Russian legislature adopts bill extending censorship on war reporting
Paris, March 2, 2023 – In response to multiple news reports that the lower house of the Russian parliament adopted amendments on Thursday, March 2, to expand existing penalties for spreading “fake” information about or discrediting participants on Russia’s side of the war in Ukraine, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement of…
CPJ, press freedom groups express support for Guardian journalist Carole Cadwalladr following libel verdict
The Committee to Protect Journalists and 12 other international press freedom organizations reiterated their support on Wednesday for journalist Carole Cadwalladr after the U.K. Court of Appeal ruled in a libel lawsuit against her on February 28. Cadwalladr reports for the Guardian newspaper and its Sunday sister paper, the Observer. Millionaire businessman and political donor…
Georgia draft laws seek to brand media outlets as foreign agents
Stockholm, March 1, 2023 – Georgian legislators should reject attempts to designate media outlets as foreign agents, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On February 20, the Georgian Parliament approved for further discussion a draft bill that would require media outlets and nongovernmental organizations that receive more than 20% of their funding from foreign…
Three journalists face criminal investigation in Bosnia and Herzegovina leak probe
Berlin, March 1, 2023 – Bosnia and Herzegovina authorities should immediately drop an investigation into three journalists with the print daily EuroBlic and privately owned news website SrpskaInfo, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On February 24, police in the northwestern city of Banja Luka questioned crime reporter Nikola Morača on suspicion of violating…
Tunisian police file complaint against journalist Mohamed Mehdi Jlassi over July protests
New York, February 24, 2023 — In response to news reports that Tunisian journalist Mohamed Mehdi Jlassi, president of the National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists, faces prosecution for allegedly inciting disobedience and assaulting police during a July 2022 protest in the capital Tunis, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement on Friday: “Tunisian…
Turkey indicts 10 journalists on terrorism charges
Istanbul, February 21, 2023 – Turkish authorities must stop charging members of the press with terrorism and release all jailed journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On February 8, the Ankara chief prosecutor’s office indicted 10 Kurdish journalists, nine of whom have been under pretrial arrest since late October, on the charge of…
Bangladesh shutters newspaper run by political opposition party
New York, February 21, 2023–Dainik Dinkal, the newspaper of Bangladesh’s main opposition party, was forced to close on Monday after its printing license was canceled in what the outlet’s managing editor, Shamsur Rahman Shimul Biswas, said were invalid grounds. Dainik Dinkal suspended operations on February 20 after the Bangladesh Press Council, a quasi-judicial, government-funded body…
Newly released from Turkish prison, Kurdish journalist Nedim Türfent reflects on sham prosecution
Nedim Türfent knows why he spent six and a half years of his life behind bars as a convicted terrorist in Turkey. The court that sentenced him explained the verdict in official documents: Because he writes “exaggerated and disturbing news stories” about the state. After his prison term ended in November 2022, “It was…
Belarus tries 3 NEXTA journalists on myriad of criminal charges
Paris, February 16, 2023 – In response to multiple news reports that the trial of Belarusian journalists Raman Pratasevich, Stsypan Putsila, and Yan Rudzik started on Thursday, with Pratasevich facing trial in person and the others being tried in absentia from exile, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement calling for the many…