Europe & Central Asia

  
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, accused of violating Russia's law on foreign agents, talks to her lawyer Edgar Matevosyan as they attend a court hearing in Kazan, Russia, on October 23, 2023.

CPJ condemns Russia’s extended detention of RFE/RL journalist Alsu Kurmasheva 

New York, October 23, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a Russian court’s decision on Monday to detain U.S.-Russian journalist Alsu Kurmasheva until December 5 on charges of failing to register herself as a foreign agent. In a closed-door hearing on Monday, a court in the western Russian city of Kazan ordered Kurmasheva, an editor…

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RFE/RL journalist Alsu Kurmasheva

Russian authorities detain RFE/RL journalist Alsu Kurmasheva

New York, October 18, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by Wednesday’s detention of journalist Alsu Kurmasheva in the western Russian city of Kazan and calls on Russian authorities to release her immediately. “CPJ is deeply concerned by the detention of U.S-Russian journalist Alsu Kurmasheva on spurious criminal charges and calls on Russian…

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People hold up their phones with their flashes on after a protest march on the fifth anniversary of the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in Valletta, Malta, on October 16, 2022.

Malta must protect the press, 6 years after Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder

The Committee to Protect Journalists and 12 other press freedom groups on Monday called on Maltese authorities to bring to justice all those responsible for the killing of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia and to make the European Union’s smallest state safer for the media. Read the full statement below and read more about press…

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CPJ joins call for Turkey to ensure safety of threatened journalist Alican Uludağ

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined five press freedom groups on Friday in a joint statement calling on the authorities in Turkey to ensure that journalist Alican Uludağ is safe, as he has been receiving online threats since he was publicly targeted by two politicians from the government-allied Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) because of his…

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Tipping the scales: Journalists’ lawyers face retaliation around the globe

The smears began the day Christian Ulate began representing jailed Guatemalan journalist José Rubén Zamora: tweets accusing the lawyer of being a leftist or questioning his legal credentials. He began to fear he was being surveilled.  Ulate had taken over the case in August 2022 from two other lawyers, Romeo Montoya García and Mario Castañeda,…

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Flags flutter outside of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, on June 12, 2023.

EU under pressure to defend journalists against abusive lawsuits

Brussels, October 11, 2023—As the European Union negotiates a landmark law to prevent the powerful and wealthy using malicious litigation to silence the media, the Committee to Protect Journalists on Wednesday called on the bloc to ensure that proposed legislation is robust and ambitious enough to protect the press. On Monday, the European Parliament and…

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CPJ, partners call on Latvia to reconsider proposed ban of Russian-language content on public service media

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined six other press freedom groups on Friday in calling on Latvia’s government to reconsider their proposal to ban the broadcast of Russian language content on Latvian public service media, and to launch an open debate in the interests of safeguarding media freedom. The groups say they are “extremely concerned”…

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Journalist Viktoria Roshchina disappeared while covering Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine. (Photo: Courtesy Hromadske)

Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchina missing since August 3

Riga, October 5, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the disappearance of Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchina and called on Russian authorities and anyone with information about her to disclose her location immediately. “We are deeply worried by the disappearance of Viktoria Roshchina, who has been missing for over two months after planning to…

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Turkey indicts 2 Kurdish journalists on terrorism charges

Istanbul, October 5, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists urged Turkish authorities on Thursday to immediately release journalists Dicle Müftüoğlu and Sedat Yılmaz, who have been held in pretrial detention for more than five months, and to stop using terrorism legislation to criminalize journalists. Müftüoğlu and Yılmaz, both editors at the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya News Agency, were…

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CPJ calls for Burkina Faso to reverse suspension of Jeune Afrique

Dakar, October 4, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists on Wednesday called on Burkinabè authorities to lift their suspension of the French news magazine Jeune Afrique, reverse their suspension of other media outlets, and ensure journalists can work in the West African country without fear of reprisal. On September 25, the government issued an order, reviewed…

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