Europe & Central Asia

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, its media has experienced an unprecedented crackdown. Hundreds of journalists have been forced into exile, where they continue to face transnational legal persecution, and their families have been harassed back home. Meanwhile, reporting from inside Russia has become increasingly difficult, with journalists and media outlets often silenced…

Berlin, February 11, 2025—After a year that saw Russia increase its pressure on independent media and journalists, authorities are seeking to tighten the squeeze on dissenting voices from March 1 by blocking those designated as “foreign agents’” from access to their earnings. The 2025 law requires those listed by the justice ministry as “persons under…

Berlin, February 11, 2025—Croatian authorities must swiftly investigate the recent threat to the staff of weekly newspaper Novosti, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday, after the country’s most prominent Serbian minority newspaper received a letter containing a suspicious powder and referencing a deadly nerve agent. “Croatian authorities must spare no effort in bringing all…

New York, February 10, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a February 6 Azerbaijani court decision remanding Toplum TV presenter Shahnaz Baylargizi to 3.5 months in pretrial detention over foreign funding allegations and calls for her immediate release. “Veteran journalist Shahnaz Baylargizi’s arrest underscores how Azerbaijani authorities are exploiting allegations of Western funding to silence leading independent voices,”…

Berlin, February 10, 2025 — Italian authorities should thoroughly investigate the targeting of the editor-in-chief of the news site Fanpage.it Francesco Cancellato’s cell phone with spyware via the WhatsApp messaging app and punish the perpetrators, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. “The attack on investigative journalist Francesco Cancellato with Paragon spyware is a serious…

New York, February 7, 2025 – In Georgia, resurgent protests demanding new elections have been met with a violent police crackdown in which authorities forcefully obstructed or assaulted more than a dozen journalists covering the demonstrations. Protests against the Georgian Dream party’s disputed October election victory and the November suspension of European Union accession talks…

New York, February 7, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Russia’s latest attack on Ukraine, which injured camera operator Pavlo Borysko, with TSN, a daily news program with the Ukrainian privately owned broadcaster 1+1, and calls on Russian and Ukrainian authorities to ensure the safety of journalists covering the war. “Three years since the beginning of Russia’s…

Berlin, February 6, 2025—Swedish authorities should quickly investigate the recent vandalistic attack on Sveriges Television’s (SVT) building in Stockholm and ensure the broadcaster’s journalists’ safety, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday.  “CPJ is concerned by the repeated attacks on SVT, Sweden’s public broadcaster,” said Attila Mong, CPJ’s Europe representative. “This fourth attack of vandalism…

New York, February 5, 2025 – The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the arrest of Shamshad Agha, chief editor of the independent news site Arqument.az, and calls on Azerbaijani authorities to release him and other jailed journalists. “Shamshad Agha’s arrest underscores a grim intent by Azerbaijani authorities to silence and further restrict the country’s small…

New York, February 4, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the two-month pretrial detention of Temirlan Yensebek, founder of the Instagram-based satirical outlet Qaznews24, on charges of inciting ethnic hatred, for which he could face seven years in jail.  “The incitement charges against Temirlan Yensebek raise concerns that he’s being targeted for his biting political…