Europe & Central Asia

Berlin, January 28, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the European Court of Human Rights’ (ECtHR) January 27 ruling that Azerbaijan violated the rights of journalist Khadija Ismayilova by prosecuting and imprisoning her in retaliation for her reporting, but calls on Azerbaijan to immediately enforce the judgment.      Ismayilova, an award-winning investigative journalist, was detained in December 2014 and subsequently sentenced to…

Berlin, January 28, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Russia to drop proposed legislation advanced in the country’s parliament that would significantly expand the Federal Security Service’s (FSB) authority to shut down communications, further restricting internet access across the country. On January 27, Russia’s State Duma passed the first read of government-backed amendments to the country’s…

Istanbul, January 26, 2026—Turkish authorities should immediately cancel the order of house arrest for reporter Furkan Karabay and let him do his job, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday.  Police in Istanbul took Karabay, a court reporter currently with the news website Medyascope, into custody and a court placed him under house arrest on the suspicion of “publicly spreading…

With attacks on journalists in the Balkans mounting in recent months, the Committee to Protect Journalists has created a dedicated tracker to monitor and document these cases. Updated monthly, it aims to offer a reliable snapshot of the evolving risks to press freedom across the region. Verbal, online, and other threats Serbia  Albania  Croatia Montenegro…

Berlin, January 22, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes a Maltese court of appeals decision on Wednesday as a significant step toward full accountability for the murder of prominent investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. The decision moves the case closer to long-overdue justice after more than eight years of delay. The court dismissed a bid to overturn the life sentences…

Istanbul, January 22, 2026—Turkish authorities must release all journalists detained in recent days across Turkey and allow them to cover political rallies and protests unobstructed, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. Police in the cities of Şırnak, Istanbul, and Nusaybin interrupted political protests by Kurdish citizens of Turkey about renewed clashes between the Syrian government and Kurdish forces in…

Berlin, January 22, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Romanian authorities to conduct a swift and transparent investigation into the smear campaign, threats of bodily harm, and death threats targeting investigative journalist Emilia Șercan following her article on alleged plagiarism by a government minister.  Șercan’s January 14 exposé on the Press One news site alleged that Romania’s minister of…

For the fifth year in a row, more than 300 journalists were imprisoned worldwide as of the end of 2025, according to CPJ’s annual prison census. These record-setting numbers reflect growing authoritarianism and escalating numbers of armed conflicts worldwide. Often, journalists are held under cruel and life-threatening conditions – “a cemetery of the living,” as one freed Palestinian prisoner described it.

China, Myanmar, and Israel lead jailers of journalists in 2025 New York, January 21, 2026 — For the fifth consecutive year, more than 300 journalists were behind bars at year-end, according to a new report released by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). China, Myanmar, and Israel were the leading jailers of journalists on the…

New York, January 16, 2026—A report released Friday by TrialWatch found that Georgian authorities violated the fair trial rights of jailed journalist and Sakharov Prize laureate Mzia Amaglobeli, citing a series of violations that indicate that Georgian authorities sought to make an example of a leading journalist amid a wider press freedom and rights crackdown in Georgia.  The Committee to…