The Fundamental Rights Agency of the European Union (FRA) developed resources on the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, including the Charterpedia database and a handbook giving guidance on the use and scope of the Charter at national level. Charterpedia Charterpedia is an online tool which provides information on the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. For each article, information can be found on related case law by national courts, the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights, law references and explanations. Click here to read more about the articles 11 and…

The AGEMI project, in which the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has been an active partner, will come to an end at the end of July. Among its achievements stands a series of tools to enforce gender equality in the media and strengthen the links between media professionals, educators and media students. Following the conclusion of the Summer School organised in August 2018 in Göteborg, Sweden, the thirty students from the partnering Universities of Newcastle, of Göteborg and of Padua  undertook internships across the EU at several media organizations, including EFJ and IFJ, as well as groups fighting for gender equality. Students had the opportunity to…

The German conservative politician Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) was just elected as the new President of the Commission of the European Union. The European Federation of Journalists co-signed a letter, urging Ms Von der Leyen to prioritise press freedom (PDF). July 19, 2019 European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen European Commission Rue de la Loi 200 1049 Brussels Belgium Dear President von der Leyen, We are writing as members of the press freedom community to congratulate you on your appointment as President of the European Commission, and to urge you to ensure that media freedom, the protection of…

UPDATE 04/11/2020 – On 3 November 2020, the Milan Court of Appeal ruled to fully acquit Vitaliy Markiv, overturning his conviction to 24 years for complicity in murder of Italian photographer Andrea Rocchelli and Andrei Mironov. The Court ruled for Markiv’s immediate release. —————————– An Italian court sentenced on Friday 12 July Vitaly Markiv, a Ukrainian former national guard commander, to 24 years in prison for the murder of photographer Andrea Rocchelli and his translator Andrei Mironov, in the early days of the conflict in eastern Ukraine in 2014. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes the court’s decision, putting…

Update 17.07.2019: All charges against Erol Önderoğlu, Şebnem Korur Financı and Ahmet Nesin have been dropped by the 13th High Criminal Court in Istanbul on 17 July. The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) call on the Turkish court to acquit journalist Erol Önderoğlu, facing 14 years and six months in jail over “terror propaganda”. Erol Önderoğlu was charged because of his participation in 2016 as temporary editor-in-chief to the production of Özgür Gündem daily newspaper as part of the Editors in Chief on Watch campaign. The verdict is expected on 17 July. The Editors in Chief on Watch…

Russian authorities added journalist Svetlana Prokopieva on the official list of “terrorists and extremists”, on 4 July 2019. As a result, Prokopieva had all her bank accounts frozen and was placed under house arrest. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) condemned the Russian authorities’ decision and denounced harassment and intimidation actions against the journalist. Svetlana Prokopieva is a journalist based in the northwestern city of Pskov and working for the local branch of the independent Moscow-based radio station Ekho Moskvy, In November 2018, she was suspected of “justifying terrorism” following a radio commentary, in which she was questioning Russia’s repressive…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and 20 other human rights and freedom of expression organisations condemn a Turkish pro-government think-tank’s report that accuses leading international media of being biased against the government and singles out their correspondents for attack. The organisations regard the report as a dangerous escalation in the harassment of journalists. As mentioned in our prior joint EFJ-IFJ statement the report by the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA), a think-tank created by İbrahim Kalın, who is nowadays an adviser to President Erdoğan,  is billed as an academic study of the news coverage of the…

Around 15 members of The Rouvinokas, a Greek anarchist group, ransacked the Athens Voice’s headquarters on 4th July following a publication that the group took offence at. The International and European Federation of Journalists (IFJ – EFJ) joined the Journalists Union of the Athens Daily Newspaper (JUADN) in condemning this violent attack and all attempts to muzzle the media. According to media reports, the assailants used iron bars to smash furniture and equipment and threw black paint on the offices’ walls. No one was injured in the incident. The Rouvinokas, an anarchist and anti-establishment group, claimed responsibility for the attack in a post on the Indymedia…

Journalists’ unions around the world endorsed on 12 June, in Tunis, a new Charter of Ethics for Journalists following months of consultations. The document builds on and reinforces the ethical standards laid down by the 1954 IFJ Declaration of Principles on the Conduct of Journalists, the most widely recognised text on journalistic ethics to date. That Declaration was drafted in Bordeaux, France, 65 years ago, and was last updated in 1986, hence the need for a new Charter adapted to current challenges facing the media. Drafted by a working group of 16 people, including representatives of the IFJ leadership, regions and…

We, the undersigned international freedom of expression and journalists’ organisations, welcome the resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted on 26 June, condemning the continued impunity for the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia and broader systemic rule of law shortcomings in Malta, and inter alia, calling for the launch of an independent public inquiry within three months. Titled Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination and the rule of law in Malta and beyond: ensuring that the whole truth emerges, the resolution accompanied a report drafted by Dutch MP Pieter Omtzigt in his capacity as the PACE Special Rapporteur…

On Sunday 23 June, around 4,000 people gathered in Moscow, Vladivostok, St Petersburg, Perm, Makhachkala to protest against the fabrication of criminal charges to incriminate journalists and human rights activists in Russia. The Journalists’ and Media Workers’ Union (JMWU) was one of the moving forces in this campaign. The Meduza journalist Ivan Golunov was freed on 12 June thanks to the unprecedented campaign of social pressure and solidarity from the journalism community and civil society as a whole. Against this backdrop, journalist Igor Rudnikov, who was threatened with 10 years in prison on absurd charges of extortion, was also freed.…

According to the Independent Association of Georgian Journalists (IAGJ), journalists were forcefully removed from the Georgian Parliament building and at least ten more were injured while covering protests around Parliament in the capital Tbilisi on 20th June. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ/EFJ) have urged the authorities to stop targeting journalists and to respect press freedom and the right to information. Reports say that clashes between the riot police and the protesters started after Sergei Gavrilov, a Russian national who supports the independence of the Georgian breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and a supporter of Vladimir…

From 18-21 June 2019, we undertook an international freedom of expression mission to Albania, comprised of the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF), ARTICLE 19, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the International Press Institute (IPI), Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO). The mission sought to gather information about challenges to freedom of expression and press freedom in Albania and bring concerns directly to Albanian government representatives. We met with journalists; editors-in-chief; representatives of civil society, international organisations and foreign embassies present in Tirana; and senior…

Journalist Vadym Komarov died in the early hours of 20th June, a few weeks after he was attacked and left in coma in May in the city of Cherkasy, Ukraine. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ/EFJ) join their affiliate, the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU), in condemning the murder and urging authorities to carry out a thorough investigation into this despicable crime and bring the perpetrators to justice. Vadym Komarov was known for his investigations and his hard hitting reporting on local authorities. Komarov reported on corruption and organised crime in Cherkasy and had been attacked before,…

Help is at hand for media professionals seeking to enhance the quality of their work when reporting about migration, as the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) releases a new e-learning platform developed by journalists for journalists to mark World Refugee Day on 20 June. The online e-Media Toolkit provides first-hand assistance to media professionals with learning resources, training courses, and opportunities to share and interact. The learning section allows users to take courses in which journalists or editors of leading media outlets share their real-life newsroom dilemmas of reporting on migration. Training provides material for media trainers to design their own…

Ahead of the European Games to take place in Minsk from 21 to 30 June 2019, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) reiterates its call on Belarusian authorities to respect press freedom and journalists’ right to work in complete freedom. The EFJ further calls on the European Olympic Committee to advocate for press freedom in Belarus, its host for the European games. At the moment, the situation is particularly worrying for freelance journalists working in Belarus for foreign media outlets, who are denied accreditation and therefore imposed unjustified bans to carry out their journalistic activities. Since April 2014, freelance journalists…