Europe & Central Asia
2017
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of October 22, 2017
Two journalists held on terror charges An Istanbul court yesterday ordered two journalists from the socialist Etkin News Agency (ETHA) to be jailed pending trial, alongside 10 other people including politicians and lawyers, their employer reported today.
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of October 15, 2017
Police conduct house raids, arrest at least 7 journalists Turkish police detained at least seven journalists from leftist and pro-Kurdish media outlets during house raids that took place yesterday in Istanbul and today in Ankara, according to the independent news site Bianet.
Two-fold risk for Serbia’s women journalists as attackers target their work and gender
“In the past five years I was publically called many things. I was an old hag, a sterile, cheap Soros’ prostitute, a hooker, not f***ed enough, in need of a good prick, and destroyer of the Serbian Orthodox Church,” said Tatjana Vojtehovski, a Serbian television journalist with a large presence on social media. “My response…
Press at risk as EU-based companies export surveillance software to hostile regimes
In August, Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen told the daily newspaper Information that the government had authorized sales of online surveillance software to several Middle Eastern countries. While acknowledging the potential for human rights violations that could result from the use of these tools, the minister said that Denmark has an interest in the fight…
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of October 8, 2017
Two media workers released from state custody, trial ongoing A Turkish court yesterday released Şirin Çoban and İlker İlkan, two employees of the shuttered Kurdish-language daily Azadiya Welat, from state custody during their first trial hearing, according to the online newspaper Gazete Karınca. The trial is ongoing.
Russia and former Soviet states emboldened by declining press freedom in US, Europe
Receding media freedom in established European democracies and in the United States has emboldened authoritarian governments in Russia and other former Soviet countries to crack down on independent voices at home. I am sharing this information today with the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe-known as the Helsinki Commission-and the House Freedom of…
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of October 1, 2017
Turkish court banned coverage of alleged police beating incident A local Turkish court yesterday moved to ban news coverage of a story about two policemen allegedly beating a woman on the street in the southern coastal city of Alanya, the online newspaper Diken reported.
