The Netherlands: the travel restriction law threatens media freedom

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins its Dutch affiliate Nederlandse Vereninging van Journalisten (NVJ) in condemning a new law under which Dutch citizens travelling to an area “controlled by terrorist groups” must request permission from the justice ministry. This new regulation threatens the freedom to inform, EFJ said, calling on the Dutch senate to make an exception for journalists or to withdraw the bill. The bill, proposed by the Dutch Minister of Justice and Security Ferdinand Grapperhaus (our picture), was approved by the Lower House on 10 September. Under the proposed law, failing to request the justice ministry’s permission before travelling…

Netherlands: New ‘Source Protection Act’ finally enters into force

On 1st October, the Source Protection Act in Criminal Cases has finally become effective in the Netherlands. The law provides strengthened protection for the confidentiality of journalists’ sources, which have been recognised in several cases as an essential part of freedom of expression by the European Court of Human Rights. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined its Dutch affiliate the NVJ in welcoming the law, defined by NVJ General Secretary Thomas Bruning as “necessary to the correct functioning of journalism”. With the Source Protection Act, there will always be a preliminary consideration by a judge before the police can have access to the sources data…

Van crashed into office façade of Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf

A van was intentionally crashed into the office building of one of the largest Dutch daily newspapers De Telegraaf located in Amsterdam, at early hours of Tuesday morning, 26 June. Nobody was hurt during the crash, Dutch police stated in a tweet. It is not the first incident of this nature, as last Thursday, 21 of June, a man was arrested after an incident in the Sloterdijk area of Amsterdam, where a man fired an anti-tank weapon into a building of media organisations. The Dutch media organisations has been under threat from organised crime for some time now, with two…

Turkey must release Dutch journalist Frederike Geerdink

UPDATE (09/09/2015) : Dutch journalist likely to be deported from Turkey The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) calls on Turkish authorities to immediately release Dutch journalist Frederike Geerdink. She was arrested early Sunday, at around 2 am, near the city of Yüksekova (Hakkari province, southeastern Turkey), while covering an activists group of the People’s Democratic Party (HDP), a Kurdish opposition organisation. Geerdink was following a “human shield group” of 32 people when she was detained, with all the members of the group. The police told them they were in a restricted area. The arrest comes just a week after two journalists for Vice News,…