Slovakia / Europe & Central Asia

  
Flowers cover the coffin of Mexican journalist Jorge Celestino Ruiz Vazquez, who was killed in Veracruz in August. Ruiz is one of at least five journalists murdered in retaliation for their work in Mexico in 2019. (Reuters/Oscar Martinez)

Number of journalists killed falls sharply as reprisal murders hit record low

As wars subsided and a record low number of journalists were murdered in reprisal for reporting, the total number of journalists killed because of their work fell sharply in 2019. A CPJ special report by Elana Beiser

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Slovakia's president-elect Zuzana Čaputová, pictured talking to the press outside a polling station in Pezinok on March 30. CPJ and other rights organizations are calling on the newly elected leader to ensure the safety of journalists. (AFP/Vladimir Simicek)

Calls for Slovakia’s new president to respect press freedom

CPJ and a coalition of eight other international press freedom groups today called on the newly elected president of Slovakia to respect press freedom and ensure the safety of journalists.

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The Slovak Parliament is seen on October 11, 2011. CPJ calls on the country not to pass an amendment to its press law that would require publications to feature replies to their coverage by politicians and public officials. (Petr Josek/Reuters)

CPJ calls on Slovakia not to adopt press law amendment

Berlin, March 25, 2019 — Slovak lawmakers should not pass an amendment to the country’s press law that would expand its right of reply mandate to include politicians and public officials, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Photos of Ján Kuciak and Martina Kušnírová are set on a table at the Bratislava offices of Aktuality. One year after the double murder, Kuciak's colleagues say they are committed to continuing Kuciak's work. (CPJ)

Mission Journal: One year on, Ján Kuciak murder seen as turning point by Slovak press

Black-and-white portraits of Ján Kuciak and Martina Kušnírová, set amid unlit red candles, were the first things to greet me when I entered the building housing Aktuality, the news website where Kuciak, an investigative reporter, worked until his murder on February 21, 2018. One flight up is the newsroom where Kuciak’s colleagues continue his work.

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Demonstrators attend a protest in Bratislava, Slovakia, on May 4, 2018. Authorities have not identified the mastermind of the murders of journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee. (Vladimir Simicek/AFP)

CPJ and IPI urge Slovak officials to expedite Kuciak case

Bratislava, February 19, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists and the International Press Institute (IPI) called on Slovak authorities to expedite charges against all parties allegedly involved in the murder of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak. A delegation from the two groups today met with Ministry of Interior officials and representatives of the special prosecutor’s office tasked…

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A memorial for investigative reporter Ján Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kušnírová, is held in Bratislava in February. Slovak police in September charged three people with the couple's murder. (AP/Bundas Engler/file)

Slovakia charges three people with murder of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak

Berlin, September 28, 2018–Slovak police today charged three people with the murder of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kušnírová, according to news reports. The unnamed suspects were among eight people arrested in a raid yesterday, according to reports. The other five were released today, according to a prosecutor cited in news reports.

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A poster with the images of Slovak journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee Martina Kusnirova who were found shot to death in their home on February 25, 2018. Slovak police in Bratislava on May 16, 2018, seized the mobile phone of Czech investigative reporter Pavla Holcova while questioning her for their investigation into the couple's murder, according to reports. (Reuters/Radovan Stoklasa)

Slovak police seize Czech investigative reporter’s phone

Berlin, May 16, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Slovak authorities to respect the confidentiality of journalistic sources. Slovak police in Bratislava yesterday seized the mobile phone of Czech investigative reporter Pavla Holcova while questioning her for their investigation into the murder of her colleague, Slovak journalist Jan Kuciak, and his girlfriend, the…

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A poster of murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia is carried at a protest against government corruption revealed by the Daphne Project, in Valletta, Malta, on April 29. Reporting on corruption can be a dangerous assignment. (Reuters/Darrin Zammit Lupi)

Make solving journalist murders a priority, CPJ tells US Helsinki Commission

“Being a reporter in much of the world is dangerous work. Being an investigative reporter can be deadly,” CPJ Deputy Executive Director Robert Mahoney told the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, known as the Helsinki Commission, at a briefing in Washington, D.C. today.

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A journalist holds a phone with a sticker commemorating the assassinated Slovakian journalist Jan Kuciak, as Slovak deputy Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini talks to the media after a meeting at the presidential palace in Bratislava on March 15, 2018. (REUTERS/David W. Cerny)

After murders of Kuciak and Caruana Galizia, investigative journalists band together for justice

The assassinations of Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta in October and of Ján Kuciak in Slovakia last month have elicited an outpouring of support from journalists determined to honor the memory of their colleagues by fighting back with the weapon they wield best: journalism.

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Candles are lit during a silent protest march to pay tribute to murdered Slovak journalist Jan Kuciak and his girlfriend, Martina Kusnirova, in Bratislava, Slovakia. CPJ and other press freedom groups are calling on the European Commission to investigate the killing. (AFP/Alex Halada)

CPJ joins call for European Commission to fight impunity in journalist killings

In a joint letter today, addressed to President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, 17 international media freedom organizations, including the Committee to Protect Journalists, called on the Commission to ensure thorough, effective investigations into the murders of investigative journalists Ján Kuciak in Slovakia and Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta.

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