# Ladder: detention and violence, in Europe

Arrest, detention, prosecution, imprisonment, physical harm or killing of journalists, where police, soldiers, officials or others acting for a government carried out, ordered or authorised the act. Harm by private people is recorded only when a government actor was involved.

The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.

Narrow with ?stage= (restrict, pressure, punish, silence, eliminate), ?continent=, ?from= and ?to= (year or date).

## Punish

Legal or physical action against individual journalists or sources: subpoenas and record seizures, prosecutions, arrests, detention, expulsions, visa denials, assault where a government actor is involved.

| Date | Country | Head of government | What was done | Outcome | Sources |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 26 October 1962 | [Germany](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/de) ([RSF 2026 rank: 14th of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Konrad Adenauer](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/konrad-adenauer) | On October 26, 1962, West German police raided the offices of the news magazine Der Spiegel and arrested its publisher, Rudolf Augstein, after it reported that the armed forces were only "conditionally prepared" for a nuclear strike. [Full entry](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1962-west-germany-spiegel-affair-raid-and-arrests) | Unknown | 4 |
| 30 August 1986 | [Russia](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/ru) ([RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Mikhail Gorbachev](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/mikhail-gorbachev) | Soviet authorities arrested Nicholas Daniloff, the Moscow correspondent for U.S. News & World Report, on August 30, 1986, days after the United States arrested a Soviet United Nations employee on espionage charges. [Full entry](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1986-ussr-daniloff-moscow-arrest) | Reversed (29 September 1986) | 6 |
| 1997 | [Belarus](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/by) ([RSF 2026 rank: 165th of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Alexander Lukashenko](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/alexander-lukashenko) | In 1997, Belarusian authorities under President Alexander Lukashenko jailed journalist Pavel Sheremet for three months in connection with his reporting for the Russian television station ORT. [Full entry](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1997-by-sheremet-imprisoned-for-ort-reporting) | Sustained | 2 |
| 18 August 2013 | [United Kingdom](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/gb) ([RSF 2026 rank: 18th of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [David Cameron](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/david-cameron) | British authorities detained David Miranda, partner of Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, for nine hours at Heathrow Airport under anti-terrorism powers, and separately had Guardian staff destroy hard drives holding files leaked by Edward Snowden rather than hand them to a court. [Full entry](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2013-uk-miranda-detention-guardian-hard-drives) | Upheld by a court (19 January 2016) | 3 |
| 5 September 2025 | [Serbia](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/rs) ([RSF 2026 rank: 104th of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Aleksandar Vucic](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/aleksandar-vucic) | The Committee to Protect Journalists documented at least 28 Serbian journalists reporting being struck, detained, sprayed with chemical irritants or having their equipment destroyed by police between June and September 2025 while covering nationwide anti-government protests; the interior ministry d… [Full entry](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-serbia-police-target-journalists-protests) | Ongoing | 1 |

## Silence

Removing outlets or channels from the public sphere: closures, licence withdrawals, forced sales, blocking and shutdowns, prior restraint, nationalisation.

| Date | Country | Head of government | What was done | Outcome | Sources |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 13 December 1981 | [Poland](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/pl) ([RSF 2026 rank: 27th of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Wojciech Jaruzelski](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/wojciech-jaruzelski) | On December 13, 1981, General Wojciech Jaruzelski declared martial law in Poland, cutting phone and telex lines, suspending nearly all newspapers, and interning thousands of people, most Solidarity trade union journalists among them, within days. [Full entry](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1981-poland-martial-law-press-suspended) | Reversed (22 July 1983) | 2 |
| 18 May 2021 | [Belarus](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/by) ([RSF 2026 rank: 165th of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Alexander Lukashenko](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/alexander-lukashenko) | Belarusian authorities blocked access to Tut.by, the country's most-read independent news site, searched its offices in three cities and arrested at least eleven staff, including its editor-in-chief, citing alleged media-law violations after the site had already lost its official media status. [Full entry](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-belarus-blocks-tutby-arrests-staff) | Sustained | 3 |

## Eliminate

Long imprisonment, killing, disappearance or forced exile of journalists, with state involvement as the sources state it.

| Date | Country | Head of government | What was done | Outcome | Sources |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 7 October 2006 | [Russia](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/ru) ([RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Vladimir Putin](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/vladimir-putin) | Anna Politkovskaya, a Novaya Gazeta journalist known for reporting critical of Russia's conduct of the war in Chechnya, was shot dead in her Moscow apartment building; a Moscow court later convicted a former police officer of organizing surveillance for her killers. Note: Who ordered the killing was never conclusively established in court. [Full entry](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2006-russia-politkovskaya-killed) | Upheld by a court (9 June 2014) | 3 |
| 8 February 2023 | [Belarus](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/by) ([RSF 2026 rank: 165th of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Alexander Lukashenko](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/alexander-lukashenko) | Belarus sentenced Polish-Belarusian correspondent Andrzej Poczobut to eight years in prison on charges of inciting hatred and calling for sanctions, after holding him since March 2021. Note: Belarus sentenced a correspondent to eight years for reporting on its Polish minority and held him nearly five years before an exchange; comparable United States detentions in the record ended in hours, not years. [Full entry](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-belarus-sentences-poczobut) | Reversed (28 April 2026) | 3 |
| 29 March 2023 | [Russia](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/ru) ([RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Vladimir Putin](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/vladimir-putin) | Russia arrested Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich in March 2023 on an espionage charge his employer called fabricated, held him for about 15 months before a closed trial, and sentenced him to 16 years before releasing him in a prisoner exchange. Note: Russia held a Wall Street Journal reporter for over a year on an espionage charge his employer called fabricated, then sentenced him to sixteen years; United States detentions of journalists in the record have not led to years-long imprisonment on state charges. [Full entry](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2024-russia-sentences-gershkovich) | Reversed (1 August 2024) | 3 |

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