforce democracy by addressing foreign…
Several journalists hurt, detained by police amid Turkey protests
Istanbul, March 24, 2025—Turkish authorities should release the journalists taken into police custody during widespread protests and end hostile behavior towards the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. Protests erupted and grew in multiple cities across Turkey following the government crackdown on Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who was due to be selected as…
CPJ, partners demand answers over surveillance of investigative journalist Victor Ilie
Berlin, March 24, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists and six other international media freedom organizations expressed concern over revelations that Romania’s National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) physically surveilled and wiretapped investigative journalist Victor Ilie and called for Romanian authorities to investigate the agency’s actions. On March 17, the journalist revealed that he had been under surveillance…
Prominent Turkish journalist İsmail Saymaz under house arrest for 2013 interviews
Istanbul, March 24, 2025—Turkish authorities should immediately cancel the house arrest of award-winning investigative journalist and writer İsmail Saymaz over his reporting on the 2013 Gezi Park protests and stop using the judiciary to muzzle the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On March 19, police took Saymaz, a freelance journalist and TV…
Georgia parliament very close to making harsher ‘foreign agent’ bill a law
Editor’s note: On April 1, President Mikheil Kavelashvili signed the Foreign Agents Registration Act into law. New York, March 20, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists expresses deep concern after Georgia’s parliament on March 18 approved a second reading of a foreign agent bill that will most likely become law as early as April, creating an existential threat…
New Turkish law criminalizes ‘false’ reporting on cybersecurity-related data leaks
March 13, 2025—Turkey’s new cybersecurity law could criminalize legitimate reporting on cybersecurity incidents because of its overly broad and vague language, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. The law, passed on Wednesday, criminalizes reporting about an online data leak or sharing that report unless the authorities have confirmed the incident. It imposes a prison…
Isolated and restricted: 3 journalists on life and work under Turkish house arrest
On February 9, reporter Tolga Güney welcomed a CPJ representative into the apartment he shares with several colleagues in central Izmir, Turkey. It was his 362nd day under house arrest while awaiting trial on terrorism charges. “I believe I’m in this situation for doing my job,” he said over a glass of tea. Güney is…