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

  
Mykhailo Tkach

Poland detains 4 Ukrainian journalists reporting at the border

New York, March 18, 2024—Polish authorities should refrain from detaining members of the press reporting on topics of public interest, as two separate groups of Ukrainian reporters were blocked from reporting on Poland’s borders, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On February 27, Polish police detained reporter Mykhailo Tkach and cameraman Yaroslav Bondarenko, from…

Read More ›

CPJ, others call on Slovakia to withdraw repressive media bill

The Committee to Protect Journalists and seven other international press freedom organizations have called on Slovakian authorities to immediately withdraw a draft law which would effectively end the public broadcaster’s independence. The Slovak Television and Radio bill would dissolve the state-owned Radio and Television of Slovakia (RTVS) and replace it with a new, politically controlled…

Read More ›

Kyrgyz and US officials

Kyrgyzstan parliament approves ‘foreign agents’ law

Stockholm, March 15, 2024—Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov should reject Russian-inspired legislation that would designate externally funded media rights groups and nonprofits that run news outlets as “foreign representatives,” the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. On Thursday, Kyrgyzstan’s parliament approved in a third and final reading, without debate, a bill requiring nonprofits that receive foreign…

Read More ›

Abzas Media's Mahammad Kekalov, (left) Sevinj Vagifgizi, Elnara Gasimova, Ulvi Hasanli, Hafiz Babali, and Nargiz Absalamova.

Azerbaijan courts extend pre-trial detention of 6 Abzas Media journalists

Stockholm, March 15, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists on Friday condemned a series of court decisions in Azerbaijan extending the pre-trial detention of six journalists with the anti-corruption investigative news outlet Abzas Media. “As Azerbaijan sweeps up and detains critical journalists across the country, this latest decision to extend the incarceration of Abzas Media staff…

Read More ›

Russian President Vladimir Putin makes a video address in Moscow ahead of the upcoming presidential election, in a picture released on March 14, 2024.

CPJ joins call for Russia to keep the internet on during presidential elections

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined #KeepItOn Coalition partners on Thursday in calling on Russian authorities and telecommunications providers to maintain free, open, and secure internet access before, during, and after presidential elections scheduled for March 15 to 17. The letter highlights Russia’s history of internet shutdowns, including the blocking of tech companies that refused…

Read More ›

CPJ welcomes Kyrgyzstan’s withdrawal of restrictive media bill

Stockholm, March 13, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes Wednesday’s decision by Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Japarov to withdraw from parliament a draft law that could have been weaponized against the independent press. “Alongside Kyrgyzstan’s ongoing media crackdown, jailing of journalists, and Russian-inspired ‘foreign agents’ bill, the vague and repressive mass media bill could have been…

Read More ›

President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola speaks in Brussels, Belgium on February 1, 2024.

New EU media law must bolster press freedom, CPJ and partners say

Brussels, March 13, 2024— As the European Parliament on Wednesday voted in favor of the European Media Freedom Act, CPJ and 20 other groups representing journalists, as well as press freedom and civil society organizations, called for effective implementation of the new law to ensure greater media independence and pluralism within the European Union (EU)….

Read More ›

In several hearings between February 1 and February 6, 2024, the Bishkek City Court rejected the appeals of 11 journalists, who are current and former employees of the anti-corruption investigative outlet Temirov Live, and upheld their pretrial detention. (Screenshot: YouTube/Radio Azattyk)

Kyrgyzstan court extends pre-trial detention of 8 anti-corruption journalists

Stockholm, March 13, 2024—Kyrgyzstan authorities should immediately drop charges against current and former Temirov Live staff, release all eight detained journalists, and reverse its crackdown on the independent press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On Tuesday, the Pervomaisky District Court in the capital, Bishkek, extended by two months the pre-trial detention of Temirov…

Read More ›

On March 8, Toplum TV’s founder Alasgar Mammadli was arrested as he left a health clinic. (Screenshot: Turan Informasiya Agentliyi/YouTube)

Azerbaijani police raid Toplum TV, detain journalists over alleged currency smuggling

Stockholm, March 11, 2024—Azerbaijani authorities should release Toplum TV’s founder Alasgar Mammadli and journalist Mushfig Jabbar, drop all charges against the independent news outlet’s staff, and allow the media to work freely and without reprisal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On March 6, dozens of plainclothes police officers in the capital, Baku, raided…

Read More ›

Crimean journalists Rustem Osmanov (left) and Aziz Azizov of Crimean Solidarity

Russia holding Crimean journalists Rustem Osmanov and Aziz Azizov for 2 months on terror charges

New York, March 8, 2024—Russian authorities in Ukraine’s Crimea must drop all charges against journalists Rustem Osmanov and Aziz Azizov, release them immediately, and stop prosecuting the press in retaliation for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. At around 4 a.m. on Tuesday, in the southern Crimea town of Bakhchysarai, officers with…

Read More ›