Europe & Central Asia

  
Opposition protesters shout slogans in Istanbul, April 17, 2017. (Reuters/Yagiz Karahan)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of April 16, 2017

Wire reporter jailed The Supreme Court of Appeals on April 14 upheld the Second Mardin Court for Serious Crimes’ November 2016 sentence of two years and four months in prison against Meltem Oktay on charges of “making propaganda for a terrorist organization,” the news website Dihaber reported yesterday.

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People lay flowers made of newspapers to pay respects to slain Novaya Gazeta journalist Anna Politkovskaya outside the newspaper's office in Moscow, October 7, 2014. (AP/Ivan Sekretarev)

Russian journalist flees Moscow following threats

New York, April 17, 2017–Russian authorities should immediately and thoroughly investigate threats made against Elena Milashina, an investigative journalist for the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta and a former correspondent for the Committee to Protect Journalists, CPJ said today. In an April 15 interview with The Washington Post, Milashina said that she left Moscow following…

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A man holds a photograph of murdered Novaya Gazeta investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya outside the newspaper's Moscow office on October 7, 2014, the eighth anniversary of her death. Politkovskaya was known for her work exposing human rights abuses in Chechnya and the North Caucasus region. (AP/Ivan Sekretarev)

Chechen official and preachers threaten Novaya Gazeta journalists

New York, April 14, 2017–Russian authorities should investigate threats preachers and an adviser to the Chechen president made against the staff of the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta and should ensure the journalists’ safety, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Women walk by graffiti reading Kosovo Republic in Pristina, February 13, 2017. (AFP/Armend Nimani)

Two journalists in Kosovo receive death threats

New York, April 13, 2017–Police in Kosovo should thoroughly and swiftly investigate death threats against Arbana Xharra and Musa Mustafa and ensure the safety of the two investigative journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Belarusian police detain a man at a March 25, 2017, protest in Minsk. (AFP/Vasily Maximov)

Journalists face trial for covering protests in Belarus

New York, April 12, 2017–Belarusian authorities should immediately drop all charges against journalists for covering protests and should allow the news media to work unobstructed, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Opposition politicians and press freedom advocates call for the release of journalists jailed in Turkey in an April 9, 2017, protest in Istanbul. (AFP/Yasin Akgul)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of April 9, 2017

Erdoğan vows jailed Die Welt correspondent will never return to Germany Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan last night vowed that Die Welt Turkey correspondent Deniz Yücel, a dual citizen of Germany and Turkey would never be allowed to return to Germany so long as he was president, the online newspaper Diken reported.

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French outlets Mediapart, Le Canard enchaîné receive threatening letters

New York, April 7, 2017–The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned threats made against the Paris-based investigative news website Mediapart and satirical weekly Le Canard enchaîné (The Chained Duck), and called on French authorities to promptly bring the perpetrators to justice.

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Security forces stand guard atop a building in Istanbul as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan gives a speech in favor of amendments to the constitution that would increase his powers, March 26, 2017. (Reuters/Murad Sezer)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of April 2, 2017

Cumhuriyet journalists respond to indictment Cumhuriyet journalists Kadri Gürsel and Murat Sabuncu, who were listed in an indictment against the Turkish daily earlier this week, reacted to the accusations presented to the court, online newspaper Demokrat Haber and Cumhuriyet reported yesterday.

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A Belarusian Interior Ministry official films journalists reporting on a police raid of one of Belsat TV's offices in Minsk, March 31, 2017. (AP/Sergei Grits)

Belarus police raid offices of TV station Belsat, detain cameraman

New York, March 31, 2017–Belarusian authorities should cease harassing Belsat TV and all news media in an effort to censor coverage of opposition protests and should immediately release all journalists detained for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Police today raided two of the channel’s offices in the capital Minsk, confiscated the…

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Abdullah Kılıç (Courtesy of Kılıç family)

UPDATE: In Turkey, authorities rule to free journalists, then reverse decision

New York, March 31, 2017– Istanbul’s 25th Court for Serious Crimes ordered the release pending trial of at least 19 journalists jailed in the aftermath of the July 2016 failed coup attempt in Turkey, but the decision was reversed after an appeal by the chief prosecutor, and none of the journalists were freed, according to…

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