Russia / Europe & Central Asia

Paris, June 28, 2022 — Russian legislators should not pass a new bill to expand the country’s regulations concerning so-called “foreign agents,” and should let the press operate freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. The country’s current foreign agent legislation requires the Ministry of Justice to prove that a person or organization has…

Paris, June 23, 2022 – Russian legislators should not enact newly proposed legislation that threatens to further restrict the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On June 14, the State Duma, the lower house of Russia’s legislature, passed a bill amending the country’s criminal code to impose prison terms for vague actions against…

Stockholm, June 17, 2022 – Georgian authorities should allow Russian journalist Insa Lander to enter the country and work safely and freely, and should accept the asylum applications of journalists seeking refuge, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. Lander, whose legal name is Insa Oguz, had been held under house arrest in the Russian…

New York, June 8, 2022 – Russian authorities must stop their efforts to silence reporting on the country’s invasion of Ukraine, and drop all fines and penalties issued to outlets covering the conflict, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On June 3, the Kirovsky District Court in the central city of Yekaterinburg fined the…

New York, June 3, 2022 – In response to reports about the Friday incident that killed a driver and injured two Reuters correspondents after the vehicle they were traveling in came under fire near the eastern Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement: “We are saddened by the death…

Paris, May 31, 2022 — Russian authorities should swiftly investigate the assault of journalist Pyotr Ivanov and hold the perpetrators to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On Monday evening, two unidentified men attacked Ivanov, a reporter with the independent news outlet SOTA, near his apartment in the northwestern Russian city of St….

Paris, May 24, 2022 – Russian authorities should immediately drop all charges against exiled Russian journalists Ruslan Leviev and Michael Nacke, remove them from the wanted list, and allow independent reporting on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On Wednesday, May 18, the Basmanny Court in Moscow ordered the arrest…

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine presents a danger not only for reporters operating in the war zone. The campaign could also pose a broader threat to press freedoms and other civil liberties if it brings the Kremlin closer to its dream of creating a domestically controlled internet. Russia’s internet regulator, Rozkomnadzor, has long been able to…

Paris, May 18, 2022 – The Russian State Duma should withdraw a draft law that would facilitate the arbitrary shutdown of media outlets and increase the number of journalists prosecuted for sharing information, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. The State Duma, the lower house of Russia’s legislature, is set to consider legislation that…

Paris, May 11, 2022 — Russian authorities should drop all charges and stop harassing seven Sota.Vision and Skat Media journalists and let the media work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. Between May 7 and May 9, amid Russia’s Victory Day celebrations, at least seven journalists were targeted by Russian authorities with home…