Europe & Central Asia

Paris, December 15, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of Belarusian journalist Maryna Zolatava, who was among 123 prisoners freed on Saturday as part of a deal in which the United States announced it was lifting sanctions on Belarus’s potash exports. All were pardoned by Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko.  “We are relieved that journalist Maryna Zolatava is finally free,…

New York, December 12, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Azerbaijan to drop all charges and release 12 journalists as the trial against Germany-based Meydan TV began Friday in the capital, Baku. “The sorry sight of 11 journalists and a respected journalism teacher on trial in the case against award-winning Meydan TV only underscores the vast…

Update: The total number of journalists and media workers killed in 2025 is now 127, exceeding the 2024 record. New York, December 10, 2025一With more than three weeks still to go to the end of the year, the number of journalists and media workers killed worldwide in 2025 already equals 2024’s record figures, data gathered…

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, its media has experienced an unprecedented crackdown. Hundreds of journalists have been forced into exile, where they continue to face transnational legal persecution, and their families have been harassed back home. Meanwhile, reporting from inside Russia has become increasingly difficult, with journalists and media outlets often silenced…

Berlin, December 2, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists is calling on Russian authorities to immediately disclose the whereabouts of journalist Nika Novak, who has gone missing from a prison in Bozoy, in the Siberian region of Irkutsk. Novak is serving a four-year prison sentence after being convicted in November 2024 on charges of “confidential cooperation with a foreign organization,”…

New York, December 2, 2025—Kazakh authorities should drop criminal “false information” charges against Gulnara Bazhkenova, editor-in-chief of the independent outlet Orda, and allow the outlet and its staff to work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On December 1, armed police raided Orda’s editorial offices in the capital, Astana, and in the southern city of…

Istanbul, December 1, 2025—Turkish authorities should immediately release journalist Farih Altaylı pending his appeal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. An Istanbul court on November 26 found prominent commentator Altaylı, who was arrested pending trial in late June, guilty of the charge of threatening Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and sentenced him to four years and two months in prison….

New York, November 26, 2025—Russian authorities should immediately release Crimean Tatar journalist Vilen Temeryanov and end their crackdown on independent voices in Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Crimea, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.  On November 26, the Southern District Military Court in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don convicted Temeryanov on charges of participating in the activities of a terrorist organization and preparing for a violent…

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined the International Press Institute and six other press freedom and human rights organizations in the seventh year of a joint press freedom mission to Ankara, Turkey. The delegation also included representatives from the ARTICLE 19 Europe, the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom, Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa as…

Captured by Russian security services and sentenced on false charges, Ukrainian journalist Vladyslav Yesypenko spent over four years in a Russian prison, enduring torture while trying to maintain his sanity and physical strength.  Yesypenko, who covered Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Crimea for the U.S. Congress-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), was released in June. He was first detained by Russian authorities…