Seven Cumhuriyet journalists and managers released pending trial
New York, July 28, 2017–Turkish authorities should immediately and unconditionally release all employees and directors of the daily newspaper Cumhuriyet, and all journalists jailed for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. A court in Istanbul today ordered seven Cumhuriyet employees and managers released pending the conclusion of their trial, according to press…
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of July 23, 2017
Journalists to stand trial on charges of obtaining secret information Hatay’s Second Court of Penal Peace yesterday ordered Dihaber journalist Erdoğan Alayumat jailed pending trial on charges “obtaining secret information of the Republic of Turkey with the means of political and military espionage” and ordered Nuri Akman released on probation pending trial, their employer reported.…
Trial of 17 Cumhuriyet newspaper employees begins in Turkey
New York, July 24, 2017–The trial of 17 journalists, managers, and board members of the pro-opposition daily newspaper Cumhuriyet on terrorism-related charges is a further blow to press freedom in Turkey, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
CPJ and rights groups call on President Poroshenko to prioritize Pavel Sheremet murder case
CPJ today joined seven other media rights organizations– all part of the Council of Europe’s Platform to protect journalism and promote the safety of journalists–in signing a joint letter to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. The letter calls on the president to ensure an effective investigation into the murder of Pavel Sheremet, the prominent journalist murdered…
Russian independent journalist Yulia Latynina attacked
New York, July 20, 2017 — Russian authorities should investigate an attack on prominent independent journalist and columnist Yulia Latynina, bring those responsible to justice, and ensure her safety, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. In the early hours yesterday, unknown assailants sprayed a foul-smelling substance through an open window of Latynina’s house in…
Azerbaijan court sentences blogger to three years in jail
New York, July 20, 2017–A Baku court today convicted Russian-Israeli blogger Aleksandr Lapshin to three years in jail for illegally crossing the state border, international and Azerbaijani media reported. The charges are related to three trips that Lapshin made between April 2011 and June 2016 to the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, which Azerbaijan and Armenia…
Russia-backed separatists holding Ukrainian journalist, accuse him of espionage
New York, July 17, 2017–Russia-backed separatists in Ukraine’s east should immediately release Donetsk-based journalist Stanyslav Aseyev, who has been detained by the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR), the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Aseyev, who has contributed to the Ukrainian service of the U.S.-government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty under the pseudonym Stanyslav Vasin, went…
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of July 16, 2017
Germany says Turkey offered prisoner swap for jailed journalist German daily Bild cited an unnamed German diplomatic source as saying that Turkey offered to exchange imprisoned journalist Deniz Yücel for two former generals who sought asylum in Germany. Germany’s foreign ministry rejected the offer, the anonymous source told Bild. Turkey has not commented publicly on…