Europe & Central Asia

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 17 other press freedom and human rights organizations in calling on Turkish authorities to release freelance court reporter Furkan Karabay, who has been in detention for over 100 days. Following his arrest in May, he was indicted on September 5, 2025, on three charges, including “insulting” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, for which he could face six to…

Istanbul, September 8, 2025—Turkish authorities must drop the charges brought against journalist Furkan Karabay alleging that he “insulted” the president and “made targets of” judicial officials, the Committee to Protect Journalists said. Turkish authorities arrested freelance court reporter Karabay in mid-May. Karabay spent more than 100 days in pretrial detention before being indicted. A court date has yet to…

The Committee to Protect Journalists and more than 20 partner organizations called on Czech political parties to commit to 10 priority measures to safeguard press freedom in the run-up to parliamentary elections on October 3–4. The recommendations, developed with experts and inspired by the recently adopted European Media Freedom Act, address urgent challenges, including attacks…

New York, September 4, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Russian authorities to free Ukrainian journalist Heorhiy Levchenko, who has been sentenced to 16 years in a high security penal colony for treason and extremism. “After capturing Ukrainian journalist Heorhiy Levchenko two years ago in retaliation for his brave reporting on the war from the occupied…

New York, September 3, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Azerbaijani authorities’ addition of seven new charges against 10 incarcerated journalists in relation to a currency smuggling case against the independent outlet Meydan TV, as well as the arrest of photojournalist Ahmad Mukhtar. “The latest financial crimes charges against the prize-winning Azerbaijani outlet Meydan TV…

New York, August 28, 2025—A massive, early morning Russian attack on Ukraine damaged the offices of at least three news outlets on August 28, 2025. In Kyiv, the offices of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and independent news outlet Ukrainska Pravda were damaged in a drone and missile attack. In the Dnipropetrovsk region, in eastern Ukraine, a drone strike damaged the office of local newspaper Mezhivsky Merydian. No media…

New York, August 26, 2025—A Belarusian court convicted freelance journalist Aleh Supruniuk on charges of participating in an “extremist” group” and sentenced him to three years imprisonment on August 8. His sentencing was made public August 25 by the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), an advocacy and trade group operating from exile. “The sentencing of journalist Aleh Supruniuk to three years in…

Editor’s note: In a deferred hearing on August 20, the court upheld Kazakh authorities’ accreditation denial and ban against seven RFE/RL journalists; the appeal of a further nine journalists remains under consideration. RFE/RL said it would appeal the verdict. New York, August 18, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists urges Kazakh authorities to reinstate accreditation for 16 journalists with U.S. government-funded…

Radio Azattyq director Torokul Doorov says it is “very difficult” for journalists not to become activists in the face of “unfairness and injustice” in Kazakhstan. “You just want to start screaming,” says Doorov, who joined the Kazakh arm of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in 2014, and the outlet grew to be one of Kazakhstan’s most influential…

New York, August 6, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists is horrified by the two-year sentence given to prominent Georgian media manager Mzia Amaglobeli on Wednesday, in a case previously denounced by CPJ and partners as “disproportionate and politicized.” “The outrageous two-year sentence meted out to widely respected journalist Mzia Amaglobeli is emblematic of Georgia’s increasing use…