Europe & Central Asia

Kiev, March 8, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Ukrainian authorities to swiftly investigate an assault on reporter Katerina Kaplyuk and cameraman Boris Trotsenko, who work for the investigative news show “Schemes,” a project of U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Ukrainian Service, and to ensure their attackers are held accountable.

On International Women’s Day, CPJ has highlighted the cases of female journalists jailed around the world in retaliation for their work. At least 33 of the 251 journalists in jail at the time of CPJ’s prison census are women. At least one of those–Turkish reporter and artist Zehra Dogan–was released in February after serving a…

New York, March 7, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalist today called on Russia to drop proposed legislation advanced in the country’s parliament that would allow courts to jail and fine people who use the internet to spread “fake news” or disrespect government officials and state symbols, including President Vladimir Putin. The bills would also allow…

Journalist and former CHP politician sentenced An Istanbul court on March 1 convicted Eren Erdem, the former chief editor for the defunct daily Karşı and a former parliamentary deputy in the main opposition party CHP, of “knowingly and willingly helping a [terrorist] organization without being involved in the organization’s hierarchical structure,” and sentenced him to…

Black-and-white portraits of Ján Kuciak and Martina Kušnírová, set amid unlit red candles, were the first things to greet me when I entered the building housing Aktuality, the news website where Kuciak, an investigative reporter, worked until his murder on February 21, 2018. One flight up is the newsroom where Kuciak’s colleagues continue his work.

RSF Turkey representative in court Erol Önderoğlu, the Turkey representative for the press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF), was in court in Istanbul on February 25 alongside Şebnem Korur Fincancı, a columnist for the leftist daily Evrensel and president of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, and Ahmet Nesin, a writer and a columnist…

A conference on press freedom in Morocco held in Paris, France, was shut down on February 15, 2019, when the power was cut to the event after hecklers yelled at speakers and threw stink bombs, according to news reports, videos posted to social media, and witnesses who spoke with CPJ.

Kiev, February 25, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists today expressed concern for the safety of journalists working at Ukraine’s Schemes and Bihus.Info investigative journalism outlets after both reported being followed and surveilled last week, and called on authorities to swiftly investigate the matter.

Appeals court upholds Cumhuriyet verdict An Istanbul appeals court on February 19 upheld the terrorism-related convictions of staff from the daily Cumhuriyet who were earlier sentenced to five years or less in prison, according to reports. CPJ condemned the decision. The decision means that at least six defendants, including a cartoonist, journalists, a lawyer, an…

Bratislava, February 19, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists and the International Press Institute (IPI) called on Slovak authorities to expedite charges against all parties allegedly involved in the murder of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak. A delegation from the two groups today met with Ministry of Interior officials and representatives of the special prosecutor’s office tasked…