Europe & Central Asia

  
People look at the Bosphorus as they travel in a ferry from the Asian to the European side of Istanbul on March 1, 2018. The Turkish government continues its crackdown on the media. (AFP/ Bulent Kilic)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of February 26, 2018

Journalists sentenced An Istanbul court on February 28 sentenced Ahmet Altan, the former chief editor for the shuttered daily Taraf, to five years and 11 months in prison for “insulting the [Turkish] president,” and “making propaganda for a [terrorist] organization,” the online newspaper Diken reported.

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People take souvenir photos along the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey in February 2018. Turkey continues to crackdown on the press; a Turkish court sentenced four journalists to life without parole on February 16, 2018, on charges relating to their journalistic activity. (Reuters/Osman Orsal)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of February 19, 2018

Journalists acquitted, released Turkish authorities on February 17 released from jail Deniz Yücel, Turkey correspondent for the German newspaper Die Welt, who had been imprisoned for a year pending investigation, according to Reuters. A Turkish court on the same day also indicted Yücel on charges of “propagandizing for a [terrorist] organization” and “provoking the people…

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The flag-wrapped coffin of a Turkish soldier who was killed during the operation against Syria's Afrin region, is carried by guard of honor members during his funeral ceremony in Istanbul, Turkey in February 2018. Yusuf Ozan, a morning news host for the Islamist Akit TV channel, said journalists with the daily Cumhuriyet should be

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of February 12, 2018

Journalist released, said he was sexually abused in custody Turkish authorities on February 14 released from prison photojournalist Çağdaş Erdoğan after an Istanbul court decided he should be tried without arrest, the online newspaper Artı Gerçek reported.

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Rights groups call for an investigation into claims jailed journalists Hayot Nasriddinov, left, and Bobomurod Abdullaev, were tortured and mistreated in Uzbekistan. (AsiaTerra/Fergananews)

CPJ joins call for Uzbekistan to investigate claims jailed journalists were tortured

The Committee to Protect Journalists today joined a coalition of 11 other international press freedom and human rights advocacy groups, in calling on Uzbek authorities to conduct an investigation into allegations of torture and ill-treatment of jailed journalists Bobomurod Abdullaev and Hayot Nasriddinov. The coalition, led by Human Rights Watch, called for the journalists to…

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People reflected on glass with Turkish a flag at a bus station in Istanbul in July 2016. A proposed bill presented to Turkey's parliament on February 2 would force online broadcasters, including YouTube and Netflix Turkey, to be licensed and regulated by the federal TV and radio watchdog group RTÜK, according to local reports. (AP/Petros Karadjias)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of February 5, 2018

Journalists detained Istanbul police on February 1 detained Ali Sönmez Kayar, a reporter for the socialist Etkin News Agency (ETHA), according to his employer’s tweet. A local court ordered Kayar to be held in custody pending investigation, on February 6, ETHA reported without providing further details.

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A Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army fighter stands guard on top of a building in Sawran village, Syria on February 1, 2018. Turkish authorities have arrested at least 300 people, including journalists, who have made critical comments about Turkey's incursion into Syria. (Reuters/Osman Orsal

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of January 29

Journalists arrested Police on the night of January 23 detained İshak Karakaş, chief editor and columnist for the online newspapers Halkın Nabzı and Artı Gerçek, at his Istanbul home as part of a sweeping crackdown on people who have criticized Turkey’s military intervention in Syria, the daily Evrensel reported.

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Turkish police special forces stand guard in Azaz, Syria on January 24, 2018. Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım asked journalists to frame Turkey's military incursions into northern Syria as an operation to protect the civilian population from terrorists, according to the online newspaper Odaty. (Reuters/Osman Orsal)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of January 22, 2018

Journalists jailed Istanbul authorities on January 18 ordered Veli Haydar Güleç, the former board member for the shuttered TV10, and Veli Büyükşahin, a former TV10 chairperson and current columnist for the online newspaper Artı Gerçek, to be held in pre-trial detention, Artı Gerçek reported.

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A mural at the Facebook office in Berlin. A new law in Germany requires Facebook and other large social media platforms to quickly delete posts reported as inappropriate. (Reuters/Stefanie Loos)

As German hate speech law sinks Titanic’s Twitter post, critics warn new powers go too far

The satirical magazine Titanic appears to have been an unlikely victim of Germany’s recently adopted online anti-hate speech law, NetzDG. “We were truly surprised,” the magazine’s editor-in-chief Tim Wolff told CPJ, as he explained how Twitter blocked the Titanic account for 48 hours after the magazine republished a post Twitter had deleted, in which Titanic…

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Police and forensic experts inspect the wreckage of a car bomb that killed journalist and blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia close to her home in Bidnija, Malta. (STR/AFP)

CPJ joins call for an effective investigation into murder of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia

The Committee to Protect Journalists today joined a group of partner organizations to express concern over the lack of progress into the murder investigation of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. Along with the journalist’s family, the group of organizations calls on the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to appoint a special rapporteur to…

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A view of Istanbul through the window of a passenger aircraft on December 29, 2017. (Reuters/Marko Djurica)

Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of January 15

Journalists in custody Police the southeastern city of Diyarbakır on January 12 detained Selman Keleş, a former reporter for the shuttered, pro-Kurdish Dihaber News Agency, and released him the next day on order of a local court, online newspaper Gazete Karınca reported.

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