Belarus: criminal complaint against obstruction of journalists’ work

The Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) on Friday demanded the opening of a criminal investigation against those who detained at least 47 journalists on Thursday 27 August to prevent them from covering the protests against disputed President Lukashenko in Belarus. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) fully supports the legal proceedings initiated by its affiliate BAJ. The legal action is launched on the basis of article 198 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (“Obstruction of the legitimate professional activities of a journalist”). BAJ asked the chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Belarus to initiate…

65 journalists arrested in Belarus since Sunday; EFJ calls on EU leaders to impose sanctions

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…

ETUFs Meeting

The EFJ GS will attend the meeting. On the agenda: the #DemocratizingWork call.

EFJ welcomes scholars’ call for more democracy at work

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes the call by more than 3,000 scholars on 15 May for more democratisation of work. “Democratize firms; decommodify work; stop treating human beings as resources so that we can focus together on sustaining life on this planet,” concludes the call. “As a sectoral trade union federation, the EFJ supports the European Trade Uunion Confederation’s ongoing fight for the further democratisation of work, so we can only welcome this call for responsibility and mobilisation from the global scientific community,” reacted the EFJ General Secretary Ricardo Gutiérrez. “We fully agree with these prominent scholars: our…

ETUFs meeting

The EFJ GS will attend the meeting.

ETUC-EFJ statement for Workers Memorial Day 2020

The COVID-19 outbreak has shown us how vulnerable we are to an epidemic, and how devastating the effects can be: on life, on health, on society, on our economy. It has demonstrated very clearly the importance of protecting working people (and all people) from disease, especially at the workplace. It has also shown the importance of investing in good public health care, investing in good conditions for health care workers and other frontline workers, and the need to ensure good sick pay and other provisions to protect the wages and jobs of all. For International Workers Memorial Day – 28…