Russia / Europe & Central Asia

  
People lay flowers made of newspapers to pay respects to slain Novaya Gazeta journalist Anna Politkovskaya outside the newspaper's office in Moscow, October 7, 2014. (AP/Ivan Sekretarev)

Russian journalist flees Moscow following threats

New York, April 17, 2017–Russian authorities should immediately and thoroughly investigate threats made against Elena Milashina, an investigative journalist for the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta and a former correspondent for the Committee to Protect Journalists, CPJ said today. In an April 15 interview with The Washington Post, Milashina said that she left Moscow following…

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A man holds a photograph of murdered Novaya Gazeta investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya outside the newspaper's Moscow office on October 7, 2014, the eighth anniversary of her death. Politkovskaya was known for her work exposing human rights abuses in Chechnya and the North Caucasus region. (AP/Ivan Sekretarev)

Chechen official and preachers threaten Novaya Gazeta journalists

New York, April 14, 2017–Russian authorities should investigate threats preachers and an adviser to the Chechen president made against the staff of the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta and should ensure the journalists’ safety, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Security forces arrest a protester in Moscow, March 26, 2017. (Reuters/Maxim Shemetov)

Journalists detained covering Russia protests

New York, March 27, 2017–Russian security forces should cease harassing and obstructing journalists covering protests and other events, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Russian media reported that at least 11 journalists were detained yesterday while reporting on nationwide protests. All have since been released.

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Journalist arrested in Moscow on Belarusian extradition request

New York, March 15, 2017–Russian authorities should immediately release Yuriy Baranchik, chief analytical editor of the pro-Kremlin Russian news agency Regnum, and allow him to work unobstructed, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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White House press secretary Sean Spicer talks to the media during the daily briefing. President Trump and his administration have accused critical outlets of being fake news. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Deciding who decides which news is fake

Authorities decry the proliferation of misinformation and propaganda on the internet, and technology companies are wrestling with various measures to combat fake news. But addressing the problem without infringing on the right to free expression and the free flow of information is extremely thorny.

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Protesters in St. Petersburg hold a banner reading "Love is stronger than war," May 1, 2014. The mayor of the nearby border city of Svetogorsk's assertion that there were no homosexuals in his town drew reporters seeking follow-up stories. (Reuters/Alexander Demianchuck)

Russian security services detain journalists in border city, order them to leave

New York, March 7, 2017–Russian security services should stop harassing and obstructing journalists and should allow them to work unimpeded, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Security services have detained at least three journalists who had traveled to report from the northwestern city of Svetogorsk, on Russia’s border with Finland, in the past two…

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Russian journalist and human rights activist Zoya Svetova speaks to the press after security forces searched her apartment in Moscow, February 28, 2017. (Vasily Maximov/AFP/Getty)

Russian security forces raid journalist Zoya Svetova’s home

New York, February 28, 2017–Russian authorities should cease harassing journalists and allow them to work unimpeded, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Security forces today searched the Moscow home of prominent journalist and human rights defender Zoya Svetova, according to press reports and Svetova’s lawyers.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin (center), head of Crimea Sergei Aksyonov (left), and then-Sevastopol Acting Governor Dmitry Ovsyannikov, take part in a video conference in Moscow, December 27, 2016. (Sputnik/Alexei Druzhinin/Kremlin via Reuters)

Crimean journalist faces trial on separatism charges

New York, February 16, 2017–Authorities in Crimea should immediately drop all charges against Mykola (Nikolai) Semena and allow the journalist to work unobstructed, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. A preliminary hearing in Semena’s trial on charges of separatism is scheduled for tomorrow, according to his employer.

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Magomed Daudov (left), the speaker of the Chechen parliament, waits for Russian President Vladimir Putin to deliver the annual state of the nation address at the Kremlin in Moscow, December 1, 2016. Daudov on January 4 threatened journalist Grigory Shvedov in a post to Instagram. (Reuters/Maxim Shemetov)

Speaker of Chechen parliament threatens journalist Grigory Shvedov

New York, January 9, 2017–Russian federal authorities should ensure the safety of Grigory Shvedov, the editor of the independent news website Kavkazsky Uzel (Caucasian Knot), and should hold accountable Magomed Daudov, the speaker of Chechnya’s parliament, for publicly threatening the journalist, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Journalist threatened with murder in Russia

New York, December 21, 2016–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Russian authorities to ensure the safety of independent journalist Mikhail Afanasyev, editor of the online magazine Novy Fokus in the Siberian republic of Khakassia, after the head of a criminal gang based in a neighboring region threatened to kill him because of his…

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