EFJ welcomes Pope’s call to free imprisoned journalists: 163 in Europe
The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes the Pope’s call on Monday for the release of imprisoned journalists. In Europe, 163 journalists are currently behind bars, just for doing their job.
Pope Leo on Monday called for the release of imprisoned journalists and affirmed the “precious gift of free speech and the press” in an audience with some of the 6,000 journalists who covered his election. This was the first news conference of his pontificate, in the Vatican.
He called for journalists to reject war and to give voice to the voiceless and he expressed solidarity with journalists around the world who have been jailed for trying to report the truth. He asked for their release.
“The church recognises in these witnesses – I am thinking of those who report on war even at the cost of their lives – the courage of those who defend dignity, justice and the right of people to be informed, because only informed individuals can make free choices,” he said. “The suffering of these imprisoned journalists challenges the conscience of nations and the international community, calling on all of us to safeguard the precious gift of free speech and of the press”.
Concluding his address, he quoted his predecessor, Pope Francis: “Let us disarm communication of all prejudice and resentment, fanaticism and even hatred. Let us free it from aggression (…) Let us disarm words and we will help to disarm the world.”
According to monitoring by the Council of Europe’s Platform for the Protection of Journalism, there are currently 163 journalists in prison in Europe:
- 57 in Russia and occupied Ukraine;
- 44 in Belarus;
- 35 in Azerbaijan;
- 26 in Turkey;
- 1 in Georgia.
“The Pope’s appeal pays tribute to the hundreds of journalists’ organisations that have been fighting for years for the release of unjustly imprisoned journalists,” said EFJ President Maja Sever. “This declaration is also an indictment of the States, which remain passive in the face of this arbitrary judicial repression. The European Union must sanction those states that repress journalists, or even murder them, with total impunity, as is currently the case in Gaza. The Pope’s words rightly remind governments of their moral responsibility in the face of indiscriminate repression, war crimes and crimes against humanity”.
