Europe & Central Asia

The Committee to Protect Journalists and partner organizations expressed strong support on Thursday for independent journalists in Hungary and highlighted the country’s escalating media freedom crisis following a one-day mission to Budapest on October 22. In meetings with journalists, media representatives, legal experts, and civil society, the delegation heard concerns about a severely restricted media…

New York, November 3, 2025—Moldovan authorities must swiftly investigate a recent death threat sent to Mariana Rață, an investigative journalist and TV host with the independent broadcaster TV8, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On October 30, Rață received voice notes on Facebook Messenger from Boris Cerlat, a Facebook user claiming to bea supporter of Renato Usatîi, the president of the populist…

Berlin, November 3, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists urges Spanish authorities to swiftly identify and prosecute those responsible for the attack on reporter José Ismael Martínez while he was covering clashes between police and far-left protesters in Pamplona on October 30 2025. A group of five or six hooded individuals surrounded Martínez as he was…

New York, October 31, 2025—Belarusian authorities should immediately release journalist Siarhei Chabotska, and stop jailing journalists for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. A Belarusian court convicted Chabotska on charges of creating or participating in an “extremist” group and defaming the president of Belarus, and sentenced him to three years and six months imprisonment on October…

New York, October 29, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for a thorough investigation into a recent Russian attack in Ukraine, which wounded Ivan Zakharenko, a local producer with German media group WELT.  “The Russian attack on WELT journalists, which injured Ukrainian producer Ivan Zakharenko, is yet another illustration of the extraordinary risks journalists face while…

New York, October 28, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for the reversal of an October 27 court decision in Kyrgyzstan declaring the publications of investigative outlets Temirov Live and Kloop “extremist.” The same decision has designated the activity of CPJ’s 2025 International Press Freedom Award winner and Temirov Live founder Bolot Temirov, and Kloop founder Rinat Tuhvatshin, as “extremist.”…

Istanbul, October 27, 2025—Turkish authorities should release TELE1 editor-in-chief Merdan Yanardağ and withdraw the order to assign a trustee to seize control of the outlet, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. Istanbul police detained Yanardağ on October 24, and on October 27, a court arrested him pending trial as part of a political “espionage” investigation in which the imprisoned Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu is…

Istanbul, October 23, 2025—Authorities in Turkey shouldn’t fight the appeals of journalists Öznur Değer and Asuman Aranca, who were both sentenced for their work in separate trials, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on October 23, 2025. On October 21, a court in the southeastern province of Mardin found Değer, news director for the pro-Kurdish…

New York, October 23, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for a thorough investigation into the killing of Ukrainian journalists Olena Hramova, 43, and Yevhen Karmazin, 33, in a Russian drone attack on October 23, 2025.  “CPJ is deeply saddened and outraged by the killing of Ukrainian journalists Olena Hramova and Yevhen Karmazin in a Russian drone strike,” said…

New York, October 21, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Belarusian authorities to drop all charges against journalist Pavel Dabravolski, who was detained January 22, and faces up to 15 years in prison on “treason” charges, according to a October 18 report by the independent news outlet Pozirk. Dabravolski’s detention was first made public August 26 by Belarus-based human…