The Moscow City Court dissolved today the Journalists and Media Workers’ Union (JMWU), the independent representative organisation of journalists and media workers in Russia. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) strongly condemn this illegitimate political trial, based on false accusations. The IFJ and EFJ will continue to support their affiliate JMWU. Not surprisingly, the Moscow City Court on Wednesday followed the request of the prosecutor’s office to liquidate the independent journalists’ union JMWU, affiliated to the EFJ and IFJ. The prosecutor claimed that the trade union’s members did not pay membership fees and that its…

Committed to a better treatment of the climate crisis, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) is a co-signatory of the Charter for upgraded journalistic practices to tackle the ecological emergency, alongside many media, journalists, journalism schools and journalists’ unions in France. The Charter, published on 14 September 2022, with the support of the scientific community, contains 13 articles to improve media coverage of all issues related to climate, life and social justice. The EFJ encourages all journalists to promote this charter in their newsrooms, so that the media integrate the major ecological and social issues of the 21st century in…

The Grodno Regional Court sentenced, on Wednesday 14 September, the investigative journalist Denis Ivashin to 13 years and one month in prison. The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) join their affiliate in Belarus, the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), in denouncing this travesty of justice and demanding his immediate release. The journalist’s trial began on August 15, 2022 and was held behind closed doors. Denis Ivashin was arrested on the evening of Friday 12 March 2021 in Grodno, in the west of the country. Five officers of the Belarusian intelligence service (KGB) searched his home and his parents’…

The Spanish football authorities have introduced new conditions for the broadcasting of its matches, including a ban on journalists asking uncomfortable questions to footballers and managers, under threat of being removed from their jobs. The International and European Federation of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) and its Spanish affiliates have expressed their concern about the new criteria, which undermine media freedom and the public’s right to information. La Liga de Fútbol, the association that organises the first and second divisions of the men’s football competition in Spain, has introduced changes to the rules for broadcasting matches for the 2022-2023 season. In the specifications for the…