Council of Europe: 114 MPs demand further investigation of Daphne Caruana Galizia case

114 MPs from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) have signed a motion demanding an international monitoring on the investigation of the murder of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. The motion was signed at Strasbourg but has not yet been discussed in the Assembly. The signatures were collected in a single day, well surpassing the 20 signatures needed to submit a motion, with representation from all political groups. The motion was proposed by Dutch politician Pieter Omtzigt, and calls for an international approach to investigating the case of the murdered journalist. “The Parliamentary Assembly believes that the international community…

Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination: Demand for Close International Scrutiny

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) is pleased to be an official partner of the discussion “Assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia – Demand for Close International Scrutiny”, held today in Strasbourg as a side event to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). Three months to the day after Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination, MPs Anne Brasseur (ALDE, Luxembourg), Pieter Omtzigt (EPP, Netherlands) and Frank Schwabe (SOC, Germany) announce an event to be held in her honour on the margins of the winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe today in Strasbourg. The cross-party group of MPs will host Daphne Caruana Galizia’s…

EFJ and ECPMF embark on fact-finding mission to the Baltics

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), along with the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) will embark on a Fact-Finding Mission to Estonia and Lithuania from 22 to 24 January 2018, in close cooperation with its affiliates, the Estonian Association of Journalists (EAJ), and the Lithuanian Journalists’ Union (LJU). The mission delegation will investigate the state of media freedom and journalists’ rights and working conditions in Estonia and Lithuania, meeting with journalists, government representatives, and public and private media organisations including Russian-speaking media and researchers. The issue of Russian “propaganda” and the need for ethical journalism, but also…

EFJ and Partner Organisations Urge Close International Scrutiny over Daphne Caruana Galizia’s Murder

The undersigned organisations, partners of the Council of Europe Platform for the Promotion of Journalism and the Protection of Journalists, are deeply concerned over the lack of progress in the investigation into the murder of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. The authorities have announced the arrests of three suspects in connection with her murder, but there remains a widespread belief that those who ordered this crime have not yet been identified. Daphne Caruana Galizia was murdered in a car bomb explosion on October 16, a few meters away from her home. Her death raised concerns not only about protection of…

Serbia: Fact-finding mission on media freedom and journalists’ rights

This morning, 18 January 2018, the joint Fact-Finding Mission to Serbia on media freedom and journalists’ rights commences by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) in cooperation with the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) and the International Press Institute (IPI) as well as the EFJ affiliates in Serbia: the Journalists’ Association of Serbia (UNS), the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (NUNS), and the Journalists’ Union of Serbia (SINOS). The two-day mission will meet with government representatives including the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic, the Ministry of Culture’s State Secretary, the Assistant Minister for Information and Media and the state…

European Parliament debates the influence of Russian propaganda on EU countries

The European Parliament debated on 17 January 2018 the burning issue of the so-called “fake news” and Russian propaganda on EU countries. The debate focused on fake news stories coming from unidentified people and bots, as well as well as politically-driven news from outlets such as state-owned Russia Today and Sputnik. The next European elections to take place in 2019 are likely to be the next big target for Russian propaganda, MEPs have warned. During this plenary session in Strasbourg, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) highlighted issues including the funding and staffing of actions against misinformation and the resilience of democracies…

International media freedom delegation in Croatia: some improvements, old and new issues

On January 15 and 16, 2018, an international delegation of press freedom organisation representatives visited Zagreb to observe the state of media freedom in Croatia. This was the second such visit in two years. After the fact-finding mission in June 2016 produced particularly bad results (please find here the report), the representatives of the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), the Association of European Journalists (AEJ), the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF), the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and Reporters without Borders (RSF) did find a slightly more positive situation at the…

European Union pressuring Turkey to release jailed journalists

The European Union and Turkey will see no progress in their relations as long as Turkey holds journalists in prison, the president of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker said on Friday (12/01/2018) at a news conference in Bulgaria. The president of the European Commission made this comment following the news that a Criminal Court in Istanbul defied the Turkish Constitutional Court’s decision ruling that the journalists’ rights had been violated and subsequently to release imprisoned journalists Mehmet Altan and Sahin Alpay.   “Turkey is moving away from its European ambitions of the past and we are going to have to see…

Greece: IFJ/EFJ stand with 420 journalists left with no pay for months

The International and European Federation of Journalists (IFJ and EFJ) have backed their Greek affiliates, standing with 420 MEGA TV station journalists and media workers left with no pay and no jobs for over 16 months. MEGA is one of the first private TV stations established in Greece, 28 years ago, and has attracted large audiences for practicing reliable and quality journalism in news bulletins and news programs and producing very popular series. During the past months, the station was broadcasting only entertainment content, bringing in a lot of advertising money. However the journalists were left with no pay. The…