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

  
The Russian State Duma is considering a bill that would introduce fines for accessing or searching for “extremist” online content.

Russia gearing up to prosecute internet users for searching ‘extremist’ content 

Berlin, July 18, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by a bill under consideration in the Russian State Duma that would introduce fines for accessing or searching for “extremist” online content, threatening to further restrict press freedom and access to information.  The bill, which passed its second reading on July 17, 2025, is the “most serious step in censorship and…

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Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s government is putting pressure on editorial and media independence.

CPJ, other groups urge Greece to create national plan to fight press attacks

On July 16, CPJ and nine other organizations wrote to the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis about reforms needed to address ongoing media freedom concerns in the country.  The letter notes the persistence of serious issues in Greece, including surveillance, threats, harassment, physical attacks, and murders of journalists. It also cites government pressure on editorial…

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Kyrgyzstan tightens control over media with new false news laws

New York, July 15, 2025—President Sadyr Japarov signed amendments to the Kyrgyz Code of Offenses on July 8, introducing administrative penalties for spreading “false or unreliable” information via mass media or the internet — another in a series of ongoing moves toward cracking down on the country’s independent press. The law, whose signing was announced July 11, will go…

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A courtroom sketch of journalist Mzia Amaglobeli's heariing on Monday, July 14, 2025. Amaglobeli is seen standing at far right. (Illustration: Ana Janelidze)

Press freedom groups condemn hearing, demand release of Georgian journalist Mzia Amaglobeli 

Batumi, Georgia, July 14, 2025一Monday’s court hearing in the case of Georgian journalist Mzia Amaglobeli shows the disproportionate and politicized nature of the charges against her and she must be released immediately, said three international press freedom organizations whose representatives monitored the proceedings.  In response to the hearing, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), International…

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Dmitriy Lozhnikov, editor in chief of Aprel TV, presents during an episode of the broadcaster’s flagship news show. A Kyrgyz court shuttered the outlet on July 9, 2025. (Screenshot: Telekanal Aprel/YouTube)

Kyrgyzstan shutters critical broadcaster Aprel TV for undermining gov’t authority

New York, July 11, 2025—A Kyrgyzstan court issued an order Wednesday shuttering independent broadcaster Aprel TV and terminating its broadcasting and social media operations, claiming the outlet undermined the government’s authority and negatively influenced individuals and society.  The ruling was the result of a lawsuit filed against the outlet by Kyrgyz prosecutors in April, which…

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Kyrgyzstan’s President Sadyr Japarov attends a session of the EU-Central Asia Summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on April 4, 2025. (Photo: AFP/Vyacheslav Oseledko)

CPJ: Kyrgyz president must veto ‘dangerous’ media law

New York, July 2, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists urges Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Japarov to veto a new mass media law that would require all publications to register with the state and heavily restricts any foreign legal entities from founding or owning media outlets. Parliament passed the bill, which would allow an authorized state body…

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Satirical Turkish weekly LeMan targeted over ‘Muhammad’ cartoon

Istanbul, July 1, 2025—Turkish authorities must release from custody four staff members of the leftist satirical weekly LeMan and ensure their safety, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday.  Police raided the Istanbul offices of LeMan Monday evening and detained the staff members after the publication of what officials claimed was a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad, a depiction that is forbidden in…

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Georgia increasingly blocks entry to Western journalists amid authoritarian turn

When British investigative journalist Will Neal was turned back at Georgia’s border with Armenia in May, he became the fifth of at least six European journalists in recent months to be denied entry into a country once seen as a regional leader for press freedom. Neal, who had lived in Georgia since 2022, was expelled just weeks…

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Fatih Altaylı (Screenshot: Fatih Altaylı/YouTube)

Journalist arrested, accused of threatening Turkish president

Istanbul, June 24, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Turkish authorities to immediately release journalist Fatih Altaylı following his June 22 arrest and imprisonment on accusations of threatening Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in connection with his commentary on a public poll. “Fatih Altaylı’s arrest is a blatant attempt to intimidate an influential commentator into self-censorship,” said Özgür Öğret, CPJ’s…

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Russia and Belarus release 2 journalists who had been detained for years

Paris, June 23, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of Ukrainian journalist Vladislav Yesypenko and Belarusian journalist Ihar Karnei, who had been unjustly detained for years by Russia and Belarus, respectively.   Russia freed Yesypenko on June 20 after he served a five-year prison sentence on charges of possessing and transporting explosives, which he denied. Karnei, detained for nearly two…

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