Europe & Central Asia

New York, February 3, 2025—Ukraine’s domestic security service (SBU) opened a criminal case on January 28 for “disclosure of state secrets” after independent news outlet Ukrainska Pravda published statements by Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, at a closed-door parliamentary meeting. According to an unnamed source cited in the report, Budanov said that…

Berlin, February 3, 2025—Hungarian authorities should immediately drop misdemeanor charges against two journalists who were arrested in a parking lot as they waited to question Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and detained for three hours, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On January 30, police removed the independent online outlet Telex’s reporter Dániel Simor and…

Istanbul, January 31, 2025—Turkish authorities should release Halk TV’s editor-in-chief Suat Toktaş, who was arrested this week after airing an interview with an expert court witness, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.  “Suat Toktaş’ arrest and the detaining of the other Halk TV personnel is a political move by Turkish authorities to silence critical…

New York, January 30, 2025—Ukrainian military officers detained three journalists for eight hours on accusations of “illegal border crossing” on January 6 in Sudzha, a Ukrainian-controlled town in Russia’s Kursk region. The journalists — Ukrainian freelance reporter Petro Chumakov, Kurt Pelda, correspondent with Swiss media group CH Media, and freelance camera operator Josef Zehnder — had army…

Istanbul, January 28, 2025—A court in the Kurdish-majority city of Diyarbakır on Tuesday found journalist Safiye Alagaş guilty of membership in a terrorist organization and sentenced her to six years and three months in prison. Alagaş, who spent a year behind bars in pretrial arrest, remains free pending appeal.  “The evidence brought against Kurdish journalist…

Istanbul, January 23, 2025–The 25th Istanbul Court of Serious Crimes came to a guilty verdict on Thursday in the retrial of five journalists arrested on terrorism charges in 2016, found guilty in 2018, and released on appeal in 2020. The court acquitted one other journalist. The defendants were charged for alleged ties to the recently…

New York, January 21, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a decision by Azerbaijani authorities to bring six new charges against four Toplum TV journalists and the Friday arrest of the independent news outlet’s reporter Farid Ismayilov, who was remanded into pretrial custody.  “The new charges against Toplum TV underscores an unprecedented media crackdown waged by Azerbaijani authorities,” said…

On January 21, CPJ joined nine other organizations in calling on the Council of Europe’s parliament, when it meets at the end of the month, to challenge Azerbaijan’s escalating repression, including against the media. The Azerbaijani delegation is currently suspended from participating in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) because the country…

New York, January 17, 2025–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Georgian authorities to release reporter Guram Murvanidze and to investigate whether Mzia Amaghlobeli is facing retaliatory charges because of her journalism.    Amaghlobeli, founder and director of independent news outlets Batumelebi and Netgazeti, and Murvanidze, also from Batumelebi, were arrested in the western city of Batumi on January 11 during protests calling for a re-run…

Istanbul, January 15, 2025—Turkish authorities should not stop their efforts to find those behind the conspiracy to murder Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On January 9, an Istanbul court reached a verdict in the latest of many trials over Dink’s 2007 fatal shooting in Istanbul. Dink, managing editor of…