Europe & Central Asia

  

New promises, old results in unsolved Togliatti murders

Prosecutors say every lead has been pursued, every witness questioned in the slayings of editors Valery Ivanov and Aleksei Sidorov. But no one has ever been convicted, and no one can explain what investigators did with the most compelling lead. A CPJ special report by Nina Ognianova

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Kazakhstan TV crew assaulted after covering labor strike

New York, October 26, 2011–Authorities in the western Mangystau region of Kazakhstan must thoroughly investigate a brutal attack today against two journalists for the Internet-based opposition broadcaster Stan TV, the Committee to Protect Journalists said.

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Anna Politkovskaya emerges as a woman of humor in a new documentary. (AP)

A personal side to Anna Politkovskaya’s legacy

Internationally renowned for her work, respected for her courage and still mourned by thousands around the world five years after her murder, Anna Politkovsakya has become an iconic symbol in the global human rights struggle. But Sunday night, family, friends, colleagues and others came together to share a more personal picture.

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Press freedom issues may keep Macedonia from EU

The European Union accession process has been hailed as the best tool in the arsenal of democracy promotion. By adhering to the acquis communautaire, the EU’s total body of legislation, and to the Copenhagen criteria that define the democratic nature of the EU, candidate countries are supposed to perfect their political transition before joining “the…

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Sasho Dikov's car was destroyed in the blast. (Reuters)

Television journalist’s car explodes in Bulgaria

New York, October 14, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Thursday’s attack on Sasho Dikov, a Bulgarian journalist with private national television channel Kanal 3, and calls on investigators to apprehend and prosecute the perpetrators.

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Tajik journalist Makhmadyusuf Ismoilov was convicted on insult charges in October, but was released from prison. He is banned from all journalistic work for three years. (RFE/RL Radio Ozodi)

Tajik journalists convicted, released from jail

New York, October 14, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists is relieved by today’s release of two Tajik journalists, but condemns their convictions on extremism and insult, among other charges, and calls for the quashing of the convictions on appeal.

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Tajikistan must release reporters

New York, October 13, 2011–As a court in Tajikistan prepares to issue verdicts in the politicized criminal prosecutions of BBC correspondent Urinboy Usmonov, and Makhmadyusuf Ismoilov, a reporter with the independent weekly Nuri Zindagi, the Committee to Protect Journalists is demanding justice.

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(Reuters)

Greek police assault photographers

Greek police attacked some members of the press covering demonstrations in Athens’ Syntagma (Constitution) square this week, injuring at least two members of the media, Reuters reported. Above, a riot policeman punches Greek photojournalist Tatiana Bolari on Wednesday.

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Justice still pending in Politkovskaya murder case

New York, October 7, 2011–Five years after the brutal assassination of Russian investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, the Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Russian authorities to prosecute the masterminds of her killing and end impunity in the murder of journalists.

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Reporter gets five years in Turkmenistan

New York, October 5, 2011 — The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the sentencing today of Dovletmurad Yazguliyev, a local correspondent for the Turkmen service of the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), to five years in prison on charges of inciting a relative’s suicide attempt.

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