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Istanbul, April 2, 2025—In the weeks since the March 19 detention of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, a potential challenger to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the next presidential race, along with other members of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), civil unrest has erupted in western Turkey. The government, controlled by Erdoğan’s Justice and…

New York, April 2, 2025— Belarusian authorities should immediately release journalist Anatol Sanatsenka, who was sentenced to 15 days of administrative detention on March 31 on accusations of distributing “extremist” content, said the Committee to Protect Journalists on Wednesday. “Belarusian authorities continue to target members of the press in a reign of terror that has plagued the country…

April 1, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists joined six other press freedom groups in a joint statement condemning the Nicaraguan government’s failure to cooperate with the Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process—a critical mechanism for assessing the human rights records of member states that has resulted in 279 recommendations for Nicaragua. Nicaragua’s final UPR report was…

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined PEN America and other partner organizations in a joint letter Tuesday urging Congress to take immediate action to protect journalists affiliated with the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) outlets — such as Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty — from the risk of…

Istanbul, March 31, 2025—Turkish authorities should immediately release Swedish journalist Kaj Joakim Medin, who was arrested March 27 in Istanbul on accusations of “being a member of a terrorist organization” and “insulting” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Committee to Protest Journalists said Monday. “Turkey was a haven for foreign journalists covering the region just a…

Editor’s note: On April 1, President Mikheil Kavelashvili signed the broadcast law amendments into law. New York, March 31, 2025 —The Committee to Protect Journalists urges Georgian authorities to discard two bills that could severely restrict the operations of broadcasters, after a parliamentary committee on March 31 paved the way for their final adoption, which is expected…

Abuja, March 31, 2025–Sierra Leonean President Julius Maada Bio should not sign the country’s counterterrorism bill into law and must ensure any new legislation will not be used to target the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Monday. “President Julius Maada Bio should not assent to Sierra Leone’s terror bill without ensuring that sections hostile…

New York, March 28, 2025—Ukrainian authorities should swiftly investigate a recent attack in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih on a journalist apparently targeted because of his outlet’s online investigation that found a funeral company mishandled corpses, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. “CPJ condemns the assault on a journalist in Kryvyi Rih,…

New York, March 28, 2025—A court in Russia’s southern Altai Krai on Thursday convicted Maria Ponomarenko, a correspondent for independent news site RusNews, of using violence against prison staff and sentenced her to an additional 22 months in prison. Ponomarenko is already serving a six-year prison sentence after being convicted in February 2023 on charges…

March 28, 2025 – A group of 10 international organizations submitted an amicus curiae brief to Guatemala’s Supreme Court in the case of journalist José Rubén Zamora Marroquín. The brief, filed on March 26, argues that Zamora’s return to preventive detention constitutes a violation of his fundamental rights under Guatemalan and international law, and urges…