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.
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.
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.
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…
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.
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…
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.
Ukrainian press union president threatened after criticizing raid on news website
New York, August 14, 2017–The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the harassment of journalists in Ukraine and called on authorities to ensure the press can report freely, after the country’s National Security Service raided the offices of a news website and a member of parliament criticized Sergiy Tomilenko, head of the National Union of…
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of August 13, 2017
Court jails journalist pending trial for social media activity A court in Turkey’s southeastern Mardin province ordered Mehmet Sıddık Damar, a former reporter for the shuttered, pro-Kurdish Dicle News Agency (DİHA), jailed pending trial on charges of “propagandizing for a [terrorist] organization” in his social media posts, the news website Dihaber reported today. Damar had…