Record number of journalists jailed worldwide
Editor‘s note: In 2019, CPJ published a new database of attacks on the press. Numbers for each subsequent prison census are liable to adjust yearly as CPJ learns of arrests, releases, or deaths in prison. For the most recent data, see cpj.org/data/imprisoned/. The number of journalists jailed globally because of their work hit a new high in 2020…
Police arrest, fine journalists covering protests in Russian far east; 3 remain in detention
New York, November 16, 2020 – Russian authorities should immediately release all journalists detained while covering recent protests, and ensure that the press can cover demonstrations freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Since November 5, police have detained at least six journalists covering protests in the eastern city of Khabarovsk, which have been…
Russian journalist Aleksandr Pichugin awaiting verdict, sentencing in false news trial
Vilnius, Lithuania, November 10, 2020 — Russian authorities should immediately drop all charges against journalist Aleksandr Pichugin and allow him to work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Tomorrow, a court in the central Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod is scheduled to announce the verdict and sentence in the trial of Pichugin, the chief…
Russian police detain, interrogate journalist Yana Toporkova, raid her home
New York, October 29, 2020 – Russian authorities should immediately return equipment confiscated from journalist Yana Toporkova and ensure that members of the press are not harassed by law enforcement, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On October 2, three men in plainclothes who identified themselves as police officers raided Toporkova’s apartment in the…
Getting Away with Murder
CPJ‘s 2020 Global Impunity Index spotlights countries where journalists are slain and their killers go free By Elana Beiser/CPJ Editorial Director Published October 28, 2020 Incremental progress toward reducing the murders of journalists worldwide is fragile and could be thwarted by legal appeals and lack of political leadership, CPJ found in its latest report on…
Russian journalist Irina Slavina dies of self-immolation after harassment by authorities
New York, October 26, 2020 – Russian federal authorities should investigate the circumstances of the death of journalist Irina Slavina, who died of self-immolation in early October after a campaign of legal harassment by authorities, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On October 2, 2020, Slavina, founder and chief editor of independent news website Koza.Press,…
Journalist Sergey Plotnikov abducted, beaten, then released in Russia’s far east
New York, October 20, 2020 – Russian authorities should immediately and transparently investigate the kidnapping of journalist Sergey Plotnikov, and ensure that the press in Russia can work safely and freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On October 15, at about 8 p.m., seven unidentified masked men abducted Plotnikov on the street near…
Crimean Tatar civic journalists risk persecution to cover their community in Russian-annexed Crimea
After Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, some Crimean Tatars–the indigenous population of the Crimean peninsula–had to flee for the Kyiv-controlled part of Ukraine. But most have chosen to remain. As the Russian-appointed new authorities established blanket censorship, squeezing out independent media outlets, a new phenomenon emerged–civic journalism. Members of the Crimean Tatar community–who had not…
Russian journalist David Frenkel’s car vandalized following June attack at voting station
New York, August 31, 2020 – Russian authorities must conduct a full and thorough investigation into the vandalizing of journalist David Frenkel’s car, and hold the perpetrators to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Between the night of August 26 and the early hours of August 27, unidentified attackers slashed all four tires…
Russian journalists imprisoned, beaten during arrests and detention
New York, August 25, 2020 – Russian authorities must immediately release journalists Aleksandr Dorogov and Yan Katelevskiy, drop all charges against them, and ensure that members of the press can work freely and safely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. In the early hours of July 29, police in the village of Mosrentgen, near…