Nazarbayev’s long rule leaves toxic legacy for Kazakhstan’s media
In 2011, I observed an astonishing spectacle in the Respublika newspaper offices in Almaty, Kazakhstan’s financial capital. Journalists were putting a modern-day twist on samizdat, a practice in the Soviet Union whereby dissidents laboriously copied illicit material to circumvent censorship.
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of March 24, 2019
Court dismisses trial of Paradise Papers reporter Pelin Ünker The trial of Pelin Ünker, a former reporter for the opposition daily Cumhuriyet, who faced charges related to her coverage of the Paradise Papers, was closed on March 28 after the judge ruled that the statute of limitations had expired, Medyascope reported. Ünker was accused of…
Zimbabwe must release filmmaker Zenzele Ndebele
New York, March 21–State security today arrested documentary filmmaker Zenzele Ndebele and charged him with “possession of offensive weapons at public gatherings,” under Section 43 of Zimbabwe’s Criminal Law Code, according to his lawyers and news reports. Security officers found a used tear gas canister in the journalist’s car when he arrived for a meeting…
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of March 17, 2019
Evrensel journalist acquitted over Paradise Papers charge An Istanbul court on March 19 acquitted Çağrı Sarı, the former responsible news editor for the leftist daily Evrensel, of insult and libel, her employer reported. The case focused on Evrensel’s coverage of the Paradise Papers in April, which alleged that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s son-in-law, Berat Albayrak,…
Russia advances legislation on ‘fake news’ and ‘disrespecting authorities’
New York, March 7, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalist today called on Russia to drop proposed legislation advanced in the country’s parliament that would allow courts to jail and fine people who use the internet to spread “fake news” or disrespect government officials and state symbols, including President Vladimir Putin. The bills would also allow…
Leak prosecutions under Trump chill national security beat
When President Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, William Barr, was asked at his confirmation hearing in January whether he would ever consider jailing a journalist, Barr paused for about eight seconds, then said he could “conceive of a situation” where a journalist is jailed as a “last resort.” Such equivocation was troubling to press…
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of February 24, 2019
RSF Turkey representative in court Erol Önderoğlu, the Turkey representative for the press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF), was in court in Istanbul on February 25 alongside Şebnem Korur Fincancı, a columnist for the leftist daily Evrensel and president of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, and Ahmet Nesin, a writer and a columnist…
Chhattisgarh’s plan for journalist safety law could be template for all India
Every day for two years, freelance journalist Santosh Yadav must walk the 50 or so yards from his home to the Darbha village police station in Bastar, Chhattisgarh, to sign a register. Just one missed day could immediately land him back in prison as he awaits trial on anti-terror charges. A police commander said that…
Editor of Russia’s Novye Kolyosa due in court after 15 months in custody
New York, February 13, 2019–Igor Rudnikov, editor-in-chief and owner of the independent Kaliningrad-based weekly Novye Kolyosa, is due to appear in court on extortion charges in St. Petersburg tomorrow, according to local news reports. Rudnikov, who faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted, has been in pre-trial detention since his arrest on November…
CPJ condemns arrest of Rappler’s Maria Ressa on cyber libel charge
Bangkok, February 13, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Philippine authorities to immediately release and drop all pending charges against Maria Ressa, executive editor and founder of the critical news website Rappler.