Europe & Central Asia

  

Turkey jails 7 journalists and media workers, places 1 under house arrest

Istanbul, December 23, 2024 – The Committee to Protect Journalists urges Turkish authorities to release journalists who were jailed in Istanbul on Sunday and allow the media to report freely. On Saturday, Turkish authorities detained several dozen people, including journalists, at a protest against the December 20 killing of Kurdish journalists Jihan Belkin and Nazim Dashdan, who…

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CPJ urges Ukraine president to halt media intimidation, allow journalists to work freely

The Committee to Protect Journalists, in a letter to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on December 19, 2024, asked him to ensure that journalists and media outlets can work freely in Ukraine and that no one responsible for intimidating journalists goes unpunished, following a year marked by several incidents of pressure, intimidation, and surveillance, as well…

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The new charges against Nikalayevich are believed to be related to his coverage of the 2020 Minsk protests calling for President Aleksandr Lukashenko (pictured here in February 2024) to resign. (Photo: Belarusian Presidential Press Service via AP)

Belarusian court sentences journalist Yauhen Nikalayevich to 1½ years 

New York, December 19, 2024—A Belarusian court convicted journalist Yauhen Nikalayevich of “organizing or participating in gross violations of public order” and sentenced him to 1½ years imprisonment on October 3 in the southwestern city of Pinsk. The sentence length was only made public on December 19 after a court upheld his conviction earlier this…

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Temirov Live’s director Makhabat Tajibek kyzy (right) and presenter Azamat Ishenbekov.

Kyrgyzstan court upholds convictions of 4 anti-corruption journalists

New York, December 18, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a Kyrgyzstan court’s decision upholding convictions against four journalists from anti-corruption investigative outlet Temirov Live, two of whom were sentenced to lengthy prison terms. On Wednesday, the Bishkek City Court upheld an October 10 first instance court decision sentencing Makhabat Tajibek kyzy to six years in prison, Azamat Ishenbekov to five years…

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Abzas Media's Mahammad Kekalov, (left) Sevinj Vagifgizi, Elnara Gasimova, Ulvi Hasanli, Hafiz Babali, and Nargiz Absalamova.

7 Azerbaijani journalists with anti-corruption outlet, RFE/RL go on trial 

New York, December 17, 2024 – The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Azerbaijani authorities to drop charges against six members of the anti-corruption investigative outlet Abzas Media and freelance journalist Farid Mehralizada, with U.S. Congress-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s (RFE/RL) Azerbaijani service, as a trial began Tuesday in the Serious Crimes Court of the capital, Baku. “The…

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Belarusian journalist Ihar Karnei sentenced to additional 8 months in prison

New York, December 13, 2024—A Belarusian court on Friday convicted freelance reporter Ihar Karnei of “malicious disobedience to the requirements of the prison administration” and sentenced him to an additional eight months in prison. Karnei is already serving a three-year prison sentence after being convicted in March 2024 on charges of participating in an extremist…

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Journalist Dzmitry Luksha was among 30 prisoners pardoned on August 16 by President Aleksandr Lukashenko, pictured here in January 27 near the village of Zaitsevo, Leningrad region. (Photo: Olga Maltseva/Pool via Reuters)

Belarusian court sentences journalist Volha Radzivonava to 4 years in jail 

New York, December 12, 2024—A Belarusian court in Minsk, the capital, convicted freelance reporter Volha Radzivonava of discrediting Belarus, “incitement to racial, national, religious, or other social hostility or discord,” and defaming and insulting the president of Belarus, sentencing her to four years in jail on Tuesday. “Journalist Volha Radzivonava’s four-year prison sentence is yet another example of…

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Turkey parliament

CPJ, partners call on European Commission to act on Turkey’s foreign influence agent bill

The Committee to Protect Journalists on Tuesday joined 55 partner organizations in a joint letter to Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, to ask her to act on Turkey’s temporarily shelved foreign “influence agent bill,” which introduces a vaguely defined new offense called “committing a crime against the security or political interests…

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Pirveli TV reporter Maka Chikhladze is thrown to the ground by a masked man in an assault on her TV crew during a live broadcast on December 7. (Screenshot: YouTube/TV Pirveli)

Masked men assault Georgian news crew covering pro-EU protests

New York, December 9, 2024 – The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Georgian authorities to conduct a full investigation after more than a dozen masked individuals assaulted a camera crew with pro-opposition broadcaster TV Pirveli during a live December 7 broadcast covering the ongoing pro-EU protests. “The masked attack on TV Pirveli reporter Maka…

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Heydar Aliyev International Airport

Azerbaijani authorities detain at least 6 journalists on currency smuggling charges

New York, December 6, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the Azerbaijani authorities’ detention of at least six journalists and media workers in the capital Baku on Friday. At around noon, independent journalist Ramin Jabrayilzade (also known as Ramin Deko) was detained at the Baku airport upon arrival from neighboring Georgia, where he was covering…

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