CPJ calls on Ukraine to exempt journalists from compulsory military service
New York, March 7, 2022 – The Committee to Protect Journalists on Monday called on Ukrainian authorities to exempt journalists from the general mobilization of all Ukrainian men aged between 18 and 60. “Ukrainian authorities must allow the country’s journalists to continue covering the war and defending the truth, and exempt them from compulsory military…
Turkish court sentences 4 former Taraf journalists to prison for exposing state secrets
Istanbul, March 7, 2022 – Turkish authorities should drop all charges against former staff members of the shuttered liberal daily Taraf and should free journalist Mehmet Baransu immediately, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On Friday, March 4, the 13th Istanbul Court of Serious Crimes convicted four former Taraf employees on national security charges,…
‘There will be more repression’: Exiled Russian journalist Irina Borogan on Moscow’s censorship of Ukraine invasion
As the Russian military continues its invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin is also fighting a different kind of battle at home in its attempts to quash independent news coverage and dissenting narratives about the attack it launched on February 24. Across Russia, journalists have been detained and their outlets investigated, blocked, and restricted from using social media. On…
Russia’s silencing of Ekho Moskvy forces a sad end on a brave broadcaster
Russia’s silencing of Ekho Moskvy over its Ukraine war coverage marks an end to an iconic radio station with a brave history dating back to the late Soviet era. Even in the heady final years of glasnost (“openness”), hiding truth from the Soviet public was pretty easy for the country’s Communist leaders. When hardline Communists…
‘Not just statistics’: Ukrainska Pravda editor Sevgil Musaieva on the risks and challenges of covering Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Twice a day, Sevgil Musaieva, chief editor at Kyiv-based independent news site Ukrainska Pravda (Ukrainian Truth), checks in with her staff, now scattered around the country for security reasons as they report amid Russian missile and rocket attacks. Musaieva knows the high stakes involved in reporting the truth. Two of the outlet’s journalists were killed in retaliation for…
Reporting on, and living through, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Local and international journalists in Ukraine are risking their lives to report the news as Russia’s invasion continues. Russian forces have shelled a TV broadcast tower in Kyiv, in an attack that killed five people including journalist Yevhenii Sakun. Journalists are considered civilians, and the bombing may constitute a violation of international humanitarian law. Separately,…
Bangladeshi journalist Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury faces Digital Security Act proceedings
On May 6, 2021, Shahana Rashid Sanu, a poet and literary writer, filed a complaint against Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, editor of the tabloid Weekly Blitz, at the Dhaka Cyber Tribunal, pointing to eight articles published on its website, which accused Sanu and her sons of engaging in criminal and anti-government activities, according to a…
The view from Ukraine, through the eyes of local journalists
Updated March 8, 2022 More than two million Ukrainians have fled as Russia continues missile and artillery attacks on Ukraine’s cities. At least one Ukrainian journalist has been killed in the fighting, as the Ukrainian media reports amid rockets, misinformation, and the threat of online attacks. CPJ rounded up some of the most poignant commentary…
As Russia invades Ukraine, risks mount for reporters covering conflict, CPJ calls for journalists’ protection
As Russian forces invade Ukraine, Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, explains in a Q&A the possible risks for journalists on the ground, including being killed, injured, or taken hostage, and the potential challenges of reporting amid misinformation and disinformation. If a new pro-Kremlin regime is installed in Ukraine, it “would likely…
Prominent blogger Seyed Hossein Ronaghi Maleki arrested in Iran after critical tweets
Washington, D.C., February 24, 2022 — Iranian authorities should immediately release blogger Seyed Hossein Ronaghi Maleki and drop any charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On Wednesday, February 23, the Tehran home of Ronaghi Maleki, a freelance blogger and freedom of expression activist who posts reporting critical of the government on…