‘Independent media could disappear’: Georgian journalists on the country’s high stakes elections
UPDATE: In the Georgia election held October 26, the ruling Georgian Dream party declared itself the winner, but the opposing coalition is disputing those results, claiming fraud. Georgia’s president, and European and U.S. officials, have called for an investigation. On October 26, Georgia heads into what is widely viewed as its most critical election since independence from the Soviet Union in…
CPJ, partners call for transparency as exiled Syrian journalist applies for UK citizenship
CPJ joined three other international press freedom and human rights organizations in an October 18 letter to U.K. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper expressing concerns over delays in the citizen application of Zaina Erhaim, an award-winning exiled Syrian journalist who has lived in the U.K. since 2017 and has been targeted by Syrian authorities due to…
CPJ joins call for Turkey to restore Açık Radyo’s broadcast license
The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 63 press freedom and human rights organizations, media outlets, and NGOs in an October 18 joint statement condemning Turkey’s media regulator RTÜK for canceling independent Açık Radyo‘s (The Open Radio) broadcast license as an act of censorship. In May, RTÜK fined and issued a gag order after the outlet…
Bomb threats target institutions across Ukraine, blame 3 RFE/RL journalists
New York, October 18, 2024—More than 1,500 emails threatening a bomb attack were sent on October 14 to Ukrainian media outlets, government agencies, schools, business centers, and hotels, as well as dozens of Ukrainian embassies abroad. The sender blamed three journalists with U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) — Iryna Sysak, Valeria Yehoshyna,…
Mayor threatens local journalist in Turkey: ‘We will teach him his lesson’
Istanbul, October 16, 2024—CPJ expressed deep concern after a recently released recording of an August 15 press conference included comments from Tatvan Mayor Mümin Erol, in which Erol told reporters that he would attack journalist Sinan Aygül if he could and congratulated the former mayor’s bodyguards, who attacked and hospitalized the journalist in June 2023. …
German security guards abuse, beat DW Arabic reporter at concert
New York, October 16, 2024—German authorities must swiftly and transparently investigate security guards’ homophobic abuse and attack on a journalist with the public broadcaster DW’s Arabic service who was reporting at a concert in the western city of Düsseldorf, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. “German authorities must ensure the security guards working for…
CPJ, partners demand justice for Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchina
The Committee to Protect Journalists joined nine media and civil society organizations, including five members of the Media Freedom Rapid Response consortium in a letter welcoming the opening of an investigation into the killing of Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchina, whose death in Russian custody was confirmed to her father by authorities and multiple reports. The signatories urged Russian authorities to make the circumstances…
CPJ, partners urge Malta to reform, 7 years after Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder
On the eve of the seventh anniversary of the murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia on October 16, 2017, CPJ and 10 other journalist and freedom of expression organizations wrote to Malta’s Prime Minister Robert Abela calling on his government to speed up reforms to create a safer environment for the media community in…
In Germany, 2 public broadcast centers evacuated after bomb threats
New York, October 11, 2024—German authorities must investigate emailed bomb threats made against several broadcasting centers for the regional public radio station Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR) on Saturday, October 5, and ensure the safety of the outlet’s journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. “CPJ is concerned by the bomb threats targeting MDR broadcasting centers…
Slovak PM Fico attacks journalists as ‘possessed by the devil’
New York, October 11, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Tuesday’s denigrating comments by Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, in which he called reporters “bloodthirsty bastards” who are “possessed by the devil,” and calls on Slovak authorities to ensure that journalists can do their jobs without fear of reprisal. “We are alarmed by Prime Minister…