Russia extends detention of RFE/RL journalist Alsu Kurmasheva by 2 months
New York, December 1, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a Russian court’s decision in a closed-door hearing on Friday to extend the pretrial detention of U.S.-Russian journalist Alsu Kurmasheva until February 5, 2024. “Each day Alsu Kurmasheva spends in Russian detention on absurd criminal charges is another blow to press freedom and journalists’ rights…
CPJ welcomes conviction of death squad driver in murder of Gambian editor Deyda Hydara
Durban, November 30, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes Thursday’s conviction in Germany of a member of former Gambian president Yahya Jammeh’s death squad for the 2004 murder of Gambian editor Deyda Hydara. “The German court’s conviction and sentencing to life imprisonment of death squad driver Bai Lowe is an important first step for the…
CPJ and partners call on Blinken to designate RFE/RL’s Alsu Kurmasheva ‘wrongfully detained’ by Russia
The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 13 other press freedom and freedom of expression groups on Tuesday in calling on U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to declare Alsu Kurmasheva, a dual U.S.-Russian citizen and an editor with the Tatar-Bashkir service of the U.S. Congress-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), as “wrongfully detained” by the…
Azerbaijani journalist Aziz Orujov detained for 3 months, office and home searched
Stockholm, November 29, 2023—Azerbaijani authorities should release Aziz Orujov, director of the popular television channel Kanal 13, from detention on charges of illegal construction, and cease their legal harassment of independent media, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. The Sabail District Court in Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, on Tuesday ordered that Orujov be held in…
Russia extends detention of US journalist Evan Gershkovich by 2 months
New York, November 28, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a Russian court’s decision on Tuesday to extend the pretrial detention of U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich until January 30, 2024. “While the latest extension of the detention of U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich—who has been wrongly detained in Russia for the past eight months—was expected, it…
Azerbaijani anti-corruption journalists Ulvi Hasanli and Sevinj Vagifgizi detained for 4 months
Stockholm, November 21, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Azerbaijani authorities to release Abzas Media director Ulvi Hasanli and chief editor Sevinj Vagifgizi and to disclose the whereabouts of Hasanli’s assistant, Mahammad Kekalov, who has been missing since Monday. A district court in the capital of Baku on Tuesday ordered that Hasanli and Vagifgizi remain…
Azerbaijan police arrest Abzas Media director Ulvi Hasanli, raid outlet
Stockholm, November 20, 2023 – Azerbaijani authorities should release Abzas Media director Ulvi Hasanli and allow the country’s beleaguered independent media to work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. Police in the capital, Baku, detained Hasanli outside his apartment early Monday morning on suspicion of unlawfully bringing money into the country, Hasanli’s lawyer,…
Russian journalists Aleksandr Dorogov and Yan Katelevskiy sentenced to lengthy prison terms
New York, November 17, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the 10.5- and 9.5-year prison sentences issued to journalists Aleksandr Dorogov and Yan Katelevskiy, respectively, on Friday, and called on Russian authorities to release them immediately and not oppose their appeal. “CPJ strongly condemns the lengthy sentences imposed on Russian journalists Yan Katelevskiy and Aleksandr…
Killer of journalist Hrant Dink freed in Turkey amid widespread criticism
Istanbul, November 17, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists urges Turkish authorities to heed the calls by the family of murdered Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink for full justice, following the release of his killer from prison. In 2007, 17-year-old Ogün Samast assassinated Dink, the prominent managing editor of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos, outside his newspaper’s…
Russian authorities deport Kazakh journalist Vladislav Ivanenko ahead of court hearing
New York, November 14, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Russian authorities to explain why Kazakh journalist Vladislav Ivanenko was deported ahead of a court hearing over his residence permit. On November 9, police arrested Ivanenko, a journalist with the independent regional news website Properm.ru, at his home in the central Russian city of…