Europe & Central Asia

On Friday, the Committee to Protect Journalists and six international media freedom and journalist groups issued a joint statement to mark the ninth anniversary of the killing of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia and insisted that those responsible for ordering her murder on October 16, 2017, must be brought to justice.  The prominent investigative journalist…

The Committee to Protect Journalists on Thursday joined 12 local and international partner organizations in a joint statement condemning Turkish authorities’ decision to seize control of pro-opposition broadcaster Halk TV and block its social media accounts from access in Turkey.  The statement called on the Turkish government to “revoke the trustee appointment at Halk TV,…

London, October 14, 2026—Russia must immediately release a Japanese journalist detained on Tuesday in the far-eastern island of Sakhalin on suspicion of espionage, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.  The journalist, identified by media as Yuki Imai, is believed to be a correspondent for the Hokkaido Shimbun newspaper, a regional outlet for Japan’s northern…

Istanbul, October 14, 2026—Turkish authorities must immediately return control of Halk TV, one of the few remaining media voices critical of the government, to its staff and cease their relentless efforts to stifle the free flow of information in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. Police officers raided Halk TV’s headquarters in…

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined Albanian and international partner organizations in an open letter calling on Albanian authorities to investigate repeated violence and obstruction affecting journalists covering protests, and ensure accountability. The letter came after serious incidents in the capital Tirana on October 13, when several journalists reported being physically assaulted or obstructed by…

Journalists in Serbia are facing record levels of physical violence, death threats, and online smear campaigns. Those covering protests have been deliberately targeted and arbitrarily detained.  CPJ and partner organizations visited the capital Belgrade in March this year and a report on that trip, published in July by partners of the Council of Europe’s Safety…

Istanbul, October 12, 2026—Turkey’s ongoing crackdown on independent media is continuing at an alarming pace with four more journalists arrested and placed under house arrest over the weekend on suspicion of publicly spreading disinformation, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday.  On October 9, Turkish police questioned Mustafa Balcı and İsmail Saymaz from the independent Sözcü…

The Committee to Protect Journalists on Monday joined 20 local and international partner organizations in a joint statement asking Turkey and social media platforms to stop censoring journalists and rights defenders online by blocking their accounts, and respect the right to free expression.  The Freedom of Expression Association (İFÖD) found that in September alone, Turkish…

Berlin, October 9, 2026—Austrian authorities must urgently explain why Ukrainian investigative journalist Mykhailo Tkach and his colleague Yaroslav Bondarenko were violently detained in Vienna on Thursday and held for more than 12 hours on suspicion of espionage, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Friday.  Both men work for the independent news website Ukrainska Pravda….

Istanbul, October 6, 2026—Turkish authorities must immediately release journalist Derya Okatan and stop an escalating press crackdown that in this case involves imprisoning a veteran reporter based on flimsy evidence, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. Okatan, who most recently worked for independent broadcaster TELE1 before it was taken over by the government, was…