Bulgaria’s press navigate harassment, threats in pursuit of stories
In October 2018, Viktoria Marinova, a host for TVN, was raped and murdered near the station’s studios. When CPJ’s Europe correspondent, Attila Mong, spoke with her colleagues and other journalists during a trip to Bulgaria last month, they said that while they don’t believe the attack is linked to Marinova’s work, it has highlighted the…
Belarus: Use Europe Games to Spur Media Freedom
Press Freedom Day Throws Spotlight on Need to Assure Safe Reporting Brussels, May 3, 2019–The European Olympic Committees (EOC) should establish a complaints hotline for journalists during the 2019 European Games, Human Rights Watch and the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Belarus will host the games, a multi-sport event for more than 4,000 athletes,…
Journalists threatened by government staffers in North Macedonia town
On April 17, 2019, a reporter and a camera operator working for TV21, a private cable station in North Macedonia, were threatened by local government staffers in Aračinovo, a town east of the capital, Skopje, according to a report from TV21 and a statement by the Association of Journalists of North Macedonia, a local press…
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of April 28, 2019
Cumhuriyet appeal rejected by local court An Istanbul court on April 30 rejected a stay of execution request from lawyers representing eight staff from the daily Cumhuriyet, the news website T24 reported. The lawyers asked authorities to not act on a local appeals court ruling that upheld their sentencing until the Supreme Court had ruled…
Austrian news anchor Armin Wolf facing intimidation by far-right Freedom Party
Armin Wolf, a news anchor at Austrian public service broadcaster Österreicher Rundfunk (ORF), was threatened and was the subject of attempts at intimidation by several politicians from the far-right Freedom Party of Austria, a member of the country’s governing coalition, following his interview with Freedom Party General Secretary Harald Vilimsky, which aired on April 23,…
Russian police beat at least 1 journalist, arrest 2 during May Day protests in St. Petersburg
Washington, D.C., May 1, 2019 — Russian authorities should allow journalists to freely cover protests and must investigate the alleged assault by police of Timur Hadjibekov and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Letter calls on Putin to not approve Russia’s ‘sovereign internet’ bill
CPJ and a coalition of international human rights and press freedom organizations called on President Vladimir Putin to not approve legislative amendments known as the “bill on a sovereign internet” that could lead to further limitations on internet and media freedom in Russia.
Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of April 21, 2019
Cumhuriyet staff hand themselves over to prison authorities Six former employees from the daily Cumhuriyet handed themselves into authorities today, after the legal paperwork for their failed appeal was entered into Turkey’s judicial system and warrants were issued for their arrest, according to their lawyer and reports.
Turkey can jail Cumhuriyet staff ‘at any minute,’ lawyers say
Istanbul, April 22, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Turkish authorities to not take eight former employees from the daily Cumhuriyet into custody until the Supreme Court has heard their colleagues’ appeal. At a press conference in Istanbul today, lawyers representing the employees said they would ask authorities to delay acting on a local…