Gongadze murder suspect’s trial should be open to public
New York, August 16, 2011–The Pechersky District Court in Kyiv must open to the public the ongoing trial against Aleksei Pukach, a former interior ministry general charged with the notorious 2000 killing of independent journalist Georgy Gongadze, the Committee to Protect Journalist said today.
Independent journalist brutally attacked in Kyrgyzstan
New York, August 15, 2011–Kyrgyz authorities must thoroughly investigate Wednesday’s brutal attack on Shokhrukh Saipov, the Osh-based editor and publisher of the news website UzPress, and bring his assailants to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Shokhrukh Saipov is the younger brother of Alisher Saipov, the prominent journalist killed in southern Kyrgyzstan in…
CPJ condemns U.K. calls for riot footage and restrictions
New York, August 11, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron’s statement calling for broadcasters to immediately provide unedited footage and for measures restricting social networking as a means to stem ongoing riots in the country.
Easy targets, journalists under direct fire in the UK
The safety advisories sent out by the International News Safety Institute on Tuesday said it all: “Bring a mobile phone with emergency numbers pre-set for speed dialling; bring eye protection such as swimming goggles; carry first-aid kits and know how to use them; wear loose, natural-fabric clothing as it will not burn as readily as…
Q&A: Two of Turkey’s leading journalists speak from jail
The arrest of Ahmet Şık and Nedim Şener in March this year has put press freedom in Turkey under the international spotlight. Authorities said the journalists had not been detained because of their reporting but as part of an ongoing investigation into an alleged ultranationalist plot to overthrow the government known as “Ergenekon.” On a recent…
Editor’s killing still haunts Turkey
There’s a policeman on duty these days in the lobby of the elegant apartment building that houses Agos and a receptionist behind security glass buzzes you in to the newspaper’s cluttered offices. That’s about the only indication that the outspoken Turkish-Armenian editor whom I interviewed here in Istanbul in 2006 was assassinated outside the front…
Mission Journal: Media under growing pressure in Turkey
Turkey is awash in media. The newsstands of Istanbul are buried under some 35 dailies of every format and political stripe. The airwaves are thick with TV channels and Internet penetration is tracking an economy growing at Chinese speed. Yet quantity does not equal quality. Nor does the array of titles mean diversity and freedom…
Journalists held without due process in Turkey
Dear Minister Ergin: The Committee to Protect Journalists, an independent, nonpartisan organization dedicated to defending the rights of journalists worldwide, is alarmed by the ongoing detention of journalists in Turkey. We are also concerned by the large number of criminal cases opened against reporters under the sweeping provisions of the Turkish Criminal Code and Anti-Terrorism Act.