The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) today joined the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), their affiliate in Belarus, in asking the national authorities to drop the charges against several journalists accused by the police of holding an unauthorised action. The charges were brought against the group after they took a picture in Vitebsk to support the Stand Up For Journalism Day of the EFJ held on 5 November. They are now waiting a court appearance. According to the open letter published by BAJ calling for the charges to be dropped, seven of its…

Some 53 delegates from 26 countries representing trade union organsations and professional associations of journalists at the Annual Meeting of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) in Moscow on 21 November expressed their solidarity and full support for ethical journalism and the struggle of Russian Union of Journalists (RUJ) to defend independent journalism and the safety of journalism. The Annual Meeting commenced with a minute of silence to remember the 56 journalists who were killed for doing their jobs since 1993 in Russia. ‘‘Journalists in Russia are facing a great challenge today. We need more than ever solidarity, unity and…

Our job is neither to please nor to harm anyone; our job is to portray the truth with our pen … What Albert Londres, a French journalist and one of the founding father of investigative journalism, said has captured the spirit of the Annual Meeting of the European Federation of Journalist which will be held  at the House of Journalist in Moscow this Friday 21 and Saturday 22 of November. While the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) held its last World Congress in Istanbul, the EFJ will hold its Annual Meeting in the capital of Russia. The goal is to…

On 18/11/2014, a conference entitled “Media Integrity Matters – Reclaiming public service values in the Western Balkans media: How should the European Union Respond ?” has been organized in Brussels by MEP Tanja Fajon. The event was a follow-up to the publication of the book “Media integrity matters” in June 2014, comprising the research conducted in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and Serbia. The study aims at addressing the obstacles to a democratic development of media systems in the countries of South East Europe/Western Balkans by pointing out corrupt relations and practices in media policy, media ownership and financing,…

The Finnish public broadcasting company Yle has announced on Monday 3 November about the imminent plan to reduce at least 185 permanent jobs as part of its cost-cutting measures. Following the announcement, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) Initiates has sent a letter to CEO, Mr Lauri Kivinen, and the management team of Yle, calling on them to engage in dialogue with the journalists’ union, Suomen Journalistiliitto. According to Yle, the cost-cutting measures were introduced as a result of a funding shortfall. Earlier this year, the Finnish Parliament has decided to freeze an inflation-related increase on the so-called Yle tax…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has called on Prime Minister Viktor Orban to abandon his “anti-democratic plan” to tax internet use and to start listening to his people and understand the reality of the developments in the media. “It is very unwise and unrealistic of Orban’s government to think that the internet tax is of any relevance in today’s digital age,” said Mogens Blicher Bjerrregård, EFJ President. “This is evident from the tens of thousands protesters who showed up on Tuesday night’s protest.” According to the organiser of the protest, following the first rally on Sunday 26 October, the…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) together with the International Partnership Group on Azerbaijan (IPGA) has called on the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the travel ban imposed on investigative journalist, Khadija Ismayilova and cease all legal proceedings against her. Against the backdrop of the unprecedented crackdown on civil society, Khadija Ismayilova’s arrest on criminal defamation charges seems imminent and would confirm the authorities’ intent to silence all critical voices in the country. The EFJ, as part of the International Partnership Group on Azerbaijan (IPGA),  including APC, ARTICLE 19, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Index on Censorship, Freedom House,  Freedom Now, the…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) urges Slovenian prosecutors to immediately drop the criminal charges against Anuška Delić, an investigative reporter for Delo, a leading Slovenian daily. She is accused of publishing classified state intelligence. She faces up to three years in prison just for having done her job. The trial against her is expected to begin on Wednesday 15 October, in Slovenia. In 2011, Anuška Delić wrote a series of articles, just before the Slovenian parliamentary elections, in which she uncovered alleged connections between the Slovenian neo-Nazi group Blood & Honour and members of the Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS).…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has called for authorities in Macedonia to drop all charges against the journalist Tomislav Kezarovski – who has now been held under house arrest for over a year. In 2013, Kezarovski was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison by a tribunal in Skopje for writing investigative articles for the magazine Reporter 92. He is currently under house arrest, unemployed and living in very difficult conditions. The EFJ has sent a letter to Andrej Lepavcov, the Ambassador of the Republic of Macedonia to the European Union, calling for Macedonian authorities to bring an end to all…

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) have joined their affiliate, the National Union of Journalists, UK and Ireland (NUJ), to welcome a call by the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media for a re-opening of the investigation into the murder of Sunday World journalist Martin O’Hagan in September 2001. On Friday Dunja Mijatović called on the UK authorities to re-launch a criminal investigation into the murder which happened 13 years ago. “It is unacceptable that all this time has passed and not one person has been held responsible for what was a public execution,”…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the Swiss professional association of journalists Impressum, Amnesty International, the University of Fribourg, Reporters Without Borders and Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) adopted a joint resolution at the end of the third Forum on the journalism this Sept. 24 in Lausanne. The resolution calls: Publishers to provide sufficient human and material resources to journalists to ensure the freedom of the press; Governments to ensure the protection of journalists’ sources; The Swiss government to launch the necessary consultations with the international community to develop an international mechanism for the protection of journalists in conflict zones (including…