After decades of impunity, there has been a move towards justice finally being served in the case of the four Dutch journalists murdered by military forces in El Salvador in 1982. The investigation, which was reopened in 2020, has identified those allegedly responsible for the crime and has been elevated to trial status. This could set a precedent for other crimes which were committed during El Salvador’s internal conflict in the 1980s and which are still to be judged. The International and European Federations of Journalists, together with the Dutch Association of Journalists (Nederlandse Vereniging van Journalisten) and the Journalists’ Association…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), together with the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF), stands in full solidarity with “B.T.” Danish journalist Claes Kirkeby Theilgaard and Swedish political reporter Inas Hamdan, working for “Sydsvenskan”, who have been threatened for their political reporting, including their coverage on demonstrations related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  On 25 July, an unprecedented incident occurred when reporter Inas Hamdan was threatened at her residence by a crowd gathered outside her home in Malmö, Sweden. As reported by the journalist, they were protesting her coverage of the weekly Malmö rallies to end the Israel-Palestine…

The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) are deeply shocked by the deadly Russian missile attack in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk on 24 August 2024. The attack claimed the life of Reuters media worker Ryan Evans and left another six people injured. The federations join their affiliate in Ukraine, the National Union of Journalists (NUJU) and the Independent Media Trade Union of Ukraine (IMTUU), in expressing their sincere condolences to the family of Ryan Evans and their full solidarity with the injured journalists and all media workers who work under daily threats to report on the Russo-Ukrainian…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins the International Press Institute (IPI) and the undersigned freedom of the press and expression organisations in denouncing the decision by the Turkish appeals court to uphold the 20-month prison sentence against renowned journalist Bülent Mumay. This verdict represents a severe assault on press freedom and freedom of expression in Turkey, further eroding the foundations of democratic discourse in the country. We urgently call on Turkish authorities to end their harassment of critical journalists. Mumay’s case is emblematic of the systematic repression of independent journalism in Turkey. Mumay’s only legal recourse is to file…

On 22 August 2024, Italian state police arrested four suspects from the neofascist group CasaPound for the violent physical attack on the Italian journalist Andrea Joly in Turin in July. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) join their Italian affiliate, the National Federation of the Italian Press (FNSI), in condemning this brutal assault and calling on the Italian authorities to take immediate and decisive action against extremist groups like CasaPound, which must be deterred from committing such attacks. On the night of 20 July 2024, CasaPound’s militants were holding a party in a club called ‘Asso di Bastoni’, in…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), 38 European journalists’ unions and more than 20 press freedom NGOs today sent a letter to the European Union’s top diplomats calling for the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement and for sanctions against those responsible for Israel’s war crimes and repeated violations of international law. The letter was drafted on the initiative of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). It is co-signed among others by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Human Rights Watch (HRW), IFEX, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF)… Here is our joint…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins its Montenegrin affiliate, the Trade Union of Media of Montenegro (TUMM), in urgently calling on the relevant authorities to protect female journalists from misogynistic and sexist threats by ensuring that investigations are treated with the seriousness they deserve, including establishing the gender-based motive and the link to journalistic work.  On 25 July 2024, the Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms of Montenegro issued an opinion with recommendations, regarding the police investigation of the rape threats targeting female journalists from several media outlets in Montenegro. By law, the Police Directorate is required to submit…

The undersigned Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) organizations call on the Spanish government to fully repeal the so-called “Gag Law” as part of its announced “democratic regeneration” efforts. While we welcome the initial proposed changes to the law, these fall short of the full repeal necessary to protect free expression in Spain. In Spain, despite an overall positive assessment of media freedom by the European Commission in its latest rule of law report, a problematic decade-old law still hinders journalists’ ability to perform their work duties.  In July, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced his intention to pass a “democratic regeneration”…

As the Azerbaijani government intensifies its crackdown on journalists ahead of the COP29 conference in Baku, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) calls on the international community to step up pressure on the authorities to release the 23 journalists and media workers unjustly imprisoned in Azerbaidjan. The UN Climate Change Conference, more commonly known as COP29, is hosted by the government of Azerbaijan. It will take place in Baku on November 11-22, 2024. Ahead of this international conference, the EFJ calls on the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat, based in Bonn, Germany, to ensure that all COP…

Early August 2024, the Lithuanian Parliament proposed amendments to introduce fines for people who insult or humiliate journalists. This legislative project aims to protect journalists from abusive behaviours and ensure their ability to freely exercise their professional duty of delivering information to the public. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes this initiative and calls for all European countries to implement similar measures in line with the Council of Europe Recommendation 2016/4 on the protection of journalism and safety of journalists.  The Lithuanian proposal, prepared by Speaker of the Seimas Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, suggests amendments to the Code of Administrative Misdemeanors.…

Update (20/08/2024): The EFJ condemns the death threats against the two journalists by pro-Russian circles in Italy, in particular the writer Nicolai Lilin. ——————————- The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins its Italian affiliate FNSI in strongly condemning Russian threats to prosecute Italian journalists covering the Ukrainian counter-offensive in the Kursk region, in Russia. The EFJ considers that these intimidations amount to censorship and are aimed at preventing public opinion from being informed about ongoing operations. Russian media reported on Friday that the Russian interior ministry intends to press criminal charges against Italian journalists who reported from the region of…

On 11 August 2024, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić verbally abused journalists from Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Kosovo during a press conference in Belgrade on the occasion of the rally against the Serbian government’s approval of lithium ore mining in Serbia. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins the SafeJournalists network in expressing its full solidarity with the journalists who have been targeted by President Vučic. We urge President Vučić and the authorities to refrain from this blatant pattern of harassing journalists or media outlets for critical reporting and instead ensure respect for the fundamental guarantees of media freedom.…

Russian internet monitoring services reported widespread slowdowns of online platform YouTube on 8 August, making it nearly inaccessible without using virtual private networks (VPNs). YouTube has remained one of the few platforms of free expression in the country, amid the government’s crackdown on independent media. The International and European Federations Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) strongly condemn Russia’s slow down of YouTube as a severe act of censorship and urge authorities to revoke the restrictions. On 31 July, Russian authorities announced plans to slow down YouTube’s performance with speeds expected to drop by up to 70%, as part of a strategy to persuade…

Today, 9 August 2024, marks four years since the fraudulent presidential election took place in Belarus, which intensified the crackdown on journalists, independent media and trade unions to crush free speech and political opposition by Aleksandr Lukashenko’s regime. The International and the European Federation of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) join their affiliate, the Belarusian Journalists’ Association (BAJ), in calling on the regime to release all journalists and media workers behind bars. The Federations also urge the authorities to stop their harassment of exiled journalists, including raiding their residences and causing distress to their families to exert leverage on them. Four years after…

The partner organisations of the MFRR call on the authorities in Georgia not to extradite journalist Afgan Sadygov to Azerbaijan and to release him from extradition detention. Additionally, authorities should allow Sadygov to freely leave Georgia for a third country. Georgian authorities arrested Sadygov on 3 August according to the journalist’s wife, who posted footage of him being escorted into a car by law enforcement. The following day, a court in Tbilisi ordered Sadygov to be held in extradition detention. Authorities in Azerbaijan have charged Sadygov with “threatening to spread offensive information” for extortion purposes. Sadygov has faced severe repression…