Russian prosecutor requests harsh sentences for editors of student-run magazine DOXA
Paris, April 6, 2022 — Russian authorities should immediately drop all charges against four former editors of the student-run magazine DOXA and stop listing journalists from independent media outlets as foreign agents, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On April 1, at a hearing at Dorogomilovsky district court in the capital Moscow, the state…
Opinion: Putin tolerated some critical voices in his 22-year assault on Russian media. His war in Ukraine ends even that.
On the morning after Boris Yeltsin stunned the world by resigning and turning over the Russian presidency to Vladimir Putin, The New York Times published a “man in the news” column that struggled to define the new leader. Putin was a man who “would never deceive you,” promised his political mentor and former St. Petersburg…
Russia-Ukraine watch
How the war is affecting press freedom in the region Updated June 16, 2022 Russia’s February 24 full-scale invasion of Ukraine marked a sharp escalation in threats to press freedom in the region and beyond. Journalists in Ukraine have been killed covering the war, while many of their Russian counterparts have fled or faced persecution….
CPJ urges countries to give refuge to Russian journalists after Georgia refuses entry to Dozhd TV’s Mikhail Fishman
Washington, D.C., March 7, 2022 – Governments around the world should allow independent Russian journalists fleeing prosecution to enter their countries and find safe haven, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On Saturday, March 5, authorities at Georgia’s Tbilisi International airport denied entry to Mikhail Fishman, a journalist for the now-shuttered independent Russian outlet…
‘There will be more repression’: Exiled Russian journalist Irina Borogan on Moscow’s censorship of Ukraine invasion
As the Russian military continues its invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin is also fighting a different kind of battle at home in its attempts to quash independent news coverage and dissenting narratives about the attack it launched on February 24. Across Russia, journalists have been detained and their outlets investigated, blocked, and restricted from using social media. On…
Dozhd TV editor Tikhon Dzyadko on why he fled Russia and shut his broadcaster down
Russian independent broadcaster Dozhd TV announced during a live broadcast on Thursday that it would suspend its operations after Russia’s media regulator blocked its website for spreading “deliberately false information about the actions of Russian military personnel.” Dozhd TV had drawn the ire of Russian authorities because of it used the word “invasion” to report on Russia’s war in…
Proposed Russian legislation threatens 15 years in prison for ‘fake’ information about Ukraine invasion
Paris, March 3, 2022 – Russian lawmakers should not pass a draft law that would threaten to imprison journalists for sharing information about the country’s recent invasion of Ukraine, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. The State Duma, the lower house of Russia’s legislature, is scheduled to consider legislation on Friday that would impose…
Russia labels Bellingcat, other independent outlets and journalists as ‘foreign agents’
Vilnius, Lithuania, October 12, 2021 – Russian authorities should stop labeling journalists and media outlets as “foreign agents” and should allow the press to work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On October 8, following the announcement that Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov would be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the Russian Ministry of…
Russian court jails journalist Sergey Stepanov for 30 days over Navalny protest coverage
Vilnius, Lithuania, April 29, 2021 — Russian authorities should release journalist Sergey Stepanov immediately and should cease detaining and harassing members of the press covering protests, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Yesterday, the Oktyabrsky District Court in the central Russian city of Tambov sentenced Stepanov, a freelance correspondent for Finnish TV and radio broadcaster…
Belarus police attack and detain journalists amid election protests
Vilnius, Lithuania, August 10, 2020 — Belarusian authorities should refrain from assaulting and detaining journalists covering protests, and should hold police officers accountable for attacks on the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Yesterday, riot police in Minsk, the capital, assaulted at least four journalists and detained at least five, according to news…