Europe & Central Asia

  
Journalist Rashid Aliyev was injured in clashes between protesters and police in the city of Quba yesterday. (Reuters/Abbas Atilay)

Reporters injured while covering clashes in Azerbaijan

New York, March 1, 2012–At least two journalists were injured and another five suffered the effects of tear gas while covering violent clashes between police and residents of the northeastern city of Quba, according to news reports and CPJ sources.

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Kyrgyzstan must drop charges against journalist

New York, February 29, 2012–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in Kyrgyzstan to drop politically motivated extremism charges against independent journalist Vladimir Farafonov.

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Rémi Ochlik (AP/Julien de Rosa)

Recalling Rémi Ochlik, ‘a man of great value’

I liked Rémi a lot. Rémi was fragile, yet he didn’t really try to conceal the fact. His fragility was his strength, a formidable one at that. Unlike so many journalists of today, Rémi was a true idealist, a rare mix of innocence and panache, compassion and bravery.

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High-tech security information needs better dissemination

After the London launch of CPJ’s Attacks on the Press at the Frontline Club this week, I had an opportunity to talk to a number of young journalists setting out to regions where reporters are frequently at risk. As CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon noted, these discussions took on an extra poignancy the next day,…

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Recalling Marie Colvin, the ‘greatest of our generation’

In her final hours, Marie Colvin gave this damning report to CNN’s Anderson Cooper. Bravery, generosity, and commitment: These are the three characteristics of Marie Colvin that have surfaced, again and again, in the many tributes spoken and published since the veteran Sunday Times reporter was killed Wednesday in the besieged city of Homs by…

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To quote Marie Colvin: ‘What is bravery, and what bravado?’

Not since the worst period of the Iraq war, or in the Balkans the decade before, have so many storied journalists been killed or seriously injured in such a short period of time. Inevitably, the spate of deaths leaves many journalists asking questions about whether and how much they are willing to risk their own…

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Kyrgyz government blocks access to news website

New York, February 23, 2012–The Kyrgyz government’s decision to block access to the independent news website Ferghana News contradicts the country’s declared commitment to press freedom and should be overturned immediately, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Risk and reporting

Last night at London’s Frontline Club, CPJ launched its global survey of press freedom conditions, Attacks on the Press. The topic of discussion was the safety of journalists covering conflict and the panel consisted of journalist and documentarian Jenny Kleeman, ITN safety guru Colin Pereira, and journalist and filmmaker Maziar Bahari, who was imprisoned in…

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Attacks on Zaman test EU-Turkey ties

Last week, suspected supporters of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an armed group listed as a terrorist organization by the European Union and the United States, took their confrontation with the Turkish state to Western Europe, attacking the French and German offices of one of Turkey’s most influential newspapers, Zaman.

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Journalist for Iranian media imprisoned in Azerbaijan

New York, February 22, 2012–Anar Bayramli, Baku-based correspondent for Iranian broadcaster Sahar TV and news agency Fars, has been imprisoned for two months pending trial over drug charges. The Committee to Protect Journalists has determined the charges are fabricated and calls on authorities in Azerbaijan to release him immediately.

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