Russia uses ‘foreign agents’ law to hit independent outlet with massive fine
New York, October 29, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned an exorbitant fine imposed on the independent news outlet The New Times. A Moscow court on October 26 ordered the outlet to pay 22.3 million rubles (US$338,000) for failing to provide financial information under Russia’s “foreign agents” law and ordered the outlet’s editor-in-chief Yevgenia…
Getting Away with Murder
CPJ’s 2018 Global Impunity Index spotlights countries where journalists are slain and their killers go free By Elisabeth Witchel, CPJ Impunity Campaign Consultant Impunity is entrenched in 14 nations, according to CPJ’s 2018 Global Impunity Index, which ranks states with the worst records of prosecuting the killers of journalists.
The path(s) to justice in Jamal Khashoggi’s murder
In an emotional address to Turkey’s parliament today, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan described the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi as a savage and premeditated act and demanded that Saudi officials be brought to Turkey to stand trial. Most of the information about the investigation that has emerged has come through leaks to the Turkish…
Efforts to find mastermind in murder of Malta journalist Caruana Galizia stalled
Journalists don’t typically get murdered in Western European democracies that are members of the European Union. Which is why the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta last year was so shocking, and the lack of progress on finding the mastermind so disturbing.
Russia’s Novaya Gazeta is sent funeral wreath and goat’s head in latest threats
Kiev, October 18, 2018–Russian authorities should thoroughly investigate threats made against Russia’s independent newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, and bring those responsible to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. A funeral wreath, a severed goat’s head, and threatening notes were sent to the newspaper’s Moscow office this week in what the paper said in an…
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of October 11
Journalists in court An Istanbul court on October 16 asked Interpol to issue a “red notice” warrant for the exiled journalists Can Dündar and İlhan Tanır, according to reports. Dündar and Tanır were defendants in the trial against the opposition daily Cumhuriyet, until their cases were separated from the main trial on April 25, when…
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of October 4, 2018
Journalist sentenced to over 7 years in jail A court in the eastern Muş city on October 10 sentenced Seda Taşkın, a reporter for the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya News Agency (MA), to a total of seven years and six months in prison, her employer reported. Taşkın attended the hearing via teleconference from the Sincan Women’s Prison,…
Bulgarian TV host Viktoria Marinova raped and killed
Berlin, October 7, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the Bulgarian authorities to conduct a rigorous, thorough investigation into the killing of Viktoria Marinova, presenter and administrative director for local television channel TVN. Marinova, 30, was found dead yesterday in the Bulgarian town of Ruse, 300 km (185 miles) northeast of the capital Sofia;…
CPJ calls on Saudi Arabia to account for Jamal Khashoggi’s whereabouts
New York, October 6, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Saudi Arabia to immediately account for the whereabouts of prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who has not been seen since entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2. Multiple news outlets reported today that Turkish authorities, who have been investigating his disappearance…