Journalists in the Belarusian city of Grodno, near the Polish border, filed a complaint against the outburst of police violence against them and peaceful demonstrators on 9-11 August. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and its Belarusian affiliate, the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), call on the authorities to launch the necessary judicial investigations to punish the perpetrators of the unjustified violence. The journalists from Grodno claim to have dozens of testimonies of illegal detentions, use of physical force, destruction of civilian vehicles, illegal restriction of movement of people, violence against people during detentions and detention. The journalists’ statement lists…

A group of Ukrainian investigative journalists is being subjected to a campaign of harassment and intimidation, including surveillance and arson attacks. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ and EFJ), join their Ukrainian affiliate, the National Union of Journalists in Ukraine (NUJU), in urging the authorities to launch a thorough investigation into the intimidation and attacks aimed at muzzling their investigations. The European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) also joined the call backing the journalists. The Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty team’s car was set on fire during the night of Monday 17 August. Police found an explosive substance on the wreck of…

As announced by the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, EU Heads of State or Government will discuss the situation in Belarus on Wednesday. The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) again call on the EU Council to reintroduce commensurate sanctions for electoral fraud and violence against protesters and journalists in Belarus. The EFJ believes the EU must swiftly impose the sanctions it has threatened on individuals in the Lukashenko administration (including state media) and on Belarusian security forces complicit in the crackdown. Together with the ETUC and the Pan-European Regional Council (PERC),…

Update (17/08): Belarus state television employees are on strike. 600 employees of BTRC put their signatures in support of the strike. The CEO of BTRC Ivan Eismant asked everyone who doesn’t agree with government to quit. ——————– Tens of thousands of Belarusians have gathered in Minsk today for the biggest protest in the country’s history, against police brutality and the presidential election results. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes the call by state media journalists to finally be allowed to cover events in a fully independent way. They will go on strike this Monday if their demand is rejected.…

Update (15/8): European Union Foreign Affairs ministers agreed Friday to draw up a list of targets in Belarus for a new round of sanctions in response to strongman Alexander Lukashenko’s post-election crackdown. The sanctions will target those responsible for the violence, arrests and fraud in connection with the election. Once the list is finalized, each individual or entity on it will have to be approved unanimously by the EU member states. ——————- We call on Belarusian authorities to stop attacking, detaining and demonising journalists and media workers and work towards meaningful protections for media freedom. Following the disputed Presidential elections in…

At least 16 journalists resigned from the state media in Belarus amid mass protests and detentions. They expressed their disapproval of the repression of journalists by the Belarusian security forces. Many others co-signed yesterday an appeal to the government demanding the release of all detained journalists and an end to the repression. In recent days, several journalists from Belarusian state media announced their resignation. Among them: ONT TV presenter and head of the presidential pool of journalists Dmitry Semchenko. Yesterday, at least 160 journalists from state-owned media co-signed an appeal to the Belarusian Minister of Information Igor Lutsky, asking the…

Since Sunday’s elections, Belarusian law enforcement officials have arrested 65 journalists. Some have been released; some have been expelled; some have been sentenced to heavy fines. Dozens of other journalists have been harassed or abused. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) calls on the foreign ministers of the European Union, who are meeting tomorrow, to take sanctions against those responsible for the repression of journalists in Belarus. The EFJ welcomes the statement of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet condemning the violent response of the Belarusian authorities to the peaceful demonstrations held across the country in the…

Dozens of journalists have been intimidated and beaten by security forces in Belarus. Many have been detained. Some are still missing. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) reiterates its call for intervention by the international community. In particular, we call on the European Union, the Council of Europe and the OSCE to take urgent measures to stop violence against journalists and citizens who are peacefully demonstrating. Today, journalists’ organisations from the region (see below) are showing solidarity with the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), which is monitoring the many press freedom violations in the country. The EFJ calls on its…

Repression of the media and journalists is intensifying in Belarus. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) calls on world leaders and intergovernmental organisations to put pressure on the Belarusian regime to stop the violence against journalists and citizens who are peacefully demonstrating. On Monday, several journalists clearly identified by distinctive signs were targeted by rubber bullet fire from KGB military units. The internet has been cut off and many news sites have been blocked. The EFJ calls on the European Union, the Council of Europe and the OSCE to take action to stop the violence against journalists and citizens in…

Many journalists were prevented from working while covering the Belarusian presidential election on Sunday. At least 22 journalists were detained, sometimes with violence, according to the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ). The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) denounces the conditions under which journalists have had to do their work facing brutality and restrictions. According to BAJ live monitoring, at least 22 journalists were detained around election day in Minsk, Vitebsk, Mogilev and Grodno. Further to this, it was reported that: Journalists of the Russian TV channel Dozhd (TV Rain) Vladimir Romensky, Vasily Poklonsky and cameraman Nikolai Antipov were brutally detained…

Twitter introduced on Thursday new labels to identify accounts belonging to government officials and senior staff of state-backed media. Key government officials such as foreign ministers, ambassadors and official spokespeople will receive the label, as will accounts belonging to “state-affiliated” media entities, their editors-in-chief and their senior staff, Twitter said. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) is in favor of transparency of ownership of all media, but is wary of labelling initiatives that do not appear transparent or that do not seem to be based on objective criteria. The Twitter label appears as part of an account’s bio and is…

This article was originally published on 5 August by Nieman Reports, and is reprinted here with the kind permission of the author, Emre Kizilkaya, a 2019 Knight Visiting Nieman Fellow who is currently the editor of journo.com.tr. Original title: “As Erdoğan Cracks Down, Turkey’s Independent Journalists Need Digital Skills and Business Acumen” – “Turkey’s mainstream media has imploded, and it will not come back even after Erdoğan” Shooting a glance at the uncanny paraphernalia on my desk feels like watching a “Breaking Bad” teaser: A fist-sized rock near my monitor, a half-burnt tear gas canister on the rock, holding a…

A columnist for “Novaya Gazeta” and high-profile political analyst has been detained in Belarus ahead of a tense election. Belarusian journalist and writer Vitali Shkliarov has been arrested on 29th July. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) calls on Belarusian authorities to release immediately Vitali Shkliarov. Vitali Shkliarov was detained after the State security service KGB announced it had arrested 33 so-called “Russian mercenaries” allegedly plotting to destabilize the country ahead of the presidential election. According to media reports, he was arrested because of his close cooperation with one of the presidential campaign candidates, Sergey Tikhanovsky, a popular 41-year-old YouTube blogger,…

The Serbian Finance Ministry’s Money Laundering Prevention Department sent a request on 13 July to banks asking them to provide information related to bank records of 37 civil organisations, media and 20 individuals. The affiliates of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the Journalists’ Association of Serbia (UNS) and the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (NUNS) appear on this list. The request is about all Serbian dinar and foreign currency accounts and transactions from January 2019 and is aimed “to establish whether the NGOs and individuals are connected to money laundering or terrorism”. The list, which also includes Balkan Investigative…

DOWNLOAD THE FULL REPORT HERE The year 2020 seems to add another sad chapter on the decline of media freedom in Europe. Main reasons were the impact of the Covid-19 crisis, police violence and online harassment. Find all details in first MFRR-report. The monitoring report compiled by European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and International Press Institute (IPI), with support from ECPMF, gives unprecedented insight into the threats to media freedom in EU member states and Candidate Countries. Within the monitored period from March to June a total of 120 alerts were registered on the mappingmediafreedom.org platform from two-thirds of the countries covered…

The European Parliament issued at the request of its LIBE Committee a new report on the safety of journalists and the fighting of corruption in the European Union. Led by Professor Tarlach McGonagle, the study concludes that journalists’ working conditions are deteriorating and calls for the creation of a permanent European fund for journalists in the framework of the next EU Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF 2921-2027). The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) strongly supports this proposal. The dramatic dismantling of media pluralism in Hungary, in some cases with the help of EU funds, shows that it is high time for…