Europe & Central Asia

  

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of September 3, 2017

Columnist’s passport returned Turkish authorities on September 7 returned Aslı Erdoğan, a former advisory board member of the shuttered pro-Kurdish daily Özgür Gündem and a frequent columnist, her passport, according to the Hürriyet Daily News website, which cites Erdoğan’s lawyer.

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Members of the Journalists Union of Turkey shout slogans during a demonstration to mark World Press Freedom Day in Istanbul, Turkey on May 3. The placard reads: "Enough!" (Reuters/Murad Sezer)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of August 27, 2017

Turkish authorities confiscate columnist’s passport Turkish police confiscated Aslı Erdoğan’s passport as the former advisory board member of the shuttered pro-Kurdish daily Özgür Gündem and frequent columnist was on her way to Germany to accept an award for her work, according to a report yesterday on the online news site sendka.org.

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Ukraine's state security service (SBU) chief Vasily Gritsak speaks during a news conference in Kiev, Ukraine. The SBU said authorities have deported Russian journalist Anna Kurbatova and banned her from entering the country for three years.(Reuters/Valentyn Ogirenko)

Ukraine’s security service deports Russian journalist

New York, August 30, 2017– Russian journalist Anna Kurbatova was today grabbed on the street in the center of Kiev by unknown people and later deported, according to her employer Russian state television’s Channel One. Ukraine’s security service (SBU) said authorities have banned the journalist from entering Ukraine for three years.

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Members of an OSCE monitoring mission take photos of house in Avdiivka after shelling by pro-Russian rebels in February 2017. Ukraine has barred two Spanish freelancers from entry to the country over their reporting on the conflict in the east. (AFP/Anatolii Stepanov)

Ukraine bars Spanish journalists over coverage of conflict in east

New York, August 29, 2017–The Security Service of Ukraine today said that it barred the Spanish freelance journalists Antonio Pampliega and Ángel Sastre from entering the country for three years over their reporting on the conflict in the east, according to news reports.

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Ukrainian journalist in custody on anti-state charges

New York, August 25, 2017–Ukrainian authorities should immediately release freelance journalist Vasily Muravitsky and drop all charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Muravitsky, a reporter and columnist based in Zhytomyr, has been detained since August 1 on anti-state charges brought by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), according to news reports.

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The old city walls in downtown Baku. Azerbaijani authorities in the capital have detained the head of the Turan news agency. (AP/Sergey Ponomarev)

Azerbaijan detains head of Turan news agency

New York, August 24, 2017–The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Azerbaijani authorities today to immediately release Mehman Aliyev, head of the country’s only independent news agency, Turan. Azerbaijan’s Tax Ministry today ordered Aliyev to be detained as part of an investigation launched against Turan last week into allegations of tax evasion, according to media…

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Swedish journalist Kim Wall went missing while reporting on a submarine. Danish police have identified a body as belonging to the freelancer. (TT News Agency/Tom Wall/Reuters)

Kim Wall’s death in Denmark calls attention to risks reporters take daily

New York, August 23, 2017–Danish police today confirmed that a body found off Copenhagen is that of Kim Wall, the Swedish freelance journalist who went missing earlier this month while reporting on an amateur-built submarine, according to media reports.

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Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of August 20, 2017

New decree used to shutter three pro-Kurdish outlets The Turkey government shuttered three more pro-Kurdish media outlets yesterday, using a new decree issued under the state of emergency that has been in place since the failed attempted coup last year, the daily Cumhuriyet reported. Decree 693 was used to shutter the Dihaber news agency, the…

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Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, shown here watching a parade before a Formula 1 race in Baku, June 25, 2017, has maintained strict control over the media over the course of his 14-year rule. (Reuters/David Mdzinarishvili)

Azerbaijani news agency’s office raided

New York, August 17, 2017–Azerbaijani authorities should stop harassing Turan, the country’s only independent news agency, and should allow it to work without fear of reprisal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Ukrainian servicemen are seen at their position in Avdiyivka, eastern Ukraine, February 9, 2017. Ukraine expelled Russian journalist Tamara Nersesyan, accusing her of inflaming the conflict in eastern Ukraine, today. (Reuters/Oleksandr Klymenko)

Ukraine expels Russian journalist

New York, August 15, 2017–Ukrainian security and immigration authorities should remove all restrictions on Russian journalist Tamara Nersesyan’s ability to report from Ukraine, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The Ukrainian National Security Service (SBU) last night detained Nersesyan, a special correspondent for the Russian state broadcaster VGTRK, and deported her to Russia.

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