Russia / Europe & Central Asia

  
Russian investigative journalist Grigory Pasko leaves prison in Ussuriysk, January 23, 2003. (Reuters/Igor Onuchin)

Russian investigative journalist Grigory Pasko assaulted in Siberia

New York, September 27, 2016–Authorities in Russia’s southern Siberian republic of Altai should credibly investigate yesterday’s assault on investigative journalist and journalism trainer Grigory Pasko and swiftly bring those responsible to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Aleksandr Sotnik announces his flight from Russia, following threats, in this screenshot of the September 20, 2016 episode of his YouTube show.

Online journalist flees Russia following threats

New York, September 21, 2016–Russian authorities should credibly investigate threats against independent online journalist Aleksandr Sotnik and bring those responsible to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Sotnik yesterday announced that he had fled Russia following threats connected to his critical reporting on Kremlin policies.

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The funeral of Sergei Magnitsky is held in Moscow on November 20, 2009. The lawyer died in state custody after exposing official corruption. (Reuters/Mikhail Voskresensky)

Global Magnitsky Act could be powerful weapon against impunity in journalist murders

Last week, the proposed Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act emerged from the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee with approval. The bill was passed by the Senate last year. If passed by the full House of Representatives and signed into law by the president, it has the potential to offer partial redress to one of…

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Russia censors Crimean news website

New York, May 12, 2016 — Authorities in Russia should stop censoring the website of Krym.Realii, the Crimean service of the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Russian security forces raid homes of Crimean journalists

New York, April 19, 2016 — Russian authorities should stop harassing journalists in Crimea and should allow them to do their work without fear of retribution, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Federal Security Service (FSB) officers raided the apartments of at least seven people, including at least three journalists, in Crimea today, according…

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Attackers beat group of journalists covering human rights abuses in North Caucasus

New York, March 9, 2016–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns today’s attack on a group of six journalists and two human rights activists from Russia, Norway, and Sweden, and urges authorities in the Russian region of Ingushetia to bring those responsible to justice.

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CPJ urges Putin to ensure Chechen officials cease harassing journalists

The Committee to Protect Journalists writes to Russian President Vladimir Putin to express its deep concern at the menacing language employed on social media and in the press by officials in Chechnya against critical journalists and rights activists.

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China, Egypt imprison record numbers of journalists

Egypt is second only to China as the world’s worst jailer of journalists in 2015. Worldwide, the number of journalists behind bars for their work declined moderately during the year, but a handful of countries continue to use systematic imprisonment to silence criticism. A CPJ special report by Elana Beiser

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CPJ alarmed by Russia’s harassment of Dozhd TV

New York, December 7, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Russian authorities to allow Dozhd TV to broadcast without fear of harassment. Today, prosecutors in Moscow carried out an audit of the independent station to check for purported violations of Russia’s laws on extremism, anti-terrorism, labor, and licensing, according to an official notice the…

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Getting Away With Murder

CPJ’s 2015 Global Impunity Index spotlights countries where journalists are slain and the killers go free Published October 8, 2015 Elisabeth Witchel/CPJ Impunity Campaign Consultant The ambush of a convoy in South Sudan and the hacking deaths of bloggers in Bangladesh this year propelled the two nations onto CPJ’s Global Impunity Index, which spotlights countries…

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