Azerbaijani journalist Sevinj Vagifgizi was ‘astonished’ to learn of Pegasus spyware on phone
Azerbaijani authorities have long had a firm grip on the media by imprisoning, harassing, and persecuting journalists both at home and abroad as well as blocking their websites. Now authorities are alleged to have used a new tool in their quest to muzzle independent reporting: spyware. Several Azerbaijani journalists have been named in the collaborative…
Doubts over investigation plague Pavel Sheremet trial as Ukraine journalists cite continued fear
The trial of three people charged for the 2016 killing of Pavel Sheremet is set to begin before year’s end, but friends and colleagues of the journalist wonder if the right people are facing justice. It has been more than four years and two months since a powerful car bomb killed journalist Pavel Sheremet in…
Serbian journalist denied entry to United Arab Emirates
On December 17, 2019, authorities at Abu Dhabi International Airport denied entry to Stevan Dojčinović, a Serbian national and editor of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, an investigative news outlet, according to Dojčinović, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app, and news reports.
Mission Journal: One year on, Ján Kuciak murder seen as turning point by Slovak press
Black-and-white portraits of Ján Kuciak and Martina Kušnírová, set amid unlit red candles, were the first things to greet me when I entered the building housing Aktuality, the news website where Kuciak, an investigative reporter, worked until his murder on February 21, 2018. One flight up is the newsroom where Kuciak’s colleagues continue his work.
Bulgarian TV host Viktoria Marinova raped and killed
Berlin, October 7, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the Bulgarian authorities to conduct a rigorous, thorough investigation into the killing of Viktoria Marinova, presenter and administrative director for local television channel TVN. Marinova, 30, was found dead yesterday in the Bulgarian town of Ruse, 300 km (185 miles) northeast of the capital Sofia;…
Bulgarian police detain two investigative reporters
Bulgarian police on September 13, 2018 detained Attila Biro, editor of the Romanian investigative site Rise Project, and Dimitar Stoyanov, from Bivol, a Bulgarian investigative news website, according to reports. The investigative journalists were detained near Radomir, a town about 35 km west of the capital, Sofia, Bivol reported.
Freedom of speech is guaranteed Aliyev says as Azerbaijan blocks news websites
President Ilham Aliyev claims that in Azerbaijan the internet is free and press freedom is guaranteed. But ahead of the April 11 snap elections, authorities have systematically silenced critical voices online through amending laws and blocking news websites, and hackers have attacked independent news outlets.
Two-fold risk for Serbia’s women journalists as attackers target their work and gender
“In the past five years I was publically called many things. I was an old hag, a sterile, cheap Soros’ prostitute, a hooker, not f***ed enough, in need of a good prick, and destroyer of the Serbian Orthodox Church,” said Tatjana Vojtehovski, a Serbian television journalist with a large presence on social media. “My response…
Press apathy over Macedonia wiretaps is symptom of failing democracy
Journalists and professional press organizations were given just one day’s warning on February 25 that Zoran Zaev, leader of Macedonia’s opposition party the Social Democrats, would be revealing what he described as a “bomb”–conversations of journalists allegedly wiretapped by the government–at his weekly press conference.