EFJ mourns two killed journalists in Europe in 2019

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has recorded 49 killings of journalists and media professionals in 2019, including two in Europe, a significant drop from 95 posted last year. The IFJ says that, while the apparent decreasing bloodbath in the journalists’ community is a welcome relief, the spread of killings and the motives behind the killings are sobering reminders that violence against journalists is still rampant and the failure to combat impunity for these attacks remain a damning indictment on those in power. The IFJ lists 18 countries from the four corners of the world where journalist were killed since…

OSCE Conference on Missing and Murdered Journalists in Kosovo

Event: Conference on Missing and Murdered Journalists in Kosovo Location: Hotel Swiss Diamond, Prishtinë/Priština Date/Time: 5 December 2019, 09:30 09:30 – 10:00 Coffee & Registration of Participants 10:00 – 10:45 Opening Remarks  Ambassador Jan Braathu, Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo  Gentiana Begolli-Pustina, Chairperson of the Association of Journalists of Kosovo  Budimir Ničić, Chairperson of the Association of Journalists of Serbia registered in Kosovo 10:45 – 12:00 I panel: Accounts of Families and Colleagues For two decades, families and friends of murdered and missing journalists in Kosovo have been trying to find out the truth: who…

EFJ and partner organisations call on governments to end impunity

Ahead of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, a UN-recognized day observed annually on 2 November, twelve partner organisations of the Council of Europe Platform to Promote the Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists call on governments to ensure that crimes against journalists are not carried out with impunity. Earlier this week, the case of courageous Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was moved to the Council of Europe’s category of journalists killed with impunity. The three men charged with her murder have yet to be brought to trial, while those who masterminded her assassination…

EFJ joins IFJ campaign against impunity

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined IFJ 3-week campaign to expose the staggering levels of impunity for crimes against journalists and the lack of international action to combat the rising tide of threats and abuse faced by journalists worldwide. The campaign will kick-off on 2 November marking International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists and run until 23 November, the anniversary of the Ampatuan massacre in the Philippines, in which at least 32 media workers were killed. The Federation has recorded 1064 killings of media professionals in the past 10 years. Yet, only one murder in every…

Vigil for Daphne Caruana Galizia: No justice two years on

Wednesday 16 October 2019 will mark two years since the brutal assassination of Malta’s best-known investigative journalist and anti-corruption campaigner, Daphne Caruana Galizia. Although three men have now been formally charged with her murder, a date for their trial has yet to be set while those who ordered her killing remain at large. To honour Daphne Caruana Galizia’s memory and to continue calling for justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ),  the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (a joint FIDH-OMCT programme), Reporters Without Borders (RSF)…

UK: EFJ and NUJ renew appeal for O’Hagan investigation

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined today the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the UK and Ireland renewed call for an independent investigation into the murder of Sunday World journalist and union activist Martin O’Hagan. In a joint statement marking the anniversary of Martin’s murder on 28 September 2001, Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary and Séamus Dooley, NUJ assistant general secretary called for the appointment of an external investigator to carry out an independent inquiry into the murder and the subsequent failure of the police to secure conviction for the murder. The statement said: “The NUJ remains gravely concerned at…

Ukrainian soldier sentenced to 24 years in prison for the murder of Italian photographer Andrea Rocchelli in Donbas

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…

UNS Conference: Ending Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists

Twenty years ago, in the early morning of April 23, 1999, during the Kosovo war, NATO bombed the headquarters of the Serbian public broadcaster – Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) – in downtown Belgrade, killing 16 of its employees. To commemorate the bombing, declared a war crime by Amnesty International, Radio Television Serbia (RTS) and the Journalists’ Association of Serbia (UNS) are organizing an international conference in Belgrade on April 22-23. The conference will be an opportunity for journalists, media professionals and human rights activists to discuss growing threats against the media over the past two decades, as well as…

Report: Urgent action needed to protect press freedom in Europe

Press freedom in Europe is more fragile now than at any time since the end of the Cold War. That is the alarming conclusion of a report launched today by the 12 partner organizations of the Council of Europe Platform to promote the protection of Journalism and safety of journalists. The report, “Democracy at Risk”, analyses media freedom violations raised to the Platform in 2018. It provides a stark picture of the worsening environment for the media across Europe, in which journalists increasingly face obstruction, hostility and violence as they investigate and report on behalf of the public. The 12 Platform partners…