Europe & Central Asia

New York, July 24, 2017–An Azerbaijani court’s sentencing of Faiq Amirov, financial director of the independent newspaper Azadliq, is a further serious blow to press freedom in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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 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…

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…

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…

New York, July 18, 2017–Russian authorities should investigate threatening messages that business reporter Rinat Sagdiyev said he has received, and ensure the journalist’s safety, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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…

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…

New York, July 14, 2017–Ukrainian authorities should cease harassing journalists and employees of the Vesti media company, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. National police and military prosecutors today raided the Kiev office of Media Holding Vesti, which includes Radio Vesti, the daily newspaper Vesti, and the news website Vesti-ukr.com, according to its editor…

Freedom is like air or water: something you appreciate only when it’s gone. Freedom for Turkish journalists was never as abundant as air or water–but nor was it ever as scarce as it has become in the last year.