Europe & Central Asia

  
On March 8, Toplum TV’s founder Alasgar Mammadli was arrested as he left a health clinic. (Screenshot: Turan Informasiya Agentliyi/YouTube)

Azerbaijani police raid Toplum TV, detain journalists over alleged currency smuggling

Stockholm, March 11, 2024—Azerbaijani authorities should release Toplum TV’s founder Alasgar Mammadli and journalist Mushfig Jabbar, drop all charges against the independent news outlet’s staff, and allow the media to work freely and without reprisal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On March 6, dozens of plainclothes police officers in the capital, Baku, raided…

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Crimean journalists Rustem Osmanov (left) and Aziz Azizov of Crimean Solidarity

Russia holding Crimean journalists Rustem Osmanov and Aziz Azizov for 2 months on terror charges

New York, March 8, 2024—Russian authorities in Ukraine’s Crimea must drop all charges against journalists Rustem Osmanov and Aziz Azizov, release them immediately, and stop prosecuting the press in retaliation for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. At around 4 a.m. on Tuesday, in the southern Crimea town of Bakhchysarai, officers with…

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A police officer outside the UK prime minister's office, 10 Downing Street in London, Britain, in 2022.

CPJ, media leaders demand UK police act on online abuse of women journalists

The Committee to Protect Journalists and more than 100 journalists and media leaders sent an open letter to senior British police officers and lawmakers on Friday, International Women’s Day, calling on them to break the cycle of online violence and abuse against women working in journalism, which risks sidelining them from the profession, and to…

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RusNews reporter Roman Ivanov walks into a court in Korolyov, Russia on April 12, 2023. The court ordered he be detained until June 10 on three charges of spreading fake information about the Russian army.

Russian journalist Roman Ivanov sentenced to 7 years for ‘fake news’ about army

New York, March 7, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists on Thursday condemned the seven-year sentence issued to journalist Roman Ivanov over his social media posts about the Russian army and called on authorities to release him immediately and drop all charges against him. On Wednesday, a court in the city of Korolyov, some 30 kilometers…

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Council of Europe journalist safety platform sounds alarm over spyware and abusive lawsuits

The use of spyware against journalists, abusive lawsuits, and the perils facing journalists in exile are among the main concerns raised in the annual report of the Council of Europe’s Platform for the Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists released on March 5, 2024. The Committee to Protect Journalists was one of 15 press…

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Turkish police hold 3 journalists for 3 days on suspicion of ‘financing terrorism’

Istanbul, March 1, 2024—Police raided the homes of three Kurdish journalists and detained them for three days in a February incident that appears to be part of an ongoing trend of systemic harassment by Turkish authorities. Several journalists working for pro-Kurdish outlets have been arrested over the past 12 months including journalists Dicle Müftüoğlu and…

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Why extradition of WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange to US would be cataclysmic for press freedom

The Australian founder of the website WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, has been fighting extradition to the U.S. from the U.K. since 2019 on charges that could strike a blow to press freedom globally. Here is CPJ’s briefing on the legal battle to extradite Assange, the charges he would face in the U.S., and why his prosecution…

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A photograph taken on August 10, 2023 shows the logo of the Police Service of Northern Ireland at the entrance of the headquarters in Belfast.

CPJ, others renew support for journalists in UK surveillance investigation

Berlin, February 28, 2024—As a court hearing opened on Wednesday into complaints that two British journalists were targeted by UK authorities with covert surveillance, the Committee to Protect Journalists, together with four other press freedom groups, renewed their support for the investigation. The investigation stems from complaints filed by investigative journalists Trevor Birney and Barry…

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People lay flowers for late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny at the Solovetsky Stone, a monument to political repression, near the headquarters of Russia's Federal Security Services, in Moscow on February 20, 2024. (AFP/Natalia Kolesnikova)

At least 4 journalists briefly detained in Russia over memorials to Navalny 

New York, February 21, 2024—Russian authorities should refrain from detaining journalists who cover gatherings in memory of opposition leader Alexey Navalny and let members of the press report freely on events of public interest, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. At least four journalists were briefly detained last Friday and Saturday while reporting on gatherings to…

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Russia bans Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty as ‘undesirable’

New York, February 21, 2024—Russian authorities must stop harassing U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and cease obstructing the work of media outlets by labeling them as “undesirable,” the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On Tuesday, the Russian Ministry of Justice added RFE/RL to its register of “undesirable” organizations after the Russian general…

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