Georgia / Europe & Central Asia

  

Car used by Georgian broadcaster Formula TV vandalized

New York, April 13, 2021 – Georgian authorities should swiftly and thoroughly investigate the vandalization of a car used by independent Georgian broadcaster Formula TV and ensure that journalists in the country can work safely and freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. In the early hours of April 9, unknown perpetrators smashed all…

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Georgian journalist Vakhtang Sanaia receives concussion from assault by 3 attackers

New York, March 3, 2021 – Georgian authorities should thoroughly investigate the attack on journalist Vakhtang Sanaia, and ensure that the perpetrators are held to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. In the early hours of February 25 in Tbilisi, the capital, three unidentified men attacked Vakhtang Sanaia, an anchor at the local…

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At least 5 journalists attacked, beaten in southern Georgia in run-up to parliamentary elections

New York, October 5, 2020 — Georgian authorities should conduct a thorough investigation of assaults on five journalists who were covering a political clash ahead of the October 31 parliamentary elections, find the perpetrators, and ensure that journalists can work safely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.  On the evening of September 29, in…

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Leyla Mustafayeva holds her husband's passport at a May 29 rally in Tbilisi to protest the detention of Afgan Mukhtarli, who was abducted and forcibly taken to Azerbaijan. (AP/Shakh Aivazov)

CPJ joins call for Georgia to investigate case of exiled journalist forcibly taken back to Azerbaijan

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 22 international rights organizations in calling on Georgia’s Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili to ensure that the case of Afgan Mukhtarli, an Azerbaijani journalist living in exile in Tbilisi who is now in custody in the country’s capital, Baku, is fully investigated. CPJ documented last month how Mukhtarli was abducted…

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A general view of the old city in Tbilisi, Georgia. Freelance journalist Afgan Mukhtarli, who was living in exile in the country, is detained in Azerbaijan after being abducted in Georgia. (AFP/Vano Shlamov)

Exiled journalist abducted in Georgia to face prosecution in Azerbaijan

New York, May 30, 2017–Azerbaijani authorities should immediately release freelance journalist Afgan Mukhtarli and allow him to return to neighboring Georgia, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Mukhtarli, whose wife reported him missing from their home in Tbilisi, Georgia, last night, is being held at a detention center in Baku, Azerbaijan, regional and local…

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Embattled Kazakh weekly paralyzed by damages

New York, March 9, 2010—Kazakh authorities should immediately lift their ban on the distribution of the independent weekly Respublika-Delovoye Obozreniye, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Attacks on the Press 2009: Georgia

Top Developments • TV news politicized due to government manipulation. • Opposition-aligned broadcaster obstructed. Key Statistic 7: Percent of Internet penetration nationwide. While no journalists were killed or imprisoned in Georgia in 2009, press freedom in this small South Caucasus nation stagnated due to persistent state manipulation of news media, particularly television broadcasting. In a…

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CPJ makes headway in cases in Russia, Georgia

Amid ongoing attacks on journalists, CPJ advocacy in Europe and Central Asia has generated some positive results. Earlier this month, a CPJ delegation met with Russian and European officials, who promised to revisit 17 journalist murders in Russia since 2000. The declared commitment to reverse Russia’s grim record of impunity came after we presented our…

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Russian journalist faces forgery charges in Georgia

New York, September 18, 2009—The Committee to Protect Journalists urges Georgian authorities to drop criminal charges against the Tbilisi bureau chief for the Russian news agency RIA Novosti and allow him to work without fear of harassment. According to RIA Novosti, Besik Pipia is facing up to three years in prison if convicted on a…

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Conquering Television to Control the Narrative

Mikhail Saakashvili and Vladimir Putin used strikingly similar tactics to create uncritical television media. The one-sided, one-dimensional coverage of the conflict in South Ossetia was the product of their efforts By Nina Ognianova

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