Europe & Central Asia

Contact CPJ Europe & Central Asia

Facebook: CPJ ECA Desk
Program Coordinator:
Gulnoza Said

Researcher:
Anna Brakha

Tel: 212-465-1004
Fax: 212-214-0640

Knight Foundation Press Freedom Center
P.O. Box 2675
New York, NY 10108 USA

  
On April 18, Russian authorities raided Fontanka correspondent Ksenia Klochkova's apartment in St. Petersburg. (Photo: St. Petersburg Union of Journalists)

Russian authorities raid journalist Ksenia Klochkova´s apartment

Berlin, April 22, 2024— The raid on Fontanka journalist Ksenia Klochkova’s home underscores the ongoing erosion of Russia’s press freedoms, and authorities should immediately end all harassment and punitive actions against journalists in connection with their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On April 18, officers with the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation (SKR)…

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Azerbaijan arrests 13th journalist over alleged international donor funding

Stockholm, April 22, 2024—Azerbaijani authorities should release journalist Imran Aliyev and stop arresting journalists on allegations of illegally receiving funding from international donors, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On April 18, officers from the State Border Service, a law enforcement agency,  detained Aliyev, founder and chief executive of the independent news outlet Meclis.info,…

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Belarus jails blogger Aliaksandr Ignatsiuk for 6 years on defamation, extortion charges

New York, April 19, 2023—Belarusian authorities must immediately release journalist Aliaksandr Ignatsiuk, who was sentenced to six years imprisonment, and ensure that no members of the press are jailed for their work. On April 5, a court in the southern city of Stolin convicted Ignatsiuk of extortion, organizing or participating in gross violations of public…

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Giorgi Baskhajauri (left) and Nurlan Gahramanli (right) are two of at least four journalist who were assaulted while covering protests against Georgia's "On Transparency of Foreign Influence” bill. (Photos: Courtesy of Giorgi Baskhajauri and Nurlan Gahramanli)

Georgian police assault at least 4 journalists covering ‘foreign agents’ bill protests

Stockholm, April 19, 2024—The Georgian Parliament should reject a draft law that would designate media outlets as “foreign agents,” and the authorities should investigate allegations of police brutality against journalists, hold those responsible accountable, and protect media members reporting on the ongoing protests, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Friday. On April 17, the…

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Ukrainian journalists Heorhiy Levchenko, Anastasiya Glukhovska missing since Russia detention

New York, April 17, 2024—Russian authorities must confirm the whereabouts of Ukrainian journalists Heorhiy Levchenko and Anastasiya Glukhovska, and drop all charges against them, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Wednesday. Levchenko’s and Glukhovska’s detention was not made public until late October 2023, when Vesti Nedeli, a program of Russian state-owned TV channel Rossiya…

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Journalist and writer Mikhail Zygar in an August 2023 interview with Washington Post Live. (Screenshot: Washington Post Live/YouTube)

Russia orders exiled journalist Mikhail Zygar’s arrest in absentia

New York, April 16, 2024—Russian authorities must drop all legal proceedings against journalist and writer Mikhail Zygar and cease their ongoing repression of independent journalism, said the Committee to Protect Journalists on Tuesday. On April 16, a Moscow court ordered that Zygar, the former editor-in-chief of the now-exiled Russian broadcaster Dozhd TV (TV Rain) and a CPJ 2014…

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Two Ukrainian military officers speaking with journalist Yevhen Shulhat at a supermarket on April 1. (Screenshot: Slidstvo.Info/YouTube)

Ukrainian military attempts to intimidate journalist Yevhen Shulhat, reports say

New York, April 12, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists is calling for a transparent investigation into reports that Ukrainian military officers attempted to serve investigative journalist Yevhen Shulhat with a summons. On April 1, in Ukraine’s capital city Kyiv, two officers from a local military enlistment office approached Shulhat, a journalist with the Ukrainian investigative…

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A police officer holds journalist Furkan Saliu down on the ground at a soccer game in Gorno Konjare in North Macedonia on April 7.

North Macedonia police arrest journalist Furkan Saliu at soccer match

Berlin, April 11, 2024—North Macedonia authorities should conduct a swift, thorough, and transparent investigation into riot police’s arrest of journalist Furkan Saliu at a soccer match and their deletion of footage from his phone and allow journalists to work without interference, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On Sunday, police arrested Furkan Saliu, founder…

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CPJ honored Mikhail Zygar, then editor-in-chief of the independent Russian TV station Dozhd, with its 2014 International Press Freedom Award. Here he speaks with The Associated Press in Moscow, January 30, 2014. (AP/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Russia issues arrest warrant for exiled journalist Mikhail Zygar

New York, April 9, 2024—Russian authorities must drop all charges against Russian journalist and writer Mikhail Zygar and stop harassing exiled members of the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. “The shameful issuing of an arrest warrant for Mikhail Zygar by the Russian authorities shows both their determination to intimidate journalists in exile…

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Victor Pichugin (left) and Kira Over (right) are two of at least four journalists recently injured in consecutive attacks on Ukraine by Russian military forces. (Photos: Courtesy of Viktor Pichugin (left) TSN/Telegram (right))

At least 4 Ukrainian journalists injured in consecutive attacks on Ukraine

New York, April 9, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists on Tuesday condemned Russia’s latest series of attacks on Ukraine that injured at least four Ukrainian journalists reporting on the war.  On April 4, two early morning drone strikes hit Kharkiv in northeast Ukraine injuring Yuliya Boyko, a correspondent with the Ukrainian news website Novini.Live and a freelancer…

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