Russian police seize computers from Novaya Gazeta bureau
New York, August 31, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by reports that police in the Volga River city of Nizhny Novgorod raided the local bureau of the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta on Thursday, seizing all of the office’s computers. “This raid on Novaya Gazeta is yet another installment in the unending saga of…
In a benchmark verdict, Russian court convicts 5 in reporter’s murder
New York, August 30, 2007—A court in Russia’s west-central republic of Tatarstan has convicted five members of a criminal gang in the 2000 murder of Novaya Gazeta journalist Igor Domnikov, the newspaper reported today. The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomed this important development, but urged authorities to vigorously prosecute the masterminds of the crime.
In Russia, four formally charged in Politkovskaya murder as new suspect emerges
New York, August 29, 2007—Four of the 10 suspects detained in the 2006 murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya have been formally charged, a defense lawyer told the independent radio station Ekho Moskvy. A warrant has been issued for the detention of an 11th suspect in the case, a spokeswoman for the Moscow City Court told…
In Russia, suspects arrested in Politkovskaya murder
New York, August 27, 2007—Ten suspects have been arrested in the October 2006 assassination in Moscow of investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya, Russian Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika told a news conference today. The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomed the development but urged Russian authorities to publicly disclose details of the probe, including evidence of the suspects’…
Supreme Court upholds Azerbaijani editor’s prison sentence
New York, August 24, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists denounces the continued imprisonment of Eynulla Fatullayev, editor of the now-shuttered Russian-language weekly Realny Azerbaijan and the Azeri-language daily Gündalik Azarbaycan. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan upheld Fatullayev’s 30-month prison sentence on charges of defaming Azerbaijanis in an article. Fatullayev has been held in…
Opposition activist released from forced psychiatric hospitalization
New York, August 20, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes today’s release of opposition activist Larisa Arap, who was forcibly held in a Russian psychiatric hospital. Arap’s detention on July 5 came soon after the publication of her interview on the treatment of patients at the Murmansk regional psychiatric hospital in northern city of Apatity—the…
Writer forcibly hospitalized in Russia
Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply disturbed by the illegal psychiatric confinement in the northern city of Apatity of opposition activist Larisa Arap. Arap’s forced hospitalization on July 5 came soon after the publication of a story she coauthored on the treatment of patients at the Murmansk regional psychiatric hospital in Apatity–the same hospital where she is being held today.
Broadcast editor receives death threats
August 9, 2007 POSTED September 12, 2007 Stefan Cvetkovic, TNT, Bela Crkva THREATENED On August 9, Cvetkovic, editor in chief of the independent radiotelevision station TNT in the city of Bela Crkva, about 100 km (62 miles) east of the capital, Belgrade, received two anonymous phone calls from an unidentified number. A male voice threatened…
CPJ testifies at U.S. Helsinki Commission hearing on press freedom in the former Soviet bloc
Washington, August 2, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on the United States Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe to take a lead in making press freedom a priority in American foreign policy. At a hearing in Washington, D.C., called “Freedom of the Media in the OSCE Region,” CPJ voiced concern at the…