Belarusian journalist Ihar Karnei sentenced to additional 8 months in prison
New York, December 13, 2024—A Belarusian court on Friday convicted freelance reporter Ihar Karnei of “malicious disobedience to the requirements of the prison administration” and sentenced him to an additional eight months in prison. Karnei is already serving a three-year prison sentence after being convicted in March 2024 on charges of participating in an extremist…
Turkmen journalist Soltan Achilova forcibly hospitalized, prevented from traveling abroad
New York, November 25, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Turkmen authorities to end the ongoing oppression of veteran journalist Soltan Achilova, who was forcibly hospitalized and again prevented from traveling abroad to be honored as a Martin Ennals award finalist for her work documenting human rights violations in Turkmenistan. Several men in medical uniforms arrived…
Azerbaijan to try RFE/RL’s Farid Mehralizada, 14 other journalists as it prepares to host COP29
New York, November 6, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Azerbaijani authorities to immediately release Farid Mehralizada, an economist and journalist with U.S. Congress-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Azerbaijani service, known locally as Radio Azadliq, who has been detained on currency smuggling charges since May. On October 30, RFE/RL issued a statement calling for…
Apple removes US-funded news app from its Russia store
Berlin, October 24, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists urges Apple Inc. to reinstate two mobile apps belonging to the U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), which were removed from the Russian App Store at the request of state media regulator Roskomnadzor. “Apple’s actions restrict access to vital information and embolden authoritarian regimes seeking…
Bomb threats target institutions across Ukraine, blame 3 RFE/RL journalists
New York, October 18, 2024—More than 1,500 emails threatening a bomb attack were sent on October 14 to Ukrainian media outlets, government agencies, schools, business centers, and hotels, as well as dozens of Ukrainian embassies abroad. The sender blamed three journalists with U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) — Iryna Sysak, Valeria Yehoshyna,…
Kyrgyz authorities threaten to block 2 news outlets over report on president
New York, September 5, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Kyrgyz authorities to drop their threats against two independent online news outlets over reports about President Sadyr Japarov on the grounds they contain “false information.” In a September 4 letter, Kyrgyzstan’s culture and information ministry threatened to block access to Novye Litsa in 24 hours unless it deleted an…
US-Russian journalist Alsu Kurmasheva sentenced to 6½ years in secret trial
New York, July 22, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemns Friday’s sentencing of U.S.-Russian journalist Alsu Kurmasheva to 6½ years in prison on charges of spreading “fake” news about the Russian army. “Russia’s appalling assault on the media continues to escalate with the secret sentencing of Alsu Kurmasheva,” said CPJ Director of Advocacy and Communications Gypsy…
Russia extends detention of journalist Alsu Kurmasheva for 2 months
New York, May 31, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly denounced a Russian court’s Friday decision to extend the pretrial detention of U.S.-Russian journalist Alsu Kurmasheva until August 5 and called for her immediate release. “U.S.-Russian journalist Alsu Kurmasheva has spent more than seven months behind bars for no reason except her work, and she…
Pegasus spyware targeted exiled journalists from Russia, Latvia, Belarus, report finds
New York, May 30, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply troubled by a Thursday report by rights group Access Now and research organization Citizen Lab alleging that Pegasus spyware was used to surveil at least five journalists. The report, “Exiled, then spied on: Civil society in Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland targeted with Pegasus spyware,”…
Russia bans Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty as ‘undesirable’
New York, February 21, 2024—Russian authorities must stop harassing U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and cease obstructing the work of media outlets by labeling them as “undesirable,” the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On Tuesday, the Russian Ministry of Justice added RFE/RL to its register of “undesirable” organizations after the Russian general…