CPJ welcomes final sentencing over Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack
Berlin, October 24, 2022 – A court in Paris on Thursday sentenced Ali Riza Polat to life imprisonment for complicity in a terrorist attack and Amar Ramdani to 13 years for conspiring with the attackers during the 2015 attack on the French satirical weekly magazine Charlie Hebdo. “CPJ welcomes the sentencing of Ali Riza Polat…
Turkish President Erdoğan sues Greek and French outlets for alleged insults
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has filed lawsuits in Turkish courts against employees of the conservative Greek daily Dimokratia and the satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo under Article 299 of the Turkish Penal Law, which criminalizes “insulting the president.” None of the defendants have appeared in Turkish courts, according to news reports. Erdoğan is suing…
As police investigate fresh attack amid Charlie Hebdo trial, French media unify around free expression
The knifings of two employees of a French TV production company outside the former Charlie Hebdo office on Friday, which occurred as a high-profile trial on the 2015 attacks on the newspaper was underway, was a stark reminder that threats to journalists have not disappeared in the five years since the deadly assault. The megatrial had started on September…
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of April 24
Erdoğan says response to “sleaze” of EU’s press-freedom criticism beneath his dignity “Providing an answer to this worthlessness and sleaze would not be very appropriate for the president of Turkey,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told reporters in Croatia yesterday, responding to EU Parliament President Martin Shulz’s criticisms of Turkey’s crackdown on the press, the…
One year after Charlie Hebdo, will press freedom become victim of war on terror?
Who would have thought that France would top the list of most deadly countries for the press in 2015, second only to Syria? The massacre of eight cartoonists and journalists by Islamic militants at the Paris office of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo last January was one of the deadliest attacks against the press since…
From Charlie Hebdo in Paris to bloggers in Bangladesh, extremists target press
Thursday marks one year since two gunmen burst into the Paris offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and opened fire. Over the following year, CPJ documented the deaths of 28 journalists who were killed for their work by Islamic militant groups such as Islamic State and Al-Qaeda. This StoryMap charts the deadly attacks that took…
French surveillance law passes National Assembly, but it’s not the last word
Until the last moment the opponents of a very controversial French intelligence bill tried to be heard. On Monday May 4 on the eve of the vote, activists kept calling deputies to convince them to reject the bill. They had no chance however, since the Socialist government could count on a solid majority from both…
Journalists grapple with increasing power of European extremists
Athens, May 6, 2012. Journalists attending Golden Dawn’s triumphal election night news conference are ordered to stand up when the group’s leader, Nikos Michaloliakos, enters the room. “Rise up! Rise up! Show your respect!” barks the master of ceremonies, an agitated black-clad, bald-headed toughie. The journalists who refuse the injunction are asked to leave the…
French-language global TV network TV5Monde hacked
New York, April 9, 2015–The French-language global TV network TV5Monde was disrupted for three hours on Wednesday night by hackers claiming to belong to the militant group Islamic State, according to news reports. The hackers seized control of 11 channels as well as the network’s website and social media accounts, the reports said. TV5Monde restored…