Europe & Central Asia

Russia’s months-long jailing of journalists Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva —released on August 1 as part of a prisoner exchange — was one of the most blatant illustrations of Russia’s muzzling of the press in the wake of its February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The war has precipitated what a representative of the now-shuttered Russian Journalists’ and Media Workers’…

Berlin, August 7, 2024 — Russia’s plans to hamper the operations of YouTube – the country’s most popular social media channel and a major platform for exiled Russian media outlets  – is yet another form of censoring the news available to Russian audiences, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Wednesday.   “This intentional throttling of YouTube is a blatant attempt to…

Berlin, August 6, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists denounces Tuesday’s sentencing of exiled journalist Dmitry Kolezev to 7 ½ years in prison in absentia on charges of spreading “fake” news about the Russian army and urges authorities to stop harassing Russian journalists abroad. “The lengthy prison sentence meted out to Dmitry Kolezev in absentia underscores…

New York, August 6, 2024—Belarusian authorities convicted freelance reporter Ales Sabaleuski and freelance camera operator Yauhen Hlushkou, on extremism charges and sentenced them to four and three years in prison, respectively, on Wednesday, July 31. “The court’s sentencing of journalists Ales Sabaleuski and Yauhen Hlushkou to three and four years in prison is yet another…

Berlin, August 1, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Greek authorities to deliver justice for the 2021 murder of prominent crime reporter Giorgos Karaivaz, following Wednesday’s acquittal of two suspected hitmen due to a lack of evidence. “We are deeply disappointed that the judicial process has ended with an acquittal and that those who…

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 13 other press freedom and human rights organizations on Thursday in criticizing the European Commission’s 2024 Rule of Law Report on Greece for downplaying the deteriorating state of the rule of law in Greece at a time when media freedom faces dire threats. The EU’s annual assessment ignores the…

New York, August 1, 2024–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) editor Alsu Kurmasheva as part of a prisoner exchange, and calls on Russia to release other jailed journalists and stop harassing those in exile. “Evan and Alsu have been apart from their families for far…

When exiled Russian news website Meduza was hit with a flood of internet traffic in mid-April, it set off alarm bells among the staff as the deluge blocked publishing for more than four hours and briefly rendered the site inaccessible for some readers. It was the largest distributed denial of service attack (DDoS) attack in…

Berlin, July 25, 2024—Russian authorities have targeted more than a dozen exiled journalists over the last month as part of their escalating campaign of transnational repression of independent voices. Authorities sought the arrest of one exiled journalist and added two to their wanted list of suspects sought on criminal charges. More than 95,000 people are…

New York, July 23, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned Tuesday’s sentencing of exiled journalist and writer Mikhail Zygar to 8 ½ years in jail in absentia, on charges of spreading “fake” information about the Russian military in Ukraine, and called on Russian authorities to stop harassing journalists in exile. “The punitive sentence handed down…