Europe & Central Asia

Istanbul, May 16, 2025—Turkish authorities should immediately release freelance court reporter Furkan Karabay, who was detained during a police raid early Thursday in Istanbul, and stop detaining journalists who are trying to report the news, the Committee to Protect Journalists said. The detention marks at least Karabay’s third in recent years. Later Thursday, an Istanbul…

Brussels, May 15, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on European Union leaders to unequivocally and immediately condemn Hungary’s proposed “foreign agent” law, which would grant its government sweeping powers to impose restrictions on NGOs, independent media outlets and other organizations receiving foreign funding. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s ruling Fidesz party introduced the bill on Tuesday in Parliament…

Documentary filmmaker Maryia Bulavinskaya’s love of history led her to buy a traditional wood home in the Belarusian village of Rogi-Iletsky in 2019. Her plans to renovate and eventually live in the house were put on hold in 2020 when she fled the country out of fear of being detained for her coverage of anti-government…

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…

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, with several others facing major…

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…