Kazakh journalist Diana Saparkyzy assaulted while covering mining deaths
Stockholm, August 22, 2023 – Kazakh authorities should swiftly investigate the recent use of force against journalist Diana Saparkyzy, prosecute those involved, and ensure that members of the press can cover events of public importance without obstruction, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On Friday, August 18, Saparkyzy, a correspondent for independent news agency…
Russia fails to renew Dutch and Finnish journalists’ visas and accreditation
New York, August 18, 2023—Russian authorities should renew the visas and media accreditation of Dutch journalist Eva Hartog and Finnish journalist Anna-Lena Laurén and let them work freely in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. On Wednesday, August 16, Politico Europe and Dutch weekly De Groene Amsterdammer reported that Russian authorities refused…
CPJ calls for investigation into alleged poisoning of exiled Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko and Irina Babloyan
New York, August 16, 2023 — German and Georgian authorities should thoroughly and transparently investigate allegations that exiled Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko and Irina Babloyan were poisoned in 2022, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On Tuesday, an investigation by the independent news website The Insider stated that both journalists had experienced unexplained health…
Tajikistan court rejects journalist Khurshed Fozilov’s appeal of 7-year sentence
Stockholm, August 15, 2023—In response to a Tajikistan court’s recent rejection of journalist Khurshed Fozilov’s appeal of a seven-year prison sentence, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement calling for his immediate release: “Tajik authorities’ rejection of journalist Khurshed Fozilov’s appeal serves to highlight how the courts have facilitated the criminalization of the…
Turkish journalist Barış Pehlivan ordered to return to prison over alleged parole violation
Istanbul, August 9, 2023—Turkish authorities should not force Barış Pehlivan to return to prison for allegedly violating his parole in a 2020 case involving his reporting on a Turkish intelligence officer, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. Pehlivan, a columnist for the pro-opposition daily Cumhuriyet, revealed in an August 2 column that he was…
Turkey suspends critical outlet TELE1 for a week
Istanbul, August 8, 2023—The Committee to Protect Journalists has condemned a court’s implementation of a seven-day suspension of critical online outlet and TV broadcaster TELE1 following an order by the official media watchdog the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK). “The court-imposed suspension of TELE1 due to an RTÜK order, along with the imprisonment of the outlet’s…
Violence against Netherlands’ journalists dims a beacon of press freedom
On a small street off Amsterdam’s bustling museum district, there is no indication of the 2021 event seared into the memories of the Dutch press corps – at least not yet. Authorities have plans to build a memorial near the site where crime reporter Peter R. de Vries was shot on July 6 after leaving…
CPJ joins letter of concern about Kosovo’s banning of Serbian reporter Svetlana Vukmirovic
The Committee to Protect Journalists and 10 civil society organizations wrote to Kosovo authorities on Tuesday, August 1, to request an explanation as to why reporter Svetlana Vukmirovic working for public broadcaster Radio Television of Serbia is not allowed to enter Kosovo to do her work. Vukmirovic has been prevented from entering Kosovo on multiple…
Ukrainian journalist Volodymyr Sedov assaulted after investigating crime
New York, August 4, 2023—Ukrainian authorities should swiftly investigate the latest attack on anti-corruption journalist Volodymyr Sedov and hold the perpetrators to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. Sedov, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Visti Ananivshchyna, told CPJ that unidentified people attacked him from behind in a park near his home in the southern…
Covering Ukraine: When a Russian missile brought death to a popular pizza restaurant
It is around 7:30 p.m. on June 27 in the Ria Lounge, one of the few restaurants still open in Kramatorsk, a frontline city in eastern Ukraine. Known by regulars as “Ria Pizza” for its signature dish, the restaurant is packed on this summer Tuesday. Locals, aid workers, off-duty soldiers, and journalists have flocked here…