Europe & Central Asia

  
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis speaks during the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Baku on November 13, 2024. CPJ joined six other international press freedom organizations in condemning legal actions against Greek journalists filed by Grigoris Dimitriadis, former general secretary and the nephew of Mitsotakis. (Photo: AFP/Alexander Nemenov)

CPJ, others condemn abusive lawsuits against Greek journalists who exposed spyware scandal

The Committee to Protect Journalists and six other international press freedom organizations issued a joint statement on Friday, November 22, 2024, condemning the ongoing legal actions against journalists who exposed Greece’s Predator spyware scandal and urged Greek authorities to swiftly implement the European Union’s anti-SLAPP Directive to strengthen protections for journalists amid the growing trend…

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Officers grab Sergi Baramidze, a camera operator for pro-opposition broadcaster Mtavari Arkhi, after he filmed police during a protest contesting the results of Georgia’s parliamentary election in Tbilisi on November 19, 2024. (Photo: Facebook/Mtavari Arkhi)

Georgian police obstruct, detain journalists covering election protests

New York, November 20, 2024—Local rights groups recorded at least four incidents of police assaulting or obstructing journalists covering a November 19 election protest in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi.  Georgian opposition parties have alleged fraud and are protesting the results of the October 26 parliamentary election, in which the ruling Georgian Dream party was declared…

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Following current President Sadyr Japarov’s rise to power, Kyrgyz authorities have launched an unprecedented assault on independent reporting. (Photo: Reuters/Evgenia Novozhenina)

CPJ details Kyrgyzstan’s media crackdown ahead of UN human rights review

The Committee to Protect Journalists has submitted a report on the state of press freedom and journalist safety in Kyrgyzstan to the United Nations Human Rights Council ahead of its 2025 Universal Periodic Review (UPR) session. CPJ’s submission, together with Austria-based human rights group Freedom for Eurasia and the Free Russia Foundation, highlights the sharp…

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Italian investigative team receives death threat referencing Charlie Hebdo attack

Berlin, November 15, 2024—The editorial team of the investigative television program “Report” on Italian public broadcaster RAI3 received a death threat via social media on Tuesday, November 12, saying the team “deserved it, Charlie Hebdo editorial team style,” following their reporting on the Israel-Gaza war.  The message referenced a 2015 terrorist attack targeting the offices…

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Journalist attacked by business owner, security guards in Montenegro

Berlin, November 14, 2024—A local business owner and his security guards insulted and attacked journalist Ana Raičković after following her and her family to their car outside a restaurant in Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro, on Sunday, November 10.  One man grabbed Raičković, editor for online newspaper Pobjeda, by her throat and threatened her and…

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Turkish reporter Furkan Karabay

CPJ joins call for Turkey to release arrested journalist Furkan Karabay

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined six other press freedom and free-speech advocacy organizations in a Wednesday, November 13, statement asking Turkish authorities to release recently arrested journalist Furkan Karabay. Karabay, a reporter with the independent news site 10Haber, was detained on November 8 during a police raid in Istanbul and jailed by a court…

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Serbian Progressive Party billboard

Serbia politician physically attacks journalist Miloš Ljiljanić during municipal assembly meeting

Berlin, November 12, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Serbian authorities to swiftly complete their investigation into the November 6 physical attack by a local ruling party politician against Miloš Ljiljanić, a journalist with local news site Kovinske Info, while he was documenting a municipal council meeting in the northern town of Kovin. “Serbian…

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Turkish reporter Furkan Karabay

Turkish journalist Furkan Karabay arrested over reporting on opposition arrest

Istanbul, November 11, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Turkish authorities to immediately free reporter Furkan Karabay, who was seized from his home at dawn on Friday after he published a report about the arrest of an opposition mayor. “Journalist Furkan Karabay is the latest in a long line of journalists who have ended…

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The United Nations' climate change conference opened in Azerbaijan on November 11, 2024.

As COP29 opens, CPJ calls for jailed Azerbaijani journalists to be freed

New York, November 11, 2024—With the opening of the United Nations annual climate talks in Azerbaijan on Monday, the Committee to Protect Journalists calls on visiting delegations to press Azerbaijan to end its unprecedented media crackdown. “With at least 15 journalists awaiting trial on charges that could see them jailed for between eight and 20…

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Masked protesters attack N1 TV, Euronews camera operators, damage camera in Serbia

Berlin, November 7, 2024—Serbian authorities must swiftly and thoroughly investigate the November 5 attacks by masked individuals on a journalist and two camera operators working for N1 TV and Euronews as they were covering a demonstration in Novi Sad. “Serbian authorities must bring all those responsible for the attack on a journalist and camera operators…

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