The European Parliament urges the Commission to protect whistleblowers

With the adoption of Virginie Rozière‘s report today (24.10.2017) in plenary session in Strasbourg, the European Parliament is sending a strong signal to the European Commission, demanding an EU-wide legislation protecting whistleblowers across the 27 Member States. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) warmly thanks the Members of the European Parliament (MEP) who voted in favour of a full protection for whistleblowers. A total of 666 MEPs took part in the vote: 399 (60%) voted in favour of the report, 101 (15%) voted against and 166 (25%) abstained from voting. Proposed by Virginie Rozière (S&D), the report demands an EU-wide protection…

Russia: a journalist stabbed at a radio station’s studio

Deputy editor in chief and anchor Tatyana Felgengauer working for Ekho Moskyv radio station was stabbed in the throat on 23 October at the radio station in Moscow. The well-known journalist is not in critical condition and is said to be stable. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ/EFJ) have joined their Russian affiliate, the Russian Union of Journalists (RUJ), in condemning and demanding an immediate investigation in the attack.   Reports said that the attacker used a gas which was sprayed in a face of security guards before entering Ekho Moskyv offices and bursting into a studio located…

Spanish government threatens to take over public media in Catalonia

The media segment of the trade union FSC-CCOO and the journalists’ trade union of Catalonia (SPC-FeSP) strongly condemn the threat of takeover of Catalan public media by the Spanish central government, following the measures announced on Saturday by the Prime minister Mariano Rajoy (People’s party), with the support of the two main opposition parties (Socialist party and Ciudadanos). The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins its affiliates FSC-CCOO and the Catalan Union of Journalists SPC-FeSP in denouncing this inacceptable political interference in dealing with public service media. This Friday, the Spanish senate could vote a series of measures in application of article 155…