Editor arrested in Kazakhstan
New York, February 13, 2017–Kazakh authorities should immediately release Zhanbolat Mamay, editor of the independent newspaper Sayasi kalam/Tribuna, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Police arrested Mamay, an outspoken government critic, in the capital Almaty on February 10, on suspicion of money laundering, Kazakh and regional media reported.
Ukraine police see journalism as motive in Pavel Sheremet’s murder
New York, February 8, 2017–Ukrainian investigators’ announcement today that they consider Pavel Sheremet’s journalism as the most likely motive in his July 2016 murder is a welcome step toward bringing his killers to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov told journalists in Kiev that police believe Sheremet, who…
Belarusian court rules to extradite blogger to Azerbaijan
New York, February 7, 2017–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned today’s decision by the Supreme Court of Belarus to extradite Russian-Israeli blogger Aleksandr Lapshin to Azerbaijan to stand trial for traveling to the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh and for criticizing Azerbaijani policies.
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of February 5
German court upholds partial ban on poem satirizing Erdoğan A court in the German city of Hamburg today upheld a previous court’s ban on comedian Jan Böhmermann’s reciting 18 of 24 verses of a poem satirizing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that the comedian recited on television last year, according to press reports. Erdoğan pressed…
British photographer wounded in eastern Ukraine
New York, February 3, 2017–British freelance photographer Christopher Nunn was injured last night while covering shelling in the eastern Ukrainian town Avdiivka, according to press reports. “I am alive,” the photographer wrote on Twitter after the incident. His translator Vladimir Subotovsky told CPJ today that Nunn was in stable condition after undergoing eye surgery.
CPJ asks German Chancellor Merkel to raise press freedom on Turkey visit
Ahead of her visit to Turkey, the Committee to Protect Journalists requests German Chancellor Angela Merkel to ask Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to free the dozens of journalists imprisoned in the country and to urge him to allow the more than 100 media outlets closed since failed July 2016 military coup to reopen and to operate without harassment.
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of January 29
Columnist investigated for referendum comments Prosecutors in Istanbul opened an investigation into Bekir Coşkun, a columnist for the pro-opposition daily newspaper Sözcü, regarding remarks he made in a column about a coming referendum on whether the constitution should be amended to increase the president’s powers, Dogan News Agency reported.
Court upholds life sentence for Kyrgyz journalist and activist Azimjon Askarov
New York, January 24, 2017–Kyrgyz authorities should immediately release journalist and human rights activist Azimjon Askarov and drop all charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Kyrgyzstan’s Chui Regional Court today upheld a September 2010 life sentence against Askarov on charges of complicity in murder and inciting hatred for reporting on fatal…